Thread: How to check main shaft spline wear puma 130

The same could be said for every manufacturer. Pat

I read on a forum somewhere that there is a new service kit for lubing that splined shaft in situ, includes an extra long syringe. I wondered about tapping a fill hole, and the drain hole for a pug and just filling that cavity with CV grease.....

Just wait till Jan,Ashcrofts has a fix. Pat

I've just had the clutch replaced under warranty. It had developed a clunk at gear changes and a loud rattle at idle. On inspection the springs on the friction plate were quite loose. I had the clutch slave cylinder/release bearing assembly and spigot bearing replace and the flywheel skimmed on independent professional advice and at my expense. While the box was out I had the mechanic take out the extension/adapter shaft so we could inspect it for wear. The horror stories about total loss of drive had me rather worried and I needed reassurance that this shaft would last until Ashcrofts come up with a heavy duty solution. As expected the splines were bone dry and covered in red dust (rust). There were also minute traces of a dried up, silver-coloured anti-seize. Fortunately there was no discernible wear at 40k so I was happy to have it reassembled with the new Maicon grease (supplied by Land Rover) packed into the assembly. Naturally I had to pay for the additional labour and the grease but I feel a lot more confident in the vehicle's ability to get me back from trips. I did see a totally shredded shaft from a low kilometre 2012 Defender (now on its third set under warranty-something wrong there!). The splines on the adapter shaft have quite a low profile and I suspect that if there is the slightest mis-alignment of the shaft and cup, that the teeth would be worn down quite readily. The whole assembly needs to be larger and have taller splines to cope with the forces which are passed through it! Our Defender is now out of warranty but it's nice and quiet and runs like new. I'm happy with that and look forward to some extended outback trips towing our Tvan.

It would save LR $$$$ if they just sack the idiot engineers who design these things. Pat

At 25000km I took my 2012 130 to the dealer with excessive backlash and a clonk. Without any hesitation they announced that they will be replacing the rear half shafts, gearbox output shaft, and the clutch. That they volunteer to do all this stuff without question and without any prompting from me is terrific and it is typical of the manner in which all of my warranty related complaints have been received over the years. I have had Defenders for twenty years now, having bought my first one new in 1995, and I have always been looked after very well by the two dealers with which I have mostly dealt. So that's great. What's not so great is that after only 25000 km my Defender feels worn out and is really not enjoyable to drive. It's quite a disappointment to me that we're still dealing with the same issues that were evident twenty years ago. Back then gearboxes were being replaced because output shafts were wearing out (mine was one), and of course half shaft spline wear has been an issue all along. I love Defenders of course, having owned them for all that time, and I'm always having to leap to their defence when folks want to criticise them but I'm pretty tired of having to deal with issues of poor design such as this. What I need is some kind of assurance that the new shaft is going to last a lot longer than the first. Once it's out of warranty I don't want to be having to replace all this stuff constantly.

Originally Posted by wally

At 25000km I took my 2012 130 to the dealer with excessive backlash and a clonk. Without any hesitation they announced that they will be replacing the rear half shafts, gearbox output shaft, and the clutch. That they volunteer to do all this stuff without question and without any prompting from me is terrific and it is typical of the manner in which all of my warranty related complaints have been received over the years. I have had Defenders for twenty years now, having bought my first one new in 1995, and I have always been looked after very well by the two dealers with which I have mostly dealt. So that's great. What's not so great is that after only 25000 km my Defender feels worn out and is really not enjoyable to drive. It's quite a disappointment to me that we're still dealing with the same issues that were evident twenty years ago. Back then gearboxes were being replaced because output shafts were wearing out (mine was one), and of course half shaft spline wear has been an issue all along. I love Defenders of course, having owned them for all that time, and I'm always having to leap to their defence when folks want to criticise them but I'm pretty tired of having to deal with issues of poor design such as this. What I need is some kind of assurance that the new shaft is going to last a lot longer than the first. Once it's out of warranty I don't want to be having to replace all this stuff constantly.

Exactly,one of my brothers is an absolute LR tragic,has had not much else for the last 35yrs,he knows them inside out.
Although he would love to replace his 350k plus D1 with a new Puma,he is loathed to get one due to the ongoing issues that have never been resolved.

He will probably end up with a dual cab Ranger,or whatever.

As Pat303 has said,the engineers that have not changed/modified these issues need sacking,as well as the ones that introduce rediculously stupid designs.

Sure Ashcrofts and others may have fixes for issues,but that isn't the point.


Doesn't help the reputation of the brand either.

Although in saying all this,my sons Puma has never missed a beat.......so far.
But one day it will,and it will probably be an expensive fix

Originally Posted by scarry

As Pat303 has said,the engineers that have not changed/modified these issues need sacking,as well as the ones that introduce rediculously stupid designs.

Stop bagging the engineers! It'll be the accountants that have determined that there isn't enough money to stick any further engineering effort into the design!