Stupidest service procedure ever or what?

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Originally Posted by Lotz-A-Landies

If the oil is not due to be changed but you want to check the level, say before a trip, what do you do if the filler plug can't be used to check level? After all you should check the engine oil regularly when not due to be replaced, why wouldn't you check transmission too.

Thats what I'm saying.

Personally I wouldn't re-use oil, just because of the risk of contamination in the box and during the removal and replacement process.

If as Dave says the filler plug is in the wrong place, then LR should have replaced it into the correct position.

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well I can only imagine that the level must be lower than the fill plug, otherwise how would you fill it above that point. SO if that is the case its quite easy to make your own dipstick to check levels in even odd shaped housings…...

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Originally Posted by Lotz-A-Landies

If as Dave says the filler plug is in the wrong place, then LR should have replaced it into the correct position.

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its not in the right place, you just have to put the Tcase in in the original orientation...

not particularly difficult in my book, land rover got it right, BMW (and all and sundry others between them) got it right, Ford didnt.


but then they (ford) also managed to shoe horn their own 4 pot diesel into an engine bay thats been known to house V8s and 4ish L 4 pot diesels in such a way that it was possible to hit the engine sump with the front diffs UJ flange.

It seems that the point is that the orientation of the transfer case in these vehicles is not the same as the vehicles they were designed for, so the position of the filler plug does not represent the right amount of oil. So the amount of oil in the case has to be measured to get the right amount. Given that the TC tilts downward, and the filler plug is at the rear, I'm thinking that the filler plug will end up below the oil level. What puzzles me is, if the filler plug (and yes, they still call it the filler plug, so I presume you are still supposed to fill it from there)- anyway, if the filler plug level will result in not enough oil in the transfer case, that means that you have to fill it up above the filler plug. There is no mention in the workshop manual of how they expect you to do this. Back wheels up on ramps perhaps?

Thats how I('d) do it.

Or you take off the breather or one of the bolts on the top of the pto housing plate and fill it through that.

I would bet that the vast majority of Pumas fill to overflow of the filler plug 'on level ground' and have in theory insufficient gear oil in there t/cases.

The increased capacity offered by the larger sump cover is good for cooling but it wont increase the level in the t/case if you fill through the filler plug.
How important is this?

Paul.

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Originally Posted by POD

Given that the TC tilts downward, and the filler plug is at the rear, I'm thinking that the filler plug will end up below the oil level. What puzzles me is, if the filler plug (and yes, they still call it the filler plug, so I presume you are still supposed to fill it from there)- anyway, if the filler plug level will result in not enough oil in the transfer case, that means that you have to fill it up above the filler plug. There is no mention in the workshop manual of how they expect you to do this. Back wheels up on ramps perhaps?

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What are you on about here? "The filler plug is below the correct level?"

It is a FILLER plug, not a LEVEL plug, so it could be at any level,
as Dave alluded to when he mentioned Mack trucks ect.
But I agree, it's stupid from a servicing point of view.

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Originally Posted by POD

Was looking through the workshop manual for something else this morning and happened to notice the official procedure for checking the oil level-or rather, quantity- in the LT230 transfer case as fitted to Puma models: one must not use the filler plug as a level plug, or 'damage to the vehicle may result' (presumably this means that the rear output shaft seal will leak). Instead, one is instructed to drain the oil, measure it, and put it back in. :wacko:

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try doing a 6 speed dsg on a vw caddy...

you need special sump plug tool so you can over fill it and then run it so it heats up and then the excess drains out..

had to read it several times to come to terms with it...

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Originally Posted by Gerokent

What are you on about here? "The filler plug is below the correct level?"

It is a FILLER plug, not a LEVEL plug, so it could be at any level,
as Dave alluded to when he mentioned Mack trucks ect.
But I agree, it's stupid from a servicing point of view.

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Perhaps his point is that it is hard to use it as a filler point if it is below the level required.

Under normal circumstances, the oil would already be pouring out of the filler hole while you were trying to get enough in to get up to the correct level. :)

A filler hole above or at the correct level is easy to use. A filler hole below the correct level is a bit inconvenient.

possible? The early TCs had a plug on the side too

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Originally Posted by Gerokent

What are you on about here? "The filler plug is below the correct level?"

It is a FILLER plug, not a LEVEL plug, so it could be at any level,
as Dave alluded to when he mentioned Mack trucks ect.
But I agree, it's stupid from a servicing point of view.

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What I'm on about, as you so politely enquire, is that in my humble experience with the LT230 transfer case (as with a wide range of other gearboxes and transfer cases) the filler plug is also the level plug, i.e. the correct level is reached when oil starts to run back out of the filler plug. This is the case with the LT230 transfer case in previous vehicles. It is also still the LR stated procedure for filling both axles on this same vehicle. In other applications where I have come across a filler plug that is not also the level plug, the filler plug has at least been above the oil level.