Thread: Gkn woes

I had a Gkn overdrive which I did about 50000 with. I buggered my transfer case and at the time I could only get a disco one so I took the overdrive out and sold it to my mate. The only prob I had with it was a dodgy connection on a plug that went into the control box and a bit of fluid going out the breather which I fixed with a little header tank.
My mate is telling me it is now dropping in and out and sometimes won't disengage. Could this be as simple as a solenoid going skewwiffy or is there something more sinister going on.
Anyone got one of these and have had similar problems. as an aside it's interesting to note that Gkn no longer make these as far as I can tell.

They are known to be problematic on the electrical side of things. Remove all the gubbins and feed it directly via a fused switch to make sure the solenoid is working (in & out).

I know a few people that have removed all the electrics (appart from solenoid) and do the in/out switching manually.

GKN stopped making the overdrives early last year. Pretty sure either Devon 4x4 or Ashcrofts bought the rights and all the spares.

Experience with them suggests that installation and regular oil changes are key to long term reliability.

We (VentureOverland) got into talks with another company who's head guy had alot to do with the original GKN design with a view to supplying an improved R380 alternative. Turned out the costs where too great to be commercially viable.

Jon