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Defender Td5 low speed vibrations?


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Sorry for the long post, but I thought it best to include all information.

OK, I've done en extensive search but can't find much information on this problem. The symptoms are so clearly defined, I'm surprised it hasn't come up before. I'm an experienced LR owner but have been lulled into a false sense of security since having no problems for the last few years!

I have a 2005 Defender Td5 110 with about 90,000 on the clock. Mostly road miles and definitely no hard off roading. Bought from previous owners at about 30,000 with similar usage.

I've noticed a quite severe vibration through the whole vehicle, mostly at low speeds when decelerating.
The vibration is most noticeable at and below 20mph but is there most of the time.
Doesn't vary with breaking, i.e. it still vibrates when breaks are applied.
Doesn't vary by putting it into neutral.
Not present with engine running but stationary and out of gear.
The vibration continues until the vehicle finally comes to a halt, so still vibrating quite noticeably at very low speeds and until it finally comes to rest.
Very noticeable when coasting down a slope.
Vibration gets less on acceleration and when under load at speed.
It seemed to be less noticeable after filling the fuel tank to capacity from empty and with about 100kgs load in the back.
OK, I'll put my hand up and admit the prop shaft has not been greased for some time, so I'm suspecting dry sticking UJs, splines, etc?? But no sign of red rust staining and no movement (except as below) from UJs.

I've had my MOT specialists look it over:
Very slight movement from a front UJ next to the transfer box -- but I'm assured it is not enough to cause this vibration.
A quite bad flat spot found in rear driver's side tyre (not caused by abrasion), so....
Two new tyres fitted to the front and front tyres moved to the back, all have been balanced...
The vibration is very slightly better but really unchanged.
At the last MOT an advisory was of a slightly leaking shock. Can't remember which one, but no comment from the same MOT inspector who checked it over for the vibrations this time.

I'm too bloody old to be crawling around under Landrovers but my next thought is to get help to remove the front prop shaft, check joints for sticking, and run the vehicle in diff lock and see if the vibration is still there.
Someone has mention the front transfer box bearing. I can't detect any side to side movement but there is clockwise/anti-clockwise play which I've read is normal (?).
There are no oil leaks anywhere. The Landrover is basically in good condition and has given me zero problems until now.

Any ideas?

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It's difficult to assess propshaft ujs with the propshaft still on the vehicle. If the garage has detected some play with the prop still attached then I'll wager it'll be a good deal worse when the prop is removed.

Mo

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Your plan to start with the front prop is sound. The rear UJ of that one is the UJ that generally goes first as it is under the most 'stress' due to the unequal driveline angles of the front prop during normal driving. As Mo says the play is sometimes not detectable until you get it off the vehicle so start with that.

Any play at all in a UJ is too much play.

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Too old. I bet you're not as old as me ?

The clatter. Is the handbrake adjusted correctly. A slight overadjustment will clatter when slowing down or stopping.

I think this is the most likely cause,especially if the drum has rust on its working surface, or is full of dust or mud...

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Thanks everyone. Hoping to con a youngster into crawling under next week and removing the prop shaft. It makes sense that if there is some movement, it will be worse when the prop is off.

I didn't like to say but one local expert assures me it is the front transfer box bearing and another is wanting to drain ALL the oil out and examine sump plugs for metal filings. Yes, it's a lean time of year and nothing like a good vibration hunt to rack up the hours, or am I being cynical?

OK, mmgemini, I've got 76 on the clock and that is genuine mileage. The trouble is I've had this low speed vibration before but can't for the life of me remember how I cured it! :unsure:

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Ujs can be very tricky, i was wondering about vibrations in mine not long ago, all the ujs felt solid underneath, what i didnt know was one of the back ones had already worn all the way through its bearing cups and the prop flange shattered not long after

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OK, everything back together BUT the garage put front and rear pro shafts back in phase. I was assured tat this was correct, however I did manage to persuaded them that was wrong with a couple of print outs from the Internet! So, front prop shaft came off today to be reassembles out of phase plus a couple of splines....

Now, this is where it gets a bit tricky! The mechanic had to use a big hammer to get the two halves of the front prop shaft to separate to re-adjust for the "correct" two spline alignment. That can't be right, surely? I seem to rember the prop shafts separated quite easily. The major vibrations have disappeared but there is still a slight vibration at low speed I don't think should be there. (Mechanic says all LRs vibrate!). .

Also, when turning for the extra two splines, does it matter whether the prop is turned clockwise or anticlockwire (looking towards the front of the vehicle)? I'm out in the sticks so do not have access to top grade mechanics -- and I can't afford to upset local people by repeatedly taking it back into the garage to tell them they've got it wrong again!

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there shouldn't be any need to split either prop at the splines. front props on 90/110 are meant to have the UJ's approx 30 degree out of line with each other. rears should be inline

doesn't matter which way the 2 splines go, what matters is the out of line of UJ's.

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there shouldn't be any need to split either prop at the splines. front props on 90/110 are meant to have the UJ's approx 30 degree out of line with each other. rears should be inline

doesn't matter which way the 2 splines go, what matters is the out of line of UJ's.

Great! So it sounds as if everything should be OK.

Thanks, guys. A great forum!

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