While driving 2004 Disco II today I started to hear a high pitch whining, especially when accelerating.

Shortly after I started hearing a clunking noise, especially at slower speeds so I pulled into gas station.

I noticed a small amount of smoke coming out of central console and a strange smell. I popped the hood and saw small amount of (maybe?) smoke, but it’s -5c outside, could easily have been steam or condensation from the hot engine against the cold air.

I tried going into reverse and it wouldn’t go into gear. I tried cycled through all the gears, and after that it would let me go into reverse. However, when in drive, when driving slow I heard the clunking sound again which didn’t sound good so parked up again. In the end I decided to call AAA and get it towed back home so I can decide on next steps instead of risking it.

Dose anyone have any ideas what the cause could be, or where I can start looking?

For additional context I’m driving in cold conditions, and gritty salty roads. I checked the coolant while parked and it looks like it’s bubbling a bit while in idle. Also the (I think auxiliary?) fan (the one that’s facing towards the front of the grill, not the one inside towards the engine) wasn’t spinning, but not sure if that’s normal operation or a separate issue.

Thanks and hopefully this isn’t a catastrophe!

 

Start by checking:

1. Your drive shaft for the clunk check it out for play and damage to the U joints
2. Fluid level in both diffs and the transfer case whine
3. Smoke is bad - check your carpet for moisture
4. Pull the bezel over the shift lever and sniff for burnt electronics
5. Once it is cold check your coolant level smoke could be form a leaky heater core
6. Next chock the tires and start the engine up and put in neutral and check your transmission fluid ENGINE RUNNING there should be a dribble of fluid from the filler port

 

Bubbling as in air is coming up, or bubbling as in water is moving around?

 

Thank you for the checklist Richard, I’ll go through that tomorrow and update.
Honestly, I’m not sure, it looks like it’s just water moving around, but it’s moving more than just from the vibration of the engine. Here’s a video I took.

edit: here’s a link to watch the video, I think it’ll only last a couple of days though..
https://streamable.com/z5sw23

 

guessing transfer case is low in gear oil

 

@Abandisco ok that is normal, that is the flow from the lower manifold back to the expansion tank, but you are way low on coolant, cold you should be at the seam between the two tank halves.

 

big relief there. It’s currently snowing and -12c so I’ve been unable to do many checks. In terms of adding coolant, do I need to do a full bleed of the system or can I just top it off with some new? Keeping in mind I don’t know exactly what coolant is in there.

 

It appears from the video that your coolant is orange colored. Confirm that. You can NOT mix coolant types. If it is orange, that is the original specified coolant. OAT. Buy that as a 50/50 mix or buy concentrate and mix it down to 50/50. Use that to keep it topped up.
Many of us replace the OAT with "Green" antifreeze. Not green as in fantastic for the environment, but green in color. Today's green coolant is suitable for our engines where in 2000 that was not necessarily the case. To change over requires a thorough flush of the cooling system and engine. You can find plenty of threads here talking about that.

 

@H20nSnow Thank you, thats filled and sorted now.

I drove across the road and back to get a sample of the clunking. I'm now thinking that the whining might have been breakpads. That would make sense as I was going down hill and covering the breaks when I first noticed it.
https://streamable.com/p6cxx9

I took a quick look at the drive shaft and it appears solid to me, but I didnt have a lift and was laying in a couple of inches of snow so didn't check thoroughly. It does sound like what a few youtube clips tells me that would sound like though, thoughts?

 

@Abandisco that occasional clunk is what you are hearing ? Does it speed up as you move faster, not RPM but rather MPH? That is a very odd noise, it should not be brakes they generally "clang"or squeal

If you have a dry space you can work, pull the front drive shaft and engage the CDL that will confirm the front drive shaft is or is not the problem