viscous coupling? no front wheel drive?!

[ryanc8514]

well i finally fixed my hi/low shifter and i can definately notice a difference..buttt i dont think my front wheel drive is working...i know all rovers are al wheel drive but ever since i got my car when i go offroading iv never seen my front wheels spin like my back wheels...first i thought it was because i was driving in high range since my shifter wasnt working but now that i fixed my shifter i think the front wheels just arent pulling...
for example, if i get stuck in mud an i accelerate, only my bak wheels will spin instead of all them spinning...i went 2 the texas rovers meeting lastnight and someone brought up viscous couplings and that mine could have gone bad...do i have to get a new transfer box if i want all wheel drive? or is there another solution?

[sven]

Your right, the 4wd should work both in H and L. You can easily test the VC by jacking up one of the front tires and try spinning it. It should spin, but it should get harder to turn, the faster you try to spin it. Then try the same on teh opposite front wheel. If one of those wheels spins freely, it maybe a broken CV or diff. If both, then Id suspect the VC. Hope that helps!

[RageRover]

Here's something, now earlier, before I got my shifter to work (damn solenoid), I did the front brakes. Pain in the ass, well not too hard, but time consuming job. i was just messin' around and we got one wheel ready to get one side of the front of the truck on a jack stand, I tried to spin the wheel, and it stop like after a small turn, not even an inch or two. Got both front wheels off the ground, spun one way, the other spun the opposite way, obviously showing the diff gears and spiders are working, no grinding sounds.

I think my VC is still in working order then. Is it? Sounds like a shitty question to ask, but just double checking my ass.

[stevo-II]

hey ryan, this is steve from texas rovers.....did you have any luck diagnosing the no-front-wheel drive issue?

steve

[ryanc8514]

yes i did a ton of research and found out how the viscous coupling works, i tested it on accident haha...i was playing around testing out my flex with my front right wheel on a slope and my friend was watching and noticed when i was climbing up the slope my front tires started spinning out

[Greg M]

Thats a relief I'm sure! Didn't want to give your mom any more ammunition.

[ryanc8514]

haha exactly! i try not to mention any problems to her and just fix them asap!

[ryanc8514]

soo now im realllyyyy confused! perhaps my friend is an idiot and jus hallucinated seeing my front tires spin that day...i decided to change out my swivel ball gasket since its been leaking for some time...i took the route of taking off the joint from the axle, when i pulled out the whole piece i could move it around and hear the bearing rolling around and i saw pieces of metal inside to cv!! soo i have a blown cv joint and when i turned the axle the bolts on the other side of the cv didnt move at all..so i guess this would explain my front wheels not spinning...

now im wondering if my front differential is even in working condition? ill prob play around with it some more this week and see whats going on with everything

shows how strong these rovers are built..iv been driving and offharding tons since i bought my rover a year ago and it ran jus fine with a broken cv!!

[stevo-II]

Well, I would just go ahead and replace the CV on that side, then pull the other side and check it. If both are good, you could jack up one tire, spin it, see if the driveshaft spins (that would tell you the diff is good) and then see if the viscous coupling trys to lock up the drive shaft the more you spin it. Do that on both sides to make sure you don't have any broken axles (actually I guess a broken axle could look the same as a blown diff)....but I would do that first and see if it acts "normal" - if it doesn't then you need to dig further.

Steve

[RageRover]

Inside these CV's has to be grease, anyway of changing the grease? And would this help prevent them from being destroyed?

[ryanc8514]

you can replace the grease..drain the old grease by taking off the drain plug, if you dont go thru alot of water crossings then u should go with land rover 1 shot swivel grease and fill it at the top of the cv thru the fill plug...if u do go thru alot of water then fill ur cv with oil and everytime u go thru water u should drain the cv and fill it bak up with new oil bc it gets contaminated by the water...u cant do this with swivel grease because its so thick and it doesnt drain everything oil too good

[RageRover]

Ok, sweet.

Um...so where can I find the Land Rover 1 grease?

[ryanc8514]

u can get it at the dealership for about the same price as u can online...its gonna be around $20, mayb a couple dollars less

[RageRover]

Wow, I wonder what seperates it from standard stuff. Oh well, I can go and get some when I can.

I still have to do front and rear diff fluids, and tranny and T-Case.