I can feel, but mostly hear, a vibration. It sound like it's coming from directly behind the dashboard, but it sounds too hearty to be anything associated with the dashboard.

I just bought it ('99 Disco II), drove it around for a few days (less than 50 miles), went and had a oil change (no driveway and street parking doesn't leave enough room to feel safe under the car), drove it for the first time over 50 mph, then the vibration started.

Everything else is perfect with the car (acceleration, shifting, start-up, power, braking, etc)

Any idea?

Thanks in advance,

PG

 

Front drive shaft going bad is going to be the majority of the suggestions that you hear and really should be the first thing you check out. It's also pretty much the first thing you should replace on a new to you Disco.

Search the forum for how to tell if it's an original one and how to replace one (8 bolts and really simple to do). You are probably going to have to remove it to determine if it's going bad on you. But you definitely want to have this done.

If it breaks on you while driving they have a nasty habit of bashing a hole in your transmission and that's much more time and effort and $$ to fix than a new driveshaft.

 

If it vibrates at idle, it isn't the driveshaft (unless the driveshaft adds to the vibration while driving). How bad is the vibration? Any change in engine rpms while it's vibrating? Does it change with speed?

Check your motor mounts. There are two motor mounts up front and two at the transmission and transfer case for a total of four. When I bought my 99 D2, 3 out of 4 were broken entirely and it shook pretty badly.

 

Turn off your AC/fan and radio, "just to be sure" that the vibration isn't something simple/silly.

Briefly put a transparent mason glass half filled with water, but lid closed, on top of your motor when cold and start up your Disco. If your motor makes big waves or splashes in the water at idle in Park, then you've narrowed the problem down to motor issues such as motor mounts, an engine "miss", timing problem, crank problem, etc.

 

I agree that the motor mounts should be high on the list of things to check. But I also agree that regardless of the fact that the vibration can be felt at idle, which means it's not the driveshaft, the front driveshaft should be carefully inspected.

As written in this forum many places, the front drive shaft should have a grease fittings for each of the three U-joints. If the one in your truck does not order a replacement driveshaft. If it does have the grease fittings I would lube it now and be sure to lube it each time the oil is changed. The splined slip shift should also be lubed. There is often a blanking plug inserted in the hole that has to be removed and replaced temporarily with a quarter inch grease fitting to lube the splines.