Thread: RRC and 38A owners beware of the BW devil

Good call Philip

IMHO, caused by inadequate design of the shaft, not that the Viscious Coupling is blameless...

I understand that the VC can fail in an UNlocked mode, and the driver would be unaware until he went off-road AND lifted a wheel... It would be most interesting to know how the shaft fares in the case of one of these exceedingly rare failures.

The brilliance of the BW transfer case is the fact that the VC must be physically present, and therefore must be regularly replaced. Along with the output shaft.

I rang Aschcroft some weeks ago... VC's were out of stock, but they hoped to find a new supply. We hope so too...

Its called Planned Obsolescence, and like it or not, many manufacturers inflict it on us, starting with light bulbs back in the 1920's. see:-


[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bxzU1HFC7Q&feature=related]Planned Obsolescence Conspiracy - YouTube[/ame]

By the way Philip, how's your VC ?

By the way Philip, how's your VC ?

Last time I did a formal check it was fine and I have no symptoms like chattering etc.
I was able to buy a spare one on Ebay, reputedly only 80KK old from a 38A, but AFAIK they are the same.
I plan to progressively buy a chain, bearings etc this year and rebuild the BW case that I got from ebay, that had the failed output shaft in the photos, and use the VC that I bought on ebay.

When I think about it I was very lucky, as my output shaft was jammed into the rear spline, which to me says it was just about ready to go. It would have been a touch expensive an inconvenient if it had happened on Cape York!
If you need a VC urgently I have a spare which you can have from the 340KK Transfer that I bought. The seller reckoned it was OK but I haven't
checked it yet.Be OK for a stopgap I think.
Regards Philip A

I've also bought a spare Transfer case, with an "OK,- checked by a LR mechanic" VC.
Its the previous model, not having a temperature sender. If & when I get a Round Tuit, was going to just swap over the front section that imprisons the Viscious Creature, seeing as my car has done only 170K or so, and don't know how far the 'spare' box has travelled but its bound to be more...

If anything, I'd like a VC that has failed in the 'open' mode, so I could have an open centre-diff. A LSD of some type in the front or a locker, plus my TC for the rear sounds more logical to me. Might even work out cheaper over the car's life.

Anyway, I'm not planning on sand driving in the near future, so RWD is fine with me! Also enjoying the much neater turning circle

I suppose I should buy a spare donut for the rear prop shaft, seeing as its now carrying twice its design load...

Those pics are the stuff of nightmares...

Is this a problem on Defender 110's - 1995 with 300Tdi engine? Gearbox output to transfer input gear i presume.

why the hell did you thing that a POS Borg warner box was ever used in a Defer ?
Theres a thousand threads on here that clearly show you ditch any BW Tcase and fit a LT230.

My P38 is up to 330000km, original gearbox & transfer.
I know of others, through work, a lot higher (over 500000km) without failing too.

I got the impression the chain and/or cogs were the weak point, on the P38 at least.

Originally Posted by 400HPONGAS

Theres a thousand threads on here that clearly show you ditch any BW Tcase and fit a LT230.

Not so easy on a P38A.

I suppose I should buy a spare donut for the rear prop shaft, seeing as its now carrying twice its design load...

And therein lies a theory.
My theory is that the splines to the rear tailshaft wear because the UJs transmit vibration into the splines, and this is probably increased by having a 2inch lift. You may be aware that UJs do not keep a constant speed but speed up and slow down each revolution and the greater the angle the more the speed variation, that is why they invented Constant Velocity Joints (CVs).
I think that is maybe one reason LR went to the Donuts.

In the two shafts I have ,the front splines are absolutely perfect.

With regard to 38As, yes the bigger problem seems to be the chain, but my chain seems to have very little slop, and the 340Kk BW I bought has very little chain slop. Does a 38A have a rear donut? I have never looked. I know I would rather have a bad output shaft than a bad chain!
AFAIK the output shafts are identical between the two.

Really as long as you get it in time , the ouput shaft is not such a big or expensive problem. Just see how much a centre diff is on an LT230.

Is this a problem on Defender 110's - 1995 with 300Tdi engine? Gearbox output to transfer input gear i presume.

No it is the rear shaft of the transfer case to the rear drive shaft. Defender and D1-D2 is completely different.
toc_batIs this a problem on Defender 110's - 1995 with 300Tdi engine? Gearbox output to transfer input gear i presume.
Regards Philip A