So my 2000 Land Rover Discovery II survived 2 blizzards over the last 5 days and finally gave out.

Today while crossing the Chesapeake Bay I was met with a few large thumps (like a flat tire) and then a load roar (like a muffler falling off).

I got off the bridge and at first look from the top found a huge hole in my catalytic converter, then as I looked at the ground I found a pond of transmission fluid.

Looks like part of the linkage (?) fell off, hit the catalytic converter (thus the huge hole) and rendered my Discovery useless.

Here are a few pictures, I have climbed all the way under yet to do a full assessment.

Thoughts are appreciated.

Chris

 

NOT GOOD. Front drive shaft went. Just had this happen to me two weeks ago. How fast were you driving? My wife was driving when it went, doing 25mph, so very little damage done, just a couple of dings. Im assuming you were going a bit faster & it did quite a number underneath. When mine went out I was told to very carefully check the tranny case to make sure there were no cracks or no damage which you definately have since there was a pool underneath. If it was just the shaft like in my case its a buy a new one, replace, and drive on kind of deal. Dont think you will be that lucky, sorry.

Good luck - hope all works out for you.

 

OK, that's a bigger dent than I had on mine and the PO was doing highway speeds when it let go. For starters you need to remove the broken remains of the cardon joint. Then you need to add some dye marker to the transmission and let it warm up a bit, that's if you have any fluid left in it.

Once you have the dye marker in you will be able to asses the damage. IN my case the transmission housing was cracked in three places and had to be replaced. Also the passenger side exhaust line was crushed and the forward O2 sensor was ripped apart.

All said and done, new drive shaft, new transmission, seals, fluids, new piece of exhaust line was around $2500 with me doing all of the labor including the welding in of the new exhaust line.

Thanks to this mishap I'm working on a transmission saver for the disco that can be bolted in to shield the expensive parts from the drive shaft. I'm really sorry this happened to you, it really sucks.

 

115k and still running the stock non greasable driveshaft on mine... finger crossed but I really need to get this done ASAP!

 

Do your self a favor and spend $125 D.I.Y. now or spend $1k plus later for a tranny and other misc destroyed parts.

 

I was driving highway speeds when it happened, judging by the amount of transmission fluid on the ground both on the highway and at home I'd say it is mostly all drained.

 

Yeah sucks that is why we always cannot stress enough how important it is to rebuild your front driveshafts before they fail. Sometimes they give fair warning other times they don't. You are going to need a new transmission, driveshaft, exhaust and cats and maybe even a new transfer case if it was damaged also. Sorry it sucks, good luck let us know if you have more questions on where to source good used parts.

 

The good news is the job is not impossible. Once you get the t-case out and the exhaust off it's pretty easy to pull the transmission. Figure a good long weekend to do it all.

 

That sucks man but is exactly why we preach to everyone who buys a D2 to have the front driveshaft fixed immediately.

 

Just like AK said that is why in the "new members must read" section it says to have your front driveshaft rebuilt ASAP.