Welcome to English Engineering. Jaguar=Same. It's a "Lifetime" transmission. Of course, their lifetime and your lifetime may be different things...

 

The dealer up here in Dallas is pretty good as well, their prices are actually competitive with AB and rovers north. A good 1 in 4 cars around where I live (near SMU) are Land Rovers / Range Rovers so that might explain some things.

I replaced that expansion tank to TB heater hose less than a year ago and just had to replace the rubber hose part from the TB heater side cause it turned gummy and was leaking. I ended up using bulk hose from Autozone.

 

It may have turned gummy from Dexcool coolant.....

 

My plan is to replace the u joints today even though they appear to be fine. I have read on this forum that they can fail without warning so I don't want to take any chances. My question is, what is unique about these u joints and why do they tend to fail so often on this particular application? I have driven many of my vehicles over 200,000 miles and never lost a u joint.
Also, some people replace the u joints only and some replace the entire driveshaft. I am unclear on how to know when to make the choice of replacing only the u joints and when to replace everything. Everything on my truck is tight with no movement at all. Will replacing the u joints only be a reasonable decision?

 

If you will look in our tech section for front propshaft rebuild there is a pictorial of what you are up against. The double cardon joint oem is sealed, it is thought that heat from CATs cooks out the grease. It can chirp (but you may not hear the chirp), then tear loose at speed and you may not bring the truck to a stop before the thrashing shaft has poked a hole in the case of the tranny. It is the combination of possibility of failure and the unique damage it can cause that raises the concern level for this part. I've got vehicles with 200,000 - 300,000 miles and not had a sealed U joint failure, but they are not Rover D2.

 

I read the threads/stickies addressing this issue over the past week and based on everyone's advice decided to just do the repair as a preventive measure. It seems crazy to me to take a chance when the repair is only a couple of hundred dollars and the damage from a failure can be catastrophic. I really appreciate your feedback.
I'm taking my truck to a transmission specialist next week to see if the shudder between 35 and 50mph is coming from a transmission problem. I've noticed that if I let off the gas the problem disappears so I am really not sure what to think. maybe changing the u joints today will solve the problem and I can start driving the truck daily.

 

I can assure you that there is a high likelyhood that shudder will be diagnosed by a tranny tech as a tranny problem, a Rover looks like a Platinum Visa Card with wheels.

If you can lock your CDL (some D2s have it, some don't, and some have a 10mm spud on the transfer case that can be locked with a wrench) - you can remove a drive shaft and drive with CDL locked, the result is 2WD, for diagnostics. Wheel balance is also there, Rovers are known for being driven on terrain not suitable for civilized vehicles.

 

Thanks. I will try it this afternoon.

 

Not to mention that Harris County has potholes, everything's bigger in Texas. Don't ask a man if he is from Texas, if he is he will tell you. If he is not, don't embarrass him.

In other word, rough driving can be done on paved roads and mall parking lot curbs.

 

Never heard from the mechanic so the truck will have to sit till I can remove the driveshaft and take it to a shop. At least I got a chance to remove and box up for shipment some parts for a Benz I am parting out.