Puma 130 Transfer case issue(s)

[Tote]

Last weekend we did a quick run to Warren and back towing the trailer. My 130 has had a leak coming from the shaft seal on the transfer case for some time and I've been keeping the transfer case topped up until I get around to doing something about it. On the way home for the last couple of hundred kilometers we had an intermittent noise under load that is best described as a similar sound to an unevenly worn set of tyres that modulated in volume in about a 1 second cycle. Slowing down or stopping made the noise go away and shifting back to 5th seemed to improve it although not completely eliminate it. I had thought that maybe I had an issue with sixth gear but it seemed to be making it both under load and on a trailing throttle and 5th as well as sixth. Pushing the clutch in would immediately eliminate the noise and it mostly manifested at 90 - 110 KM/H.
I was surprised when I topped up the transfer and it was only down a couple of hundred ml as I expected that the transfer had bitten the dust from lack of lubrication.
I am thinking that a second hand transfer case is probably the best course of action while I rebuild mine and pumas seem to have the same ratio as Disco2s so this might be a good way to get the vehicle on the road while I get my case fitted with a steel insert for the leaking shaft.

Any flaws in my plan and is it likely that the transfer case is indeed the culprit for the noise or are there other issues such as the gearbox that I need to investigate at the same time?

Regards,
Tote

[one_iota]

I had a transfer case failure:

Transfer box failure (https://www.aulro.com/afvb/90-110-130-defender-county/292223-transfer-box-failure.html)

[POD]

I had an intermittent growling noise from the gearbox /transfer area, when I drained the transfer oil half the input gear teeth came out with the oil. Might be worth draining your transfer oil and see if there are any lumps in it, might give you an indication of whether that is where the problem lies. I sourced all new internals from ashcrofts and rebuilt the transfer case.

[oldie]

Hi,

Just got my MY2010 110 Puma back after transfer case rebuild/replace at 146,000 km. The main gearbox and clutch had been done at 85,000 km. And I reckon I and fairly gentle on my truck.
A couple of monthe ago it was in for a service and the indy found 5 broken teeth on the magnet sump plug. There was no excessive or unusual noises and the truck seemed normal. But I did not try it in low range !
2 weeks ago I took it to Bruce Davis to get it fixed. Seems a previous indy had not put the shaft back in properly after replacing the rear seal with the result that the gears were not meshing properly. So an upgraded case , replacement for the damaged gear ( 2nd hand), upgraded coupling shaft and 2nd hand inter gear and it was back on the road in less than 4 days.
But after about 20 km got this very disturbing woo, wooo, wooo noise particularly on over run.
So back to Davis' and they replaced the replacement gear and the original gear with 2 x 2nd hand parts and now it drives like a charm.
An interesting exercise.

Oldie

[DazzaTD5]

You can use a late model Discovery 2 (say a D2a) transfer case....

*Same ratio, gears etc.
*Same front nose cone, but the D2a has 2 diff lock switches (Defender TDCi has one)
*Same front lower detent on the front nose cone.
*Same diff lock switch (the later larger thread).
*Same additional casting ribs on the top of the case.

*D2 rear nose cone does not have the provision for the speed sensor.
*D2 Front input flange is bigger.
*D2 the diff lock top mount has three bolts, 2 of them are longer as they hold the diff lock cable bracket in addition to the top of the diff lock lever, they need to be spaced or replaced with the correct shorter bolts.

[Tote]

OK, so I have a second hand transfer case - it appears to have been rebuilt at some point looking at the sealant on the case and the input splines appear to be in good condition. It is a 36D and has a speed sensor on the output housing so its not a D2a. It looks like it has been sourced from a wrecker as the handbrake cable has been cut with bolt cutters. A question for the brains trust:

Will this case bolt into a Puma as is ? My current tentative plan is to bolt this box into the Defender to give me time to get mine rebuilt properly with the insert done to stop that bloody leak and most likely an Ashcroft centre diff fitted.

Does this make sense?

185084


185085

Regards,
Tote

[ashtrans]

the 36D is from a late D1, yes you can use it but you will have to swap the high / low lever and you wont have the switch for the hi/lo but this is not too important,

Dave

[Tote]

Pulled the cover off the second hand box today and everything looks pretty good inside. It's obviously been rebuilt, is there any way to tell without disassembly if it has an ATB in it?
Made up a bracket for the trolley jack and need to get some 30mm rod this week to finish it off.

Regards,
Tote

[jbe]

If it has an ATB fitted, you shouldn't be able to turn the front and rear output shafts in opposite directions by hand as it is a pre-loaded worm gear design.

[Tote]

If it has an ATB fitted, you shouldn't be able to turn the front and rear output shafts in opposite directions by hand as it is a pre-loaded worm gear design.
Thanks for that, I wasn't sure if it was like a Quaife diff where it wont lock up unless there is enough torque on both sides and Google wasn't forthcoming with an answer.


Regards,
Tote

[rick130]

Thanks for that, I wasn't sure if it was like a Quaife diff where it wont lock up unless there is enough torque on both sides and Google wasn't forthcoming with an answer.


Regards,
Tote

It's exactly the same as the Quaife, they are a knock off, but the preload from the bellville washers between the side gears makes it pretty stiff when new.
Some older ATB's had a habit of cracking bellville's in use, though, so they can lose their preload.

As an aside I'm taking a precautionary approach and replacing the stock Chinese belvilles with Schnorr bellville washers when assembling the diff assemblies.

[jbe]

This video explains the ATB quite well: LT230 ATB Vs Factory Centre Diff - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKkVliNDVTA)

[Tote]

I pulled the transfer case today, about 5 hours work made slower by not having done one before and having to figure out how wiring clips and other bits and pieces came undone.

There was a bit of material on the drain plug but no gears came out with the oil so that's a good start.

185470

When I got it out there was some corrosion on the spud shaft although it doesn't look too bad. Its also been lubricated from the factory as evidenced by the lubricant sprayed around the inside of the case.

185471

185472

Some lessons learned:

The plate with the 30mm spigot for the trolley jack is a great idea if you can lift the vehicle high enough to get the transfer case out from under the chassis rail. SWMBO and I had to lift it off the trolley jack under the vehicle and slide it out.
You don't need to pull the floor plate from under the console to get the transfer case out.
Taking the handbrake assembly off is pretty easy and if you undo the lever in the cab you don't have to worry about detaching the cable when removing the entire drum assembly from the transfer case.

Regards,
Tote

[Tote]

D1 transfer case in today and it all seems to work. A couple more lessons.
You can save yourself the trouble of swapping the top housing for the range selector if you have a mounting ball for a strut lying around. The ones I had were the same as the knob that the rod from the transfer lever mounts to, bolt it on to the lever and you are good.
I needed to swap the speedo gear over as well because the D1 unit has a smaller diameter shaft for the sensor to slide into. Despite the doom and gloom on the interwebs both gears came out easily.
I'm living without a diff lock indicator and a low range switch for now.

Next task when I get a chance have a look at the original transfer case and order some rebuild bits, but at least I don't have to drive a jeep out to the farm, SWMBO's project CJ10 has been doing farm duties (slowly)

Regards,
Tote