TD5 defender drivetrain slop, backlash

Hi everyone,

Always had a little slop in drivetrain and on reading about defenders didn't worry too much as some is supposedly normal?...

Anyway in last week much worse. In gear on slight acceleration or at power to maintain a constant speed i.e say in 3rd or 4th to maintain a constant speed you can feel the car provide power to wheels in jolts it isn't constant. Also hear clunk when taking off from stop and then off power suddenly same thing. Under hard acceleration is smooth. Gear changes smooth etc etc. Noise does seem to be coming from gearbox although I guess it could be from diffs sometimes sounds are deceptive.. Gearbox has 240km (as does car as whole) but t/f was changed at some point in past by previous owner..

I think I can work out slop in other parts of drivetrain but in regards to gearbox and transfer I may need some help ...

I believe commonly wear from gearbox output shaft ? How to check this someone said you can open inspection plate on t/f to check? Is this done from under car?

If is buggered is it whole new gearbox or can you replace say gear in t/f etc?

Thanks guys

I don't know about the td5 box but that is correct for the earlier ones.
Check your splined drive members for wear before they fail completely and you lose drive altogether if the box is ok.
Clunk is often the A frame ball joint, top of rear axle.

As with early box's like LT77 out put shaft wear is a problem with the MT 82 gear box [ shame on JLR FOR NOT GETTING IT RIGHT] have a look at Ashcroft's site for more info.
It is possible with the MT82 to replace just the gear box output shaft which is separate from the main shaft [ unlike the one piece of early types ] An improved lubrication device is also available.