Puma Defender 2.2 - Clunky Gearbox

You all need to remember that the power goes through two gearbox's and three diff's,all with backlash before it reaches the road,it takes learning to drive smooth. Pat

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Originally Posted by conjames

I tried Dazza's suggestion of taking your foot of the accelerator and then clutch to change gears and that works giving a smoother change but we are talking slow gear changes. Haven't got all day..:-)

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But this ^^^ is the charm of owning a defender. Life is different now. It takes on a different pace. Driving one of these brings your life into focus etc of how life is really meant to be.

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Originally Posted by conjames

I get the feeling that that's how these Puma Defenders are and will have to live with it. You would think in this day and age, they could at least get that bit right.

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They have got it right. Can I ask - if it bothers you so much why did you buy one?

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Originally Posted by conjames

You can do good gear changes with taking your foot off the accelerator as the revs holdup and the releasing the clutch before accelerating but really shouldn't have to do it. The Puma wasn't cheap and one would expect some reasonable gear changes.

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Hey conjames, this is simply how it's designed. As Pat says since 1970, centre diff constant 4WD, combined with driveline power going through two gearboxes and three diffs and everything being heavy duty, it's the nature of the beast. It's why it's so capable and robust.

Infact I think new Defenders are incredibly good value, an absolute bargain infact. Hand built, numerous bespoke options, seriously heavy duty, the most capable 4WD and a design classic. If you're quick you can still buy TWO brand new Defenders for close to the price of one Discovery 4 or one Landcruiser!

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Originally Posted by PAT303

You all need to remember that the power goes through two gearbox's and three diff's,all with backlash before it reaches the road,it takes learning to drive smooth. Pat

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Pat, so the MT82 feels much the same as the R380 in terms of driveline backlash ? (And the LT77, LT85, LT95 before them ?)

Yep,pretty much the same Rick,what makes them worse is the adapter going,I was in Perth peak hour and that combined with flogged out axle flanges made it a shocker.Saying that I remember picking up the Tdi with 8km's on the clock and clunking my way home.Tracey has no problem driving ''her'' TDCi but she is a smooth driver and simply adapted her style,she still just brakes way too late for my liking. Pat

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Originally Posted by Pocket Rocket

But this ^^^ is the charm of owning a defender. Life is different now. It takes on a different pace. Driving one of these brings your life into focus etc of how life is really meant to be.



They have got it right. Can I ask - if it bothers you so much why did you buy one?

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Well Pocket I always wanted a Defender and I still would have bought it even with the issues but no, they haven't got it right. There is just too much backlash in that drive train and there are plenty of negative posts about it. But in any case I still luv the truck.

All great posts here. Either way will get the dealer to check it out and I'll drive another new one to compare but starting to get the hang of it and getting the changes smooth, just a slow process but all good.

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Originally Posted by PAT303

Yep,pretty much the same Rick,what makes them worse is the adapter going,I was in Perth peak hour and that combined with flogged out axle flanges made it a shocker.Saying that I remember picking up the Tdi with 8km's on the clock and clunking my way home.Tracey has no problem driving ''her'' TDCi but she is a smooth driver and simply adapted her style,she still just brakes way too late for my liking. Pat

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Other than the Maxi axles and flanges, (which are still tight thirteen years down the track, oil lubed hubs helping too) the best thing I've done for driveline backlash is the Ascroft ATB in lieu of the open centre diff.

You still have the small amount of play between all the various splines, but one huge potential clunk has been eliminated, and the car drives better on loose or greasy surfaces.

I reckon the BAS autobiography tune improved the changes.

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Originally Posted by conjames

Well Pocket I always wanted a Defender and I still would have bought it even with the issues but no, they haven't got it right. There is just too much backlash in that drive train and there are plenty of negative posts about it. But in any case I still luv the truck.

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Glad to hear you love it. On the backlash issue, with loneranger's 110 we did have an issue where wasn't staying in high range. That had interesting results and one of those was being able to drive anywhere between 30 and 60 km/hr without needing to change gears. When I got my 90 it felt so different that I asked them if they had changed the gearbox on the MY15's and they said no. We didn't know that wasn't how it was supposed to be. Once they fixed the problem they both change gears normally.