So first, hi all! New to the forum here, posting anyway. Two weeks ago I was brought two '98 land rover discovery's to work on. Both in kinda rough shape, but salvageable. One of them lost a front drive shaft on the road. U-joint at the transfer case ate itself. Collateral damage was a nasty dent in the floor pan at the tunnel, a dent in the tranny pan, and an absolutely destroyed flange on the shaft. The guy took it to a shop in Texas, where it broke, and was told the transmission was toast. They removed the front driveshaft so the truck could roll.


He brought it to me here in Arizona. Now I have limited experience with Land Rovers... this is actually my first experience. I'm not a professional mechanic, but have been doing it as a hobby my entire life, which kinda makes me the family and friends mechanic.


First thing first, I tried to put it in gear to see if it would drive with just the rear shaft, but it won't. The problem is, it doesn't feel like it's going into gear at all. I can't check the fluid because the dip stick is jammed in the tube and it looks like the shop he took it to broke off the handle trying to get it out.


So, for starters, why the heck would the dip stick be jammed in the tube and how do I get it out? Second, if the front shaft is removed, should I expect the truck to drive or no?


We'll start with those two, but I promise there will be more later

 

The dipstick tube sounds strange but I can say that the truck will not move without the front driveshaft in place UNLESS the transfer case differential lock is engaged (ie: lever is mover to the left towards the driver).

 

Thanks for the heads up. I did not try to lock the diff. I'm hesitant to try though until I can check the fluid. I've worked on many cars and never seen a dip stick jammed. I gave it the beans with a set of vice grips and feet on the fender and it never budged. The pan is crushed on the driver side, the dipstick on the passenger, so unless they did something really off, I can't imagine thats related.

 

So good news is the transmission seems fine. Locked the diff and drove it around, all seems well. I'm a little slow... ok a lot slow. The dent IS on the passenger side of the pan, but thats not why the stick is stuck. Right where the tube turns around the transmission the driveshaft struck it and crushed the tube. So off to the yards tomorrow for a new driveshaft, transmission pan, dip stick/tube, and some other bits. Thanks for the help!