L322 Front Propshaft Bolts
Discussion
Anyone heard of problems with these before?
I dusted off the one of our L322's for an MOT today, it's a later 4.4 BMW engined Vogue. On the way I noticed a bit of clunkiness setting off, which I put down to wear and tear of the box at 114K and could do with a fluid change. Anyway, up it went on the ramp and I had a poke about underneath, turns out there are 6 bolts securing the front propshaft to the front diff at the coupling. All 5 remaining bolts were loose, 1 had already dropped out. I don't quite understand how it's happened, it seems very odd.
You can clearly see in that photo where this a bolt missing, but you can also see the outline of where a spacer plate has been under the bolt head. On the upper bolts, you can still see the spacer plate present. What I can't get my head around, is that the spacer plate is missing, even though the remaining bolts that should hold it in are still there? The MOT Tester was equally confused by it.
The 6th bolt that's missing has sheared off, as the remaining thread still protrudes from the other side. I'm generally quite familiar with Range Rover's in general, I've spannered on P38's, Classics and L322's, and I've got a fairly good idea of common faults. I'm aware of the front diff recall, but this car had it done at <23k miles before we bought it, and it's done nearly 100K since then.
Either way I'm very glad we picked up on it, as it could have caused some pretty nasty damage should it have come loose completely! What's bizarre is the lack of vibration / noise etc given how bad the play was when we looked underneath, 2 of the remaining bolts had perhaps 3 to 4 turns holding them in place, other's were better, one was almost tight and one had obviously sheared. If you've got a slight shudder on your L322 it's well worth a quick check!
I dusted off the one of our L322's for an MOT today, it's a later 4.4 BMW engined Vogue. On the way I noticed a bit of clunkiness setting off, which I put down to wear and tear of the box at 114K and could do with a fluid change. Anyway, up it went on the ramp and I had a poke about underneath, turns out there are 6 bolts securing the front propshaft to the front diff at the coupling. All 5 remaining bolts were loose, 1 had already dropped out. I don't quite understand how it's happened, it seems very odd.
You can clearly see in that photo where this a bolt missing, but you can also see the outline of where a spacer plate has been under the bolt head. On the upper bolts, you can still see the spacer plate present. What I can't get my head around, is that the spacer plate is missing, even though the remaining bolts that should hold it in are still there? The MOT Tester was equally confused by it.
The 6th bolt that's missing has sheared off, as the remaining thread still protrudes from the other side. I'm generally quite familiar with Range Rover's in general, I've spannered on P38's, Classics and L322's, and I've got a fairly good idea of common faults. I'm aware of the front diff recall, but this car had it done at <23k miles before we bought it, and it's done nearly 100K since then.
Either way I'm very glad we picked up on it, as it could have caused some pretty nasty damage should it have come loose completely! What's bizarre is the lack of vibration / noise etc given how bad the play was when we looked underneath, 2 of the remaining bolts had perhaps 3 to 4 turns holding them in place, other's were better, one was almost tight and one had obviously sheared. If you've got a slight shudder on your L322 it's well worth a quick check!
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