Puma 6th gear destroyed?

[cal415]

Hi all,
On the weekend my 130 puma developed a rattle from the gearbox while driving in 6th, it doesnt sound healthy, it was still driving fine and only noticable under throttle, coasting it seemed to go quiet, no noise in any other gears. Has anyone else had similar issues? i read a post from drover a few years ago who had similar and ended up swapping out the box, is there any gearbox specialist around that are familiar with the MT82 anyone can recommend??

[1nando]

Are you sure its not your gear stick? The gear stick weights come loose over time and rattle bad, especially in 6th due to the loading.

[DiscoMick]

Is your clutch OK?

[MLD]

Hi Mick,

Sorry to read about your misfortune.

A while back I discussed the 6th failure issue with Award Diffs in Seven Hills. They said that the way the box is assembled it's not a case of simply replacing the 6th gear as the gear sets will be damaged on disassembling. In short it's a complete rebuild if 6th is shot.

As for Drover's post years ago. On my research there is no such thing as an MT85 box. I spoke with Ashcroft at length last year and they said the 6th gear from the Defender box was stronger than the 6th from the Transit variety (the box they used in the BAS 3.2 conversion which Ashcroft did the transmission work). Doesn't seem sensible to have different boxes with different gear sets coming out of the factory especially with a small production run like the defender. Ashcroft also told me there was no upgrade kit for the MT82 to strengthen it.

[alan48]

Hi,
whilst having no connection with Award Diffs they have been excellent re my puma and recoed its transfer case, and later on its rear diff. They also do some of Land Rover dealers warranty rebuilds and a number of independent LR service people so are well regarded--no harm in calling them as I too have been told a dud 6th means a full rebuild--but if you are lucky it might only be the weights rattling as previously mentioned and thus easier to fix. Alan

[cal415]

Thanks for the Info, i will give them a try.. Has anyone had a MT82 rebuilt? any idea of cost?

I am fairly certain it is not the weights rattling, as for clutch its only about 30-40k km old but i would expect if it was clutch i would hear noise in other gears - its quite noticeable and consistent but only in 6th, i have not yet had a good look over everything yet.

[cripesamighty]

I'm pretty sure it was also used in the manual D3's. Not too many of those around in Oz but a fair few in the UK.

[Marty90]

Just Googled Award diffs. Looks like they're closed for good😟

[Bundalene]

Just Googled Award diffs. Looks like they're closed for good😟

I just read the note RE Award Diffs closure and I quote off the Internet

"It is with great regret that I inform you that Terry & I have had to make the decision to close down the business due to an illness in the family. As of the 31st October 2017 Award Diff & Gearbox Services will no longer be trading. We both want to thank our wonderful customers & fantastic suppliers for all their past business and support, we are grateful for having known you."



What a shame and loss to the Land Rover community.


Erich

[justinc]

Yes it is a blow for us repairers thats for sure. Spoke with Trish last week and I'm glad they were at least able to close and deal with more important things in life.
Just a reminder that anything can loom up in your life at any time so being able to adapt to change quickly is a good life skill!

I wish them all the best.

Jc