Stiff transfer case lever.
When I bought my 300Tdi D1 in 1998 I thought the transfer case must be a real solid job because the lever movements were so clunky. Grasp the knob in your fist and make a positive movement - clunk - it got there!
A few years later we were crossing the Simpson desert after some unseasonable rain and I learned about Simpson clay pan clay. When wet it penetrates like WD40 and when dry it sets like Araldite. I found the morning after we reached Dalhousie Springs that the transfer case leaver was stuck with the diff locked. I removed the rubber boot round the lever and undid the bolts that held the pivot shaft and removed the lever. Then I had to use a hammer to drive the shaft out of the fibre bearing material (that's the Araldite effect for you). Cleaned it all up and reassembled. There is a fibre bearing either end of the shaft, one in the main part of the housing and the other in an end cap. I got each of these to be nice sliding fit, then I tightened the bolts which held them together and it all got stiff again. The bearings had never been reamed out as an assembled unit (that's Land Rover slackness for you) and were slightly misaligned. After thinking about it I realised that there is no reason why the fibre bearings on the lever shaft should be such a nice fit. So I used a round file to open them up a bit - from nice sliding fit to slightly sloppy - obviously concentrating on getting them to align. Reassembled and not only was the transfer case lever working again but could be moved using only my finger tips.
