R380 Gearbox Oil Cooler

[Yorkshire_Jon]

Hi All,
I have always believed there where 2 landrover spec's, UK and "Rest of World".

Mine is a 2006 TD5 UK spec and does not have a gearbox oil cooler. I know the "Rest of World" spec one's do.

The LR garage has just called me (my cars in the garage at the moment for a ROW spec cooler to be fitted) to tell me that LR Australia have told them that the R380 doesnt need a cooler in Australia and was never supplied with one.

Does anyone have a R380 TD5 that can confirm if it has a gearbox cooler fitted as standard?

Thx
Jon

[rick130]

Every TD5 I've looked under here had the oil cooler fitted ;)

This is the simple pipe that crosses under the bellhousing and up the drivers side of the engine and returns, not the proper heat exchanger hanging in front of the radiator like the Tdi powered Wolf's sport.

[Blknight.aus]

yep the basic out and back cooler is standard on the td5 defender in aus

[Yorkshire_Jon]

Would you guys consider it worthwhile to run the pipe from gearbox out and back in again?

LR Australia have said its not worth it, and certainly not worth installing a "proper" cooler for the Australian climate (even in the desert) ????

Makes me wonder and am interested in your thoughts.

R
Jon

[Blknight.aus]

its worth it.

anything you can do to keep the oil cool is worth it.

[Flatty]

Hi Jon my TDI did not have a gearbox oil cooler so I bought one from the wreckers it is the standard Landrover one. An advantage of having one is that the gearbox oil capacity increased a little, I think about 3-400ml. I figured if the oil capacity is increased then it would last longer and run cooler. The bell housing had a flat square section on the bottom of it which I drilled and tapped to secure the standard bracket which came attached to the pipe work. I then drilled a piece of alloy angle to bolt to the timing cover at the front of the motor to support the front U shaped bit. The fitting on the side of the gearbox was unbolted and the oil cooler one bolted straight on. I hope this helps.
Regards
Flatty

[Tusker]

Search "cooler" on the Ashcroft site, they support what you think.

I believe there's a thermostat in there on ours, can't comment on home market spec R380s.

I've had 5th gear issues a couple of times which I'm sure the result of non-stop 5th gear touring in summer. My trans specialist wouldn't fit a cooler last time, he didn't think the oil pump was up to it. The replacement pump was a different shape/design though...

And the 300tdi R380s have a proper cooler...

A proper cooler is on my to-do list. Oil-to-water anyone?

Regards
Max P

[Yorkshire_Jon]

Thanks guys.

The garage did mutter something about the oil pump not being upto the job??? Dont know about that, I thought all R380 oil pumps are the same.

The adapter plate that Ashcrofts do doesnt have a thermostat in it, its simply an ally block that has the oil ways milled out in it. The cooler matrix they sell wont fit on my vehicle, its the wrong shape (I have air-con and an uprated intercooler so it has to be wide and not very high).

I managed to get the proper / genuine adapter plate from British Offroad. I figured that if I can get a cooler that I can fit in the space available I might get Enzed or someone similar to make up a set of braided cables.

R
Jon

[rick130]

Jon, I've taped a thermocouple to the by-pass tube for the pump (where the t/stat housing bolts on) on a 300Tdi R380 and it hit over 75*C within about 7km from home just cruising up the highway @ 100km/h.

IIRC the t/stat opens around that temp.

[slug_burner]

Jon, I've taped a thermocouple to the by-pass tube for the pump (where the t/stat housing bolts on) on a 300Tdi R380 and it hit over 75*C within about 7km from home just cruising up the highway @ 100km/h.

IIRC the t/stat opens around that temp.

rick130,

I take it that your 300Tdi does not have a cooler. If the temp is only getting to thermostat temperature then is it worth having the cooler?

[Yorkshire_Jon]

rick130,

I take it that your 300Tdi does not have a cooler. If the temp is only getting to thermostat temperature then is it worth having the cooler?

If the temp on the pipe reads 75 degrees that quickly then the thermostat must open at or before that as rick suggests.

I'd like to know how hot it gets on a summer day after driving all day... Way above 75 degrees im guessing.

Does anyone know what temperature the oil gets damaged at / becomes in effective and makes gear changes difficult?

J

[dennisS1]

hope this is not against any sales rules on this site but pm me if you want a original Td5 defender unit.
Dennis

[Blknight.aus]

as a rough guidline

DEX III compliant ATF starts to drop the bundle at about 160 deg C and is done and dusted by about 300

[rick130]

s_b, no cooler, but my point was if it gets that hot that quickly under bugger all load, well, you get the idea ;)

Jon, in my g/box I used to find that while the good quality 75W-80 and 85 syn based oils like Redline MTL and Castrol Syntrans are fine at elevated temps, gear and bearing rattle and synchro action goes to hell (baulking) as they thin out.

This was at ambients of about 35*C and above.

I now run Motul Gear 300 (75W-90, around 15cSt @100*C) and this copes well in summer with good winter shiftability. (it only gets down to -5* or so here)
Obviously the oil cooler (which I have and have never fitted) is the real fix.

[slug_burner]

s_b, no cooler, but my point was if it gets that hot that quickly under bugger all load, well, you get the idea ;)

Jon, in my g/box I used to find that while the good quality 75W-80 and 85 syn based oils like Redline MTL and Castrol Syntrans are fine at elevated temps, gear and bearing rattle and synchro action goes to hell (baulking) as they thin out.

This was at ambients of about 35*C and above.

I now run Motul Gear 300 (75W-90, around 15cSt @100*C) and this copes well in summer with good winter shiftability. (it only gets down to -5* or so here)
Obviously the oil cooler (which I have and have never fitted) is the real fix.

Thanks.

The only time I have had the gbox smell like it was hot was when the input gear to lay gear decided to crounch each other. So don't know what came first the thin oil or if the destruction of the gears generated the heat in the first place. This was after approx 90 min 100-110 km/h run down the Hume in 5th. Not towing but a few kg of LR wheels and a pedestal drill.

I would prefer to have a cooler than have to rebuild the gbox again, again. I will have to rebuild it as my mechanic says the gbox talks to him, a few whining sounds as you go into various gears and particularly on overrun. I'd like to build a reliable box but I suspect that one of "the grubb's" MSA boxes might be overkill behind the 300Tdi.

[discodevil94]

Hi Guys/Gals,
We towed a van up to QLD from Tas. last year with our 300tdi 94 130 dual cab, and the transmission tunnel got that hot we needed the aircon on to keep cool, even though it was only 17 degrees outside. Eight months later I am putting in a new gearbox (L suffix) from ashcroft. Not a cheap exercise. Going in the car at the same time is a 97 r380 oil cooler out of a disco, it is a proper cooler about 500mm x 60mm x 90mm, I will have to modify the piping but it will be worth it.
Cheers
Angus

[bambusa]

Would heat sinks mounted along the cooler pipe make any difference?

[slug_burner]

Would heat sinks mounted along the cooler pipe make any difference?

yes that is what a cooler is a big heatsink that also increases the surface area to the air to exchange the heat from the oil to the cooler and then to the air.

[slug_burner]

If you want to put a cooler onto your R380 go to the LR site where they are getting rid of the excess spares, I got a thermostatic cover that goes on the side of the Gbox. It wasn't cheap but better than the new price from the UK.

[130man]

Hi All. I have seen an oil cooler that looks like a bottle brush, possibly from a late Series Three V8. Does anyone know how these compare with the more conventional type that are miniture radiators? Doing something about this is a priority before next summer. Cheers,130man.