Thread: BW Viscous Transfer seized

Turning the wheel is quite difficult when the VC is working correctly.
There is a spec for this but it should turn albeit very, very slowly and with some difficulty.

Ron

I couldn't turn it at all, no matter how hard I tried.

Just had the same problem with my 92 Rangie, jack up a front wheel, try and very carefully drive off, if the car want's to move, the VC is fine, if not and it just spins, -it's knackered.
I got a 2nd hand one from British Spares in punchbowl with a warranty and had Graeme Coopers fit it, they recomend to do the output tail shaft as well as it's also gauranteed to be shot, all up it was $1400, been fine since.

Originally Posted by Rayngie

Just had the same problem with my 92 Rangie, jack up a front wheel, try and very carefully drive off, if the car want's to move, the VC is fine, if not and it just spins, -it's knackered.

That is only the case if it is not siezed. If it is siezed the car will try to drive away, but the unit could still be knackered.

Originally Posted by ytt105

It seems the viscous transfer of my 1993 Rangie is seized, (I can't turn the front wheel at all when it is jacked up).
It still goes fine off-road and only makes a couple of groans every now and then on-road, but the fuel consuption is horrendous on this car. 26+l/100kms on road, 36l/100 off-road.
This is running on LPG and it has just been tuned by the local LR expert here in Canberra, so I'm assuming the problem is the friction thru the transfer.
Any comments/prices on my options here; second hand BW, new BW from UK, LT230, or just keep paying at the pump?

If the VC is locked then you will be suffering transmission windup on the road (like driving with the CDL locked in other cars) so you do run the risk of transmission damage and certainly increased tyre wear and increased fuel consumption. Someone on here did recently change from a VC to standard center diff - I think for about the same price as a new VC.

You didn't use Canberra Motor Works I hope - I do not have fond memorys of them working on my Disco - I will leave it at that because of the defamation laws.

Gazzz

as a quick but dodgy fix, if you're lucky...

drain the Tcase and fill it with diesel, work the wheel back and forth to try and get the V/C to free up.

Drain the diesel, then refill with a slightly thinner oil than standard, run it a little then flush and replace...

Else its time to dissasemble and apply some brutatlity to get it apart, clean everything up with diesel and wet and dry, reassemble and hope for the best..

I can't see that you will achieve anything by doing that. The VC unit is sealed, changing the oil in the transfer case doesn't change the viscous fluid, AFAIK.

The VC is a sealed unit, remove and refit new one is the fix.
However, I do know someone who repaired his though. You need to be able to cut it open, clean it out and fill it with high viscosity silicone fluid and seal it back up. Easy They are not cheap, he was quoted $1400 for a new one.