You really need the drive shaft as the drive line was setup
to run with both 50/50and the drive line will not last or could snap under the extra load.

It is Ok to pull a drive shaft out to get back from a brake down but not much more.

You will need to get the tranfer case out of locked when you put the drive shaft in.
Start with some WD-40 or Brake Free on the shift linkage under the truck.

I would say that the whining noise is due to the load on the
rest of the drive line and should subside once you have restored thefront drive shaft.

 

I wouldn't wait on the diff. They are weak because they are designed to work with the front and rear together. There are 2 plugs. One on the back (fill) and one on the bottom(drain) it will hold about 2 quarts. Use 90W gear oil. Might have to get a little lube pump to suck it out of the bottle and pump it into the diff through the fill plug. The plugs should come off with a 1/2" drive ratchet stuck into the square hole.

 

Alright guys, I'm stressing on that shaft now! I am actually out of funds at the time, but I'll be trying to sell my laptop and a few other things to fund this little excursion. So first I'll get the shaft and u-joints and in the meantime Ill grab some 90w gear oil and a pump of some sort, Im sure my pops will know what kind, and get those puppies greased up. Is there a point of equilibrium with these vehicles where I am done worrying about all the potential problems? I don't plan on off-roadinng this thing at all the worst it will ever see is dirt roads in the forest with the occasional hill and the freeway on the way to school with 115 degree summer weather. I kinda get what you're saying, I picked the wrong vehicle to start learning on, esp being a broke college guy. Should I back out of this while I'm still ahead and get a path finder or something? I know it's probably blasphemous to say that, but I'm havin my doubts! : /

Thanks,
Jake

 

If you are at a point that you can back out you may want to. It sounds like that the last owner sold their problems,
and this is a common thing when the cost so much to fix.

I wish you luck Don't sell off things that you will have to replace just to fix the Disco.

Get a old beater that is good on gas as $4.00 a gal will be here sooner than we need or want.

You can find a lot of old cars, I lived in Tempe Az and found a 1970 Plymouth Valiant with AC and drove that car for years,and the best part abouta old car is no one will pull out in front of you. Lock it Ha,.

 

I hate to say it, but you may have more problems lurking. Older discoverys have a tendancy to clog radiators.

Check E-bay for a front driveshaft. They are out there relatively cheap. Once you get it in, you will have to get it out of diff lock. If you are going to keep it, change out your rear diff fluid to synthetic. It protects a lot more than conventional, and it will help reduce wear on the rear diff without having the front shaft in.

I bought mine as a broke college student and it was in rough shape. I am glad I it the bullet and put the time into my truck. I love it. Had it 3 months, and after about $1K in new parts, I drove it to Chicago and didn't think twice. She has never left me stranded.

That said, I am a gear head and love tinkering. If you can't devote the time and maintenance it needs, you may want to consider a pathfinder or something like that.

 

Let's look at this:

1) You need a driveshaft. In your shoes, I'd call all the local wrecking yards and check Ebay. Look for one for $50. I'd probably forget the new U-joints and put on as is.

2) Rear end gear lube - You should change anyway, including the front, just as a course of general maintenance. Don't worry about synthetic given your funds. Buy a couple qts of 90W as per the manual for $3/ea. You don't need a pump. There is a drain at the bottom of the Diff, and a plug on the front. Pull the drain and after it's out, fill to the fill hole. Just put a 6" piece of hose on the end of the diff fluid cap (it's pointed) and squeeze it in. That's all you need to do. The whole process takes about 1/2 hr to do.

3) Whirrning noise - Check the engine fan like I suggested in a previous post. Find out what you need before you buy anything, or dump the vehicle

4) Alternator - Remove the alt and look at the brushes on the the back like I listed above. You might be able to fix it for $25. I've replaced brushes in a lot of high-mile rigs.

5) Coolant Level - To me, this is the biggest issue. You mentioned it was low and you filled it and bled the system. These vehicles have a tendency of leaking head gaskets in their old age. The first sign is using coolant. It might be that it wasn't bled properly, or.... the headgasket is beginning to leak. So, keep an eye on the coolant level. You can also remove that cap and run the engine and look for bubbles in the coolant ...also smell for combustion gasses. Remove the spark plugs and see if any look really clean (white). Look at the bottom side of the oil filler cap for a milky substance (moisture in the oil). These are the early signs of headgasket leakage. Ask the previous owner if they ever did any H/G work? Might also see if the previous owner has the driveshaft too. I might be wrong on the H/G, it might just not be bled out properly, but in your shoes, it would be a major repair project. The worse thing that could happen is you need to replace the H'G and you'd have to have your dad help you out.

I will share another story with you. Once I was really broke and bought aMustang 4-banger for$25 that had a leaking head gasket. I changed the gasket but the head must have been warped (or possibly cracked). It still leaked coolant into a cylinder making a nice white cloud out the tail pipe. Long story short, I put some "Head Gasket Repair" stuff in it -the liquid stuff that comes in a can, on the same shelf where ya buy all the other 'miracle-in-a-can' products at Walmart. I followed the directions to a T. To my amazement, it worked! Periodically I would have to re-do the 'treatment' as it would sometimes spring a leak again, but I drove that car for a year, then gave it to my brother, who drove it at least another year, maybe two even on long cross-country trips. Then he sold it to a buddy who drove it a couple years. I don't advocate doing this as a course of automotive repair, but in some cases it has it's application. If it turns out your vehicle continues to use coolant (and I don't know that this is the case), given your budget and all, it might be a possible cheap alternative. Of course, it's not that difficult or expensive to replace headgaskets ...and that is definitely the CORRECT way to do it (if your vehicle even HAS leaking coolant).

