Hey all. I've been searching and reading through this forum for the past few weeks, so much info here it's unbelievable. I used it to research the common problems on the DII and found a good one, I think. It's a 99DII with 97k. The previous owner took it into the shop anytime he needed his wipers changed. I even found a record containing a front license plate replacement. It's had the following major items completed by mostly LR shops:

Valve cover gaskets 3/2004 at 51k
2 MASS air flow sensors replaced
Head Gaskets replaced 8/2006 at 80k
Rebuilt front driveshaft 4/30/08 at 97k

etc...

I plan on taking this thing down deeeeep into Baja, far away from any LR parts, so I'm taking her in for a 140 point inspection and trying to find ANYTHING I can to fix. Here are the two items at the top of my list:

Question One
A vibration that only starts at 75k. Up untill then, everything is smooth. I read nearly all the vibration threads here and then went out and inspected that front drive shaft. What I found is a disturbing. NO Grease fittings on the shaft or the U joints. The rear drive shaft has a grease fitting on the shaft, but the not the joint.

It was just replaced less than 2 weeks ago, for the original owner: part number TVB000110. Do I need to replace it for one with grease fittings, or should I trust the rebuilt part for a 30k miles or so? Wonder if I can get him to take it back and upgrade me to one with grease fittings?

Question Two
The other thing I'm noting about the vehicle is a steady whine that increases with higher speeds coming from the rear end. It sounds like the kind of whine you hear when you step into the bathroom of a 737 somewhere over Colorado. Keep in mind, this particular flight is the red eye, so you've got your ear plugs in. What I mean, is... it's not very loud and turns into white noise when I stop fretting about it. Any ideas?

Question Three
Is it normal for a new owner to be fixated with every disco he sees, stock or stoked? If so, how do you deal with the wife/girlfriend who is already tired of saying, "yes... I see... its ANOTHER discovery" after 4 days?

Thanks for reading this far.

 

As far as question three goes.... I can be at work, looking anywhere but the front door and windows, but if a disco drives by, I break my neck every time. I even run out if it's one I've never seen before. I never saw discos in my town before i got mine, now there everywhere!

98 Land Rover Disco
123.000 miles

 

1) I would take the front shaft off, lock yourtransfer case and go for a drive on the freeway. If thevibration is gone then it's the shaft.

2) Start by checking the fluid in the rear differential asap. (check the transfer case fluid while you're down there).

3) Yes. - Tell her it's better than looking at ANOTHER blond.

 

Trust me, there is NO CURE! In my area, most of the disco owners wave. I love it! You know its a true rover person when they wave first, or wave back. Welcome to the Land Rover lifestyle.

 

JKID: I've been searching for info on how to manually lock the transfer case after removing that drive shaft. I found allot of references to doing so, but no 1,2,3s. Would you mind pointing me in the right direction?


As for q3, I'll start waving and see who waves back.

Thanks guys.

 

I thought a 99 had the linkage, anyways this should do it: https://landroverforums.com/m_40373/tm.htm
You need to reach up to the top of the transfer case to find it and turn it (180 degrees?? I think)

I had a very small vibration around 70 mph that went away when I changed my u-joints. If you take the shaft off, the joints should be able to move very freely. Ifyou feel anytight spots at all, something is bad.Of course it could be as simple as tires out ofbalance too.

 

Just in case anyone is searching for vibration or whine or differentials, I just had mine replaced. The symtom of a jet engine like whine, starting low and getting louder as speed increased, and coming from the back end, was my differential seizing up.

Mechanic put it on the lift and ran it, it was super rough. There was no play in the gears when the flange the drive shaft mounts to was turned. Mechanic said it should have a little.

He put a used Diff in it with 30k miles. Noise is going, and I feel like the vibration is minimized too, but I could be crazy.

Hope this helps someone.

--rob