Hey guys, today I am getting my hands dirty under my Rover and redoing my front propshaft, but I have a quick question. If ALL 4 of my UJ's are greasable on a 97 Disco, can I assume that shafts have been rebuilt at some point? Everything I am seeing on here states that factory doesn't put greasable UJ's all the way around (both ends of front and rear shaft.) There is also a Zerk on the shaft itself, about 6 inches down from the transfer case. What is that for?

If so, should I still go ahead and replace them? I am at 137,000 miles, but am getting a clunking noise that seems to be coming from my propshaft. It also causes the truck to buck when it clunks. Could it be something other than prop, in my drive train?
Thanks

 

The rebuid they are referring to is applicable tro the DII's and not the DI's. Your 97 came with the greasable drive shaft. The DII has a double cardon instead of the single unit and was manufactured without greable u joints on the front of the drive shaft. They are totally different animals.

I also (thank goodness) have the DI which also came standard with the Center Locking Differential (CDL) which most of the DII's did not come with until they were reinstituted in 2004 (I think it was). A lot of DII owners redo their transfer cases to be able to lock the center diff.

Being a new owner of an Discovery I, you will see a lot of information/discussion on this forum that applies ONLY to the Discovery II that you will have to just ignore as far as your vehicle is concerned.

Another major difference is the transmission servicing since the DII has a sealed tranny without even a dipstick to check the fluid level or the ability to add fluid when needed without having to open the transmission case.

So when you read about various things on this Discovery Forum, don't just assume your Disco I is affected. Oh yeah, when you redo the brakes on your DI, you must remove the entire hub and should also have replacement bearings and hub seals on hand incase they need replacement. You may be lucky and be able to get by with cleaning and repacking the bearings, but may need to replace the hub seals. You can get a double lip version made for the defender.

And the lug nuts are a different size on the DII than they are on the DI. If you need replacements, you can get solid nuts (instead of the ones with shiny caps that eventually screw up) like were used on the Range Rover Classic.

Lots of little but significant differences between the DI and DII. Good luck with your DI. I am certainly enjoying mine.

 

As far as your clunking noise, change the fluid in your front and rear differentials and the transfer case (center diff) as well.

Download the RAVE CD and study up on your DI. You will enjoy it a lot more.

 

The u-joints should be lubed every 5,000 miles.
But you might be ok if, when you grease them, you can get new grease coming out from around all 4 seals on each u-joint. If you can't, then I'd rebuild them, which is exactly what I did on the '97 we bought last month.
This is true regardless of the year or model.

 

Thanks guys.....I greased the UJ's yesterday and am going to change all of my fluids today in the Diffs and T-case and see what kind of difference that makes. I will keep you posted!

 

If you haven't bought the 7 quarts of gear oil, consider buying a 75W/140 instead of the lighter fluid, gives more wear protection and cuts the noise a little.
A given amount of clunk is to be expected in our Disco's because of our all geared t/case.

 

I just ran out and bought a 1/2" break away bar and am crawling under to make sure I can get all of the fills open before I buy and drain fluid. I bought 1 qt when I was just planning on topping off my T-case, but I am going to go ahead and change all 3 so I will purchasing it all today. Should I put the same fluid in all 3? 75W/140 is your recommendation? Heading out to loosen fill bolts. Check back shortly.

 

Ok, ran into something that makes me very uneasy...need some advice. I got everything drained and it is very obvious that the diff fluid in front needed to be changed as it was black and watery, but the T-case fluid and rear diff fluid looked pretty good...it was still gold and thick. BUT, when I pulled the T-case drain bolt out, I realized that the end of the bolt is obviously magnetic and had collected a good bit of metal shavings. Is this normal? If not, what should I do?

Also, is there possibly something wrong with my front diff that is turning the oil black and watery long before the rest of the fluids? Wouldn't someone (previous owner) likely change all 3 fluids at the same time, making all of the fluids the same age/usage level? Does anyone have any ideas on this one? Could they have been told that they didn't need to change front fluid bc they went somewhere like Jiffy Lube and the guy didn't realized that these trucks are in 4 wheel at all time?

Thoughts?

Heading to store for more fluid and a pump.

 

I am no expert on these by any means but I do have a 97 DI as well that I've had for 3 years now. From what I have read, if the vehicle has seen a lot of water crossings, the front diff is pretty susceptable to getting water in. Don't know how valid that may be though. Did it show signs of heavy leakage at the front differential seals or housing?

When you say a good bit of shavings were on the magnetic plug, that is the amount that accumulated since the last change. Keep in mind that the transfer case does have a removable inspection plate that you can pull and take a look inside. If I recall, you reseal it with gray RTV for reassembly. I haven't taken mine off yet, but did pick up the 75w140 to service it soon, as well as the RTV. I went ahead and picked up tubes of each grade since I caught it on sale.

 

It is common for the rear axle to get condensation build up inside it and contaminate the gear lube because the rear axle breather rusts and becomes clogged and the water vapor cannot escape.
It is very possible that the front diff was not changed because like you said, the Jiffy Lube guy knows nothing about theses trucks.
It is also possible that the front diff was/is working harder than the rear.
The really fine metal shavings that you found are normal, there is no filter on the t-case and the magnet collects the shavings from normal wear.
Now if you found chunks, then you have a problem.

Make sure the gear lube you bought is GL-4 rated.
Some GL-5's are also GL-4 rated but not all, so read the label.