6) Before you sell - Check the above things out before you sell. If that's all you need right away, you will be good to go. It may not need a whole lot more. But,, check the above things out. Better yet if you have a good mechanic buddy look it over and give you his assessment. Keep it if you want. If you are really on the edge financially, sell it and get a cheap Nissan/Honda car. Once you finish college and get some cashflow, you can always revisit Land Rovers.

7) Gas mileage - These things don't get the best fuel economy. They're heavy and right on par with Land Cruisers (~15mpg). If you don't drive that much, it might not be a big factor. If you put on 30k mi per year, it adds up. For instance, I figured out my Jetta Diesel costs $100 to drive 1000 mi. My Disco costs $200 for the same distance.

8) Image - When I was a college student, I didn't have hardly any money. And classes were a lot cheaper back then too. I worked and could afford some things but I didn't get any help from my folks. Still, I remember that some things like image were really important to me at that time and a Land Rover would have been really cool.

9) If you decide to get a different vehicle, its so important to look at condition. Some are well maintanied and others get beat up. Truely avoid the beat up ones. I know this is easy to say, but do your due dilligence. SUVs have more mechanical stuff that gets used harder (in many cases) and will be more expensive to repair. A 35 mpg car that doesn't break down will give you more time to study, spend with your friends and beer money. In my case, I worked on cars a lot durring college. I had a blast working on my vehicles ...and studying too. If you like that kind of thing, Keep the Rover and dig in!

 

Mark,

I think you are off on the fluid recommendation. Synthetics will give a lot more protection that is needed only running one drive shaft.

Also, this guy has already replaced his alternator. That is why he is broke.


Jake,

Does the truck whine while you are driving, or does it make the same noise revving it up in neutral?

 

I agree synthetic is a better lube, but my recommendation was based on the assumption he replaces his F driveshaft ...and that synthetic lube is roughly $8/qt. (at least it was last time I bought). If it whines when he drives, then the xfer case and rear diff should both be looked at by someone whocan give a better assessment of what's going on. Then yeah,I'dconsider synthetic if there is whine coming from the rear or...time to sell vehicle. But it's too early to say. I thought I read it was RPM based whine [engine].

Sorry, I missed the alternator replacement. I thought I read that he didn't have$$ for the replacement. My bad if I missed that.

 

Hey guys, so I've decided that I'm going to keep the land rover and put the necessary effort into fixing it. I just can't see trading or selling it off and then buying another vehcile and getting burnt again. Before this I bought a Honda civic for its fuel economy and it turned out that the head gasket was blown and they wanted 1200 to fix it. So I got rid of it and bought my rover.

To Okdiscoguy - The truck does not whine when im in neutral or park and rev it up. only does this when im accellerating down the road. And it seems the faster I go the higher pitched it gets, when Im doing 65 on the freeway it is so high pitched I can barely even hear it.

I checked the region on the block where my dad told me the head gaskets were and it is bone-dry. I don't think I'm losing coolant, but then again I havent checked it since yesterday. I will check it as soon as I get home tonight.

I haven't had time to check the fan yet, but I will.

Even though the alternator was replaced the truck still struggles to turn over. itll wind out for several seconds and then by giving it some gas it will turn over. My Dad noticed that the throttle linkage from that little vacuum thing that looks like a bellto the throttle cable is missing. He thinks this might be what is causing the delayed start because the linkage isnt being pulled by the vacuum at start up. I dont know if this is correct or not. I suggested just bending a piece of coat hanger around both of the little *** thingies for now, but he seems to think this won't work. Any insight?

I called a place today in Scottsdale and they apparently specialize in land rovers and theres a sticker for them under my hood already so im assuming theyve worked on this vehicle before and I might be able to get some information as to this things maintenance history. They said to check everything out mechanically on the truck they would charge 99.00 and tell me everything that needed to be fixed. I told they guy about the drive shaft and he quoted me 250.00 for parts and labor which seemed somewhat decent to me.

So long story short, I've placed my laptop up on craigslist in hopes that I can make a quick sale for some repairs by friday. At least having a complete diagnostic will help me come back to you guys and perhaps I can get some lower cost alternatives to fixing this thing should there be anything really seriously wrong.

I have my fingers crossed! You guys have been totally awesome and supportive, just wanted to thank each and every one of you that took the time to respond to me. I really appreciate it.

Jake

 

That's just the cruise control diaphragm---the cruise control pump pulls a vacuum on it, which then holds the throttle for you. Yours appears to be missing the linkage to allow it to do that, but that won't cause a hard start issue.

First guess on a delayed start would be that the fuel is leaking back and it's taking a bit to 'reprime' itself, but it could also be an ignition problem. Good luck---