Transmission whine

[Dark61]

I'm still on the look out for an early defender. I saw one advertised with " transmission whine" - what's the probable cause of this please and would it be expensive to put right? I understand there are no specifics here - but I would like to get a general heads up if poss.
Cheers,
D

[bee utey]

The transfer case in Deafeners is the LT230 and a slight whine from an early model one is perfectly normal. So long as the case is full of oil and the bearings aren't stuffed even a loud whine isn't usually fatal. Replacing a transfer case is a half day job with a mate or two assisting and will cost whatever you can get one for second hand.

So my advice is: get someone familiar with Deafeners to test drive it and tell you how normal the noise level is. :)

[manofaus]

You would need to take it for a run to see how bad it is and where the noiset comes from. I bought a td5 130 with a whine, we'll the loudest whine was in fifth gear. After 5000kms 5th gear support bearing started to destroy itself. I caught in early before destruction and was able to replace this bearing in the box. A rebuilt r380 is about 2200 exchange is sourced in aus. But for the same price (but 6 week wait) you could get an upgraded ascroft box delivered.

[steveG]

Just keep in mind that the early defenders were 200tdi and lt77 gearbox. Not as easy to find locally as in AU they only ran in defenders after the county finished ie '91-94ish compared to the R380 which started 95ish and ran from then into the mid 2000's.
You've got a bigger gearbox/parts pool if you start with a R380.

Steve