R380 Gearbox exchange Suppliers / reconditioners in QLD

[clankilpatrick]

Arvo All,
gearbox died today in a big way in my 97 300tdi deefer. Can do figure 8's with the gearlever and find no gear. Have basically 2 options. Find someone who does reconditioned (and improved) boxes and buy one of them or take the old one out and give it to a re-conditioner to fix up if possible. Of course can't ring anybody on a Saturday arvo so would really appreciate any suggestions as to suitable/reputable businesses that can do the jobs for me. I have sent a heap of emails out to businesses such as Rovacraft as apparently they have Ashcroft boxes but would prefer to deal with someone in Far North QLD if at all possible as it may just reduce the time i am forced to drive around in a Corolla as well as cut down on freight costs. Thank you in advance for any advice and help.
cheers
Dave Kil

[Blknight.aus]

my goto guys are MR Automotive in Redcliffe but for further north you need to talk with Tim of landrovers only fame in townsville.

Tim may not have a reco box on shelf but will likely have a good second hand unit.

[Scouse]

Wasn't there a problem with a grub screw coming loose at the base of the gear lever on these boxes?

It definitely sounds like a selection issue rather than a gearbox internal failure.

[Scouse]

Yep, Google it & you'll see lots of problems like this.

Here's one:
Difflock :: View topic - 300tdi, r380 gearbox failure (http://forum.difflock.com/viewtopic.php't=65843&sid=cb58841d15db524ae6af9eb197637a79)

[Bazzle218]

Pm me your details, Tims a mate so i will pass on his number. Be paitent as hes flat at the moment. Baz

[justinc]

Wasn't there a problem with a grub screw coming loose at the base of the gear lever on these boxes?

It definitely sounds like a selection issue rather than a gearbox internal failure.

True, I have done some in situ by removing the reverse lamp switch and tightening it using an allen key. I remove them and put loctite on the thread too, just use a magnet to make sure it doesn't drop into the box:o

JC

[sdt463]

True, I have done some in situ by removing the reverse lamp switch and tightening it using an allen key. I remove them and put loctite on the thread too, just use a magnet to make sure it doesn't drop into the box:o

JC
That was the problem with mine as well. Sounds like I might have gone the long way about fixing mine, took out the transmition tunnel and removed the gear stick assembly, but still not a big job.
Dave

[justinc]

That was the problem with mine as well. Sounds like I might have gone the long way about fixing mine, took out the transmition tunnel and removed the gear stick assembly, but still not a big job.
Dave

:D No, that is the way, I just didn't mention it so as not to discourage him:D

But like you say, isn't a big job really, just takes time and is especially frustrating
when you see 13 radios and accessories attached to the cubby box and dash and console etc etc ....wiring everywhere, :mad:


JC

[clankilpatrick]

Afternoon everyone,
got the truck off the back of the RACQ tipper and pulled all the covers off the transmission tunnel etc and going to give everything a good clean before starting to really pull things apart. Just thought i'd tell you some of the symptoms that were occurring prior to losing the gears.
I had just come back from a week playing out bush without any problems at all when it started getting sticky and difficult to down change from 5th to 4th. if I went from 5th to 3rd I could then find 4th. I soon worked out that when coming out of 5th, I needed to move the lever across to the left hand side in the neutral gate and I would hear a click somewhere in the box which would then allow me to find 4th or 3rd. I did show this to a diesel mechanic up here and he reckoned that there was nothing too serious to worry about, but obviously that wasn't the case. I did find a reference to this on the ashcrofts website

"The R380 gearbox in my 300 tdi DefenderDiscovery has recently started 'blocking' when I shift from 5th to 4th, to get 4th gear I have to nudge 3rd then it will drop into 4th no problem. Why?
A common fault on the early R380 gearboxes was the 4th gear baulk ring. The slot locating the synchro slipper wears and allows the baulk ring to rotate too far. This blocks the synchro assembly. It will be necessary to rebuild the gearbox, and replacing the baulk ring with a later type will eliminate this fault".


I should tell you that I did find a gear today when mucking around but when I put the gear lever into what is the usual 1st gear position it had obviously found a gear that was much higher as the vehicle was almost stalling.

Is this grub screw problem you gents have been talking about a fairly simple fix for a novice mechanic or is it something that should be left to the pro's?
Does it still sound like a complete gearbox removal job?
again many thanks for the help and support.
cheers
dave

[clankilpatrick]

Justin,
just put some info up and would really appreciate your thoughts. You still thinking about coming up this way eventually. 29 degrees C today, bright sunshine and blue skies.
cheers
Dave

[justinc]

Hi Dave,

I would still think the grub screw is your first port of call, just remove the shifter housing so you can look ito the top of the box, you will then see the u shaped fork we are all talking about, it is grub screw located to the shifter rod and if it slops around it will cause havoc. If you remove your reverse lamp switch you can reach the grub screw to undo it with a long allen key.

Pics???


JC

[sdt463]

Dave, I'm a novice and it probably took me about 4 hours (td5 130 )
Tell the wife to put her fingers in her ears when you're putting the tunnel back in, but thank the Land rover gods that in a Defender the tunnel is removable.
Good Luck Dave

PS Thanks for the reversing light tip Justin, last time I cut the leg of the hex key off real short and went in from the top after taping a bit of string to it in case I droped it.

[justinc]

Dave, I'm a novice and it probably took me about 4 hours (td5 130 )
Tell the wife to put her fingers in her ears when you're putting the tunnel back in, but thank the Land rover gods that in a Defender the tunnel is removable.
Good Luck Dave

PS Thanks for the reversing light tip Justin, last time I cut the leg of the hex key off real short and went in from the top after taping a bit of string to it in case I droped it.

Thats a great idea :)!!

JC

[clankilpatrick]

Mate,
thanks for the tip! Do you think going in from the top is easier then going in from the reverse switch?
cheers
Dave

[JohnF]

see http://www.aulro.com/afvb/technical-chatter/147907-r380-problems.html#post1659287 for the fun we are having with our gearbox and/or clutch.

Just pulled out a R380 gearbox from our disco with blown 300TDI motor, as I was sure we had a crook gearbox in our going registered Disco. Would jam in gear, then not go into any gear, etc., in addition to the problems in the link thread.

Now it drives very well, except that of our NINE forward gears that we have in high ratio, only five of them work. Our other four gears are simply ghost gears- If we select one of these ghost gears our disco will not go at all.

So could this also be the grub screw you guys did mention. We were expecting to pay big dollars for someone to put in that other gearbox and clutch for us.

It would be wonderful if it was just a grub screw. We expected to pay a lot for repairs, that we cannot really afford.

[sdt463]

Mate,
thanks for the tip! Do you think going in from the top is easier then going in from the reverse switch?
cheers
Dave

If I understand Justins post the only difference is how you get the hex key into the grub screw.
I think if I had known about the reversing switch approach I would have gone that way, as there is less chance of dropping any thing into the gear box.

JohnF, I do not know if in a Disco you can get to the top of the box in situ, others will know, but is certainly worth looking at, as a first point of call. When the fork starts sliding around on the selector shaft, as Justin has already said, " It will cause havoc "
Dave.

[clankilpatrick]

whohoo. It was a grub screw but on the shaft end where the ball on the gearstick sits in a carrier. Put it back in, loctited it and put everything back together and shes shifting into gears as good as new. Many thanks everyone for all your advice and help