Thread: LT 95 Advice

All that you say is possibly true
What oil are you using if you are using modern engine oil you could try a modern gearbox oil.
You will find that this will help the gear change although the gearbox is probably 30n years old so it may be simply worn out

Originally Posted by Range Blitzer

My gearbox seems to be getting progressively sicker. When its cold its nearly impossible to get 3rd without a crunch. I find double shuffling helps but I'm guessing the synchro is on the way out, any thoughts??? Also at highway speeds the whine is nearly un bearable in top gear. Seems to stop when you cost or back off. Is this bearings or gear wear you reckon???
Time for a rebuild me thinks.
Robert...

G'day Robert, As you suspect it is most likely in need of new bearings/seals/synchros. Unless it has been rebuilt at some stage it has done well to last 28yrs. As Djam said oil is important,make sure you use a light oil, 15w40 engine oil works well. Don't use heavy gear oils as they will destroy the gearbox oil pump which is only a fiber construction. The whine is most likely a combination of worn bearings and slop in the intermediate shaft in the transfer case. All the parts are readily available if you can do the job yourself. I can help with part numbers if you need any.

Thanks guys, I'm running Castrol VMX80. I think I will have a go at a rebuild myself so part numbers and also source of parts would be appreciated.
Robert..

VMX80 is way too thick mate, thats suitable for normal gearboxes not the LT95. Try draining it and filling with engine oil as mentioned before.. see what happens!

I just had mine rebuilt, new bearings only. Parts came to around $1000 so thats a ballpark figure for you to look at..

Thanks for the tips Felix. I was recommended VMX80 by a well respected oil guru here on the forum, and I'm sure at the time others said they also were using it with no issues. Now I'm confused.
Robert.

the lt95 oil discussion rises again.

i am no expert by any measure so on this you get to take what i say with a grain of salt.

when i bought my rangie the lt95 was filled with vmx80 and it drove perfectly well.

when i changed the oils in it i used delo 400 diesel engine oil as i had heaps of it around.

i experienced absolutely no difference in behavior or noise or ease of use with the gearbox.

i have a vintage bulldozer and have been doing a lot of research on what oils to use in it as some of the recommended ones are no longer available.

on the vintage dozer forums the general consensus is that in a gearbox, sae 90 gear oil is about the same weight / thickness at working temps as sae 50 engine oil. so 75-80 isnt that far off 40 engine oil one would think.

many purists insist on using engine oil in an lt95 because that's what was recommended 30 years ago when they were built.

it has also been my experience that very few engine oils are the same now as they were back then and many of the younger gearbox oils are capable of doing a much better job than the old engine oil did.

is the oil pump gear already screwed in mine, i have no idea....

only problem i have with the thing is it leaks oil into the transfer case...

other than that it is pretty quiet and well behaved..

would love to hear what those that know their stuff have to say on it myself ...

Just memories from now long ago.
The whine is usually from the transfer case, and that and slop will often be caused by loose intermediate shaft shims. The shims should be checked regularly and the transfer reshimmed if necessary.

I had an LT95 in Saudi that someone had put EP90 into, both the transfer and gearbox. The shims were eaten away, and the oil pump shaft was broken.
VMX80 should be OK but I do not think the falling number is as low as 20-50 when cold. On a cold morning you may experience shift problems.
Trying to cut down the noise, I once put 20-60 Penrite in the gearbox and transfer. I couldn't change gear when it became hot!!!!

IMHO the first manifestation of gearbox (as opposed to transfer) wear is when the front bearing "grumbles" on idle and at slow speeds in top gear. IMHO this also is a sign of a broken oil pump drive.
When I bought a 77 in Sydney with 3? 90 KK on it, I put it into Land and Sea and they reshimmed the transfer, rebuilt the centre diff as the shims had disintegrated, replaced the gearbox output gear and the intermediate gear, and replaced the bellhousing as the clutch throwout arm hpivot was worn out. Slop was then reduiced about 90%.

The difficulty into gear may be your clutch dragging.
Regards Philip A

I purchased a 1982 Range Rover in 1994 with 130,000 km on it. It had the loudest layshaft bearings I have ever heard, but 4th was quite; the transfer case whined a lot as well but was only heard in top.

On pulling the box noted it had 80 or 90 weight oil in both the gearbox and transfercase. After I rebuild the box and transfer case (a cheap $600 then) I read the manual to check the oil rating prior to refilling both. It quite clearly states 20W30 oil and recommended Castrol GTX2 for the engine, gearbox and transfer case. There should be no need for anything thicker in Australian conditions noting it is a basic transmission and does not need a lot of the additives found in newer transmission oils.

Anyway, my Rangie has over 600,000 km on it now without any tranmission issues; but, I adopted the approach as oil is cheap, when I change out the engine oil, I changed the transmission oils out as well! For me this has paid off big time.

If I was you I would change the oil to the manufactures recommend oil for the box and transfer case first, it won't fix the whine in top gear which is probably transfer case related but should help gear changing. Hope this helps.