Gearboxes and Transfer Cases

[jasonedu]

Hi Guys,

Have started trolling around for a used defender and have noticed quite a few of them with under 200,000km have had the gear box and transfer cases replaced.

Is this a common problem with some or all defenders or have I just seen an unlucky bunch?

thanks....

[isuzu110]

Transfer cases before suffix J or K (roughly '95-96) suffered from spline wear. After that they introduced a fix to lubricate them better.

Somebody will chime in with the exact details.

[jasonedu]

no these were post 98 models. i read on another non-land rover forum they needed to be done at around 180k and because i have noticed a few that have been done i was wondering if there was anything to it.

[abaddonxi]

Depends on how long you run them without oil or how long you go before you change the oil.

Look for one with scrupulous logbooks and pay the price, or one with an inch high pile of receipts.

If it doesn't have either, keep, hmm, $10k aside for major repairs in the first 6-12 months.

[rick130]

The LT230 t/case is pretty strong, apart from the input shaft spline wear issue prior to about '95.

Oil leaks are a different matter, often it's the intermediate shaft seals (O rings) and sometimes it pays to have the case bushed when these are done as the intermediate shaft can ovalise the bore in the case.

The only other potential problem I can think of is when people forget to engage the centre diff lock off road and blow the centre diff.

The R380 can be a problem when the wrong oil is used, sometimes mechanics just dump in 80W-90 EP diff oil (too thick) or if ATF is used long term instead of a dedicated manual trans oil there is potential for bearing wear from overly thin oil as the sump capacity is limited. (too hot)
Of course Pat will be along in a sec and tell how his R380 was on 300,000km before he went to Redline MTL

[Bush65]

no these were post 98 models. i read on another non-land rover forum they needed to be done at around 180k and because i have noticed a few that have been done i was wondering if there was anything to it.

That doesn't sound right.

The LT230 transfer case has been used and abused from early 80's, with very few issues.

They are strong, and give little trouble except oil leaks and spline wear due to lack of lube mentioned (now fixed by changes to the input gear). Also as mentioned centre diff wears if it is not locked off road and front wheels (typically) are allowed to spin when traction is lost.

In some disco II's 99 to about 01, Land Rover decided that with traction control, it wasn't necessary to have a centre diff lock. This was wrong and it was re-introduced in later years.

Many owners of LT230's without the diff lock have had the difflock retro fitted - this might be what you are referring to!

The R380 gearbox replaced to LT77 from about 95. The early ones had issues that were fixed about 98. They are more than strong enough with the engines used in Land Rovers. However as Rick pointed out some people fill with the incorrect oil which leads to gear shifting problems. They have an oil pump that circulates oil to the bearings and may not cope well with heavy gear oil.

If towing heavy loads in 5th gear, I could believe there would be problems.