Td5 defender r380 gearbox failure. Help.

yeh 2nd hand does come with risk.

How long are you having to wait for the box to get here from melb?

Perhaps maybe look at dropping one or two destinations up north, some of the gorges have quite long hikes in which might be difficult with the kids. Might be better to drop one or two so you aren't so rushed to get to everything.

This guy has a series of videos of his trip last year to the Kimberly and NT. It might be helpful for you in working out what is unmissable and what you can bypass, he also discusses access to each and crowds.

YouTube

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Originally Posted by clintooo

yeh 2nd hand does come with risk.

How long are you having to wait for the box to get here from melb?

Perhaps maybe look at dropping one or two destinations up north, some of the gorges have quite long hikes in which might be difficult with the kids. Might be better to drop one or two so you aren't so rushed to get to everything.

This guy has a series of videos of his trip last year to the Kimberly and NT. It might be helpful for you in working out what is unmissable and what you can bypass, he also discusses access to each and crowds.

YouTube

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Hoping to get the box by Friday. We will then do a couple of days south of Perth to test things out before heading north again. At least then I can drop back into Dave on the way past Perth for a final check over.

Those videos look great. We will watch some tonight for some inspiration.

Probably boring everyone with my problems now but the saga continues.

Got the defender back today, now with gearbox and transfer case replaced with Land Rover reconditioned units from rovercraft.

Dave Dover has been great for starters. He lent us a duel cab Ute for the week so I could keep the family entertained and tow the van.

After the replacement he test drove my ute, even ran it on blocks for an hour and there were no leaks.

So I headed north and when I pulled up just south of Geraldton, oil was dripping on the road from the transfer case again.

It is booked in with whyatts landrover Geraldton tomorrow for another repair. Rovercraft look like they will foot the bill but will have to see tomorrow what the diagnosis is. It looks to me like intermediate shaft seal.

checked the breather?

There is a mod the local guys do here which involves installing a penny washer to the transfer case.
Penny washer is a domed solid brass disc that you install then tap with a hammer to expand and lock into place.
Requires full strip of the case and machining + skim cut to end of intermediate shaft.
Mark

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Originally Posted by big harold

There is a mod the local guys do here which involves installing a penny washer to the transfer case.
Penny washer is a domed solid brass disc that you install then tap with a hammer to expand and lock into place.
Requires full strip of the case and machining + skim cut to end of intermediate shaft.
Mark

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Often the intermediate shaft bore elongates/flogs out.
The permanent fix is the case bored and a top hat bush pressed into place.

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Originally Posted by rick130

Often the intermediate shaft bore elongates/flogs out.
The permanent fix is the case bored and a top hat bush pressed into place.

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Yep but will still leak even if bushed as "o" ring wears.
With the washer will not leak even if "o" ring damaged.

O rings don't wear when used as a static seal.
These suckers are Viton, they're good for 10-15 years before taking a set.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rick130

O rings don't wear when used as a static seal.
These suckers are Viton, they're good for 10-15 years before taking a set.

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Thats why I have 2 defenders both with 100K one 4 and one 6 years old and both have leaks from intermediate shaft seals.
Mark

Picked the ute up yesterday. Mechanics took it for a 60km road test, no leaks.

I drove it for 5 km, started to leak!

Went back to whyttes Land Rover and checked it over. They showed me the oring which they replaced on the intermediate shaft. I’m their opinion it was the wrong size completely. It was misshapen and definantly not viton.


We tracked the “new” leak down to transfer input seal. Their thoughts was that the gearbox output shaft collar must have an imperfection which is allowing oil from the transfer to seap past.

I contacted Dave Dover who said he has had this happen a few times now on boxes he has reconditioned and suspects there is a bad batch of collars. He has been replacing the collars on the with the genuine part and has fixed the issue.

Contacted Rovercraft who confirmed the gearbox and transfer were reconditioned by landrover UK. Rovercraft are covering costs of this failed repair.

I have decided to continue my trip and just monitor the leak until I get to brisbane or it gets worse.

It certainly has not been easy to relax and enjoy this holiday.