Gearbox identification...

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T

TaDa

Active Member
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432
Location
Barnstaple or thereabouts
Is there anyway to trace the history of a gearbox?

I had a 'reconditioned' gearbox put in my car a couple of years back.
Having just fixed the bias plate I now suspect the job was more a cut'n'shut (and this from a well known 4x4 garage too!).

The gear lever assembly gaiter was virtually non-existant (just the top circle left! - and no cable tie), the drilled out rivets from the original removal were rusty and rolling around the housing and there was swarf all over the place.

I suspect one of two things - either there never was a recon and they simply left my gearbox in place and fixed the noise they said meant it needed a replacement gearbox. Or they hacked a gearbox out of a donor vehicle and shoved it in mine - ie not reconditioned.

So, is there any way to identify a gearbox's history?

Also, when you buy a reconditioned gearbox - are they normally reconditioned by specialist companies or could anyone claim to have reconditioned one - do the larger 4x4 garages recondition them themselves I wonder?
 
did you get any kind of waranty document at the time as wouldc have thought professional recon would have some paper work with it and would of asked to see some receipt as well
 
Its not bust but they charged £565 just for the gearbox plus oil, labour and VAT
That bill weighed in well over £1,200 and I can't even be sure that the gearbox even needed replacing now!

Not having that gaiter in place is an open invitation for water into the gearbox.

The gaiter from my geabox would have been fine but I suspect care was a job too far that day - given the swarf and rivets all over the place.

I suspect that the fact that its hidden under the car and behind all those rivets their feeling could be there's no need to do a decent job - especially for a fair weather Discovery driver!

As to documentation with the gearbox - none - should there be some?

I'm just gathering whatever information I can on this subject before I confront them and ask exactly what they did and why
 
TaDa said:
Its not bust but they charged £565 just for the gearbox plus oil, labour and VAT
That bill weighed in well over £1,200 and I can't even be sure that the gearbox even needed replacing now!

Not having that gaiter in place is an open invitation for water into the gearbox.

The gaiter from my geabox would have been fine but I suspect care was a job too far that day - given the swarf and rivets all over the place.

I suspect that the fact that its hidden under the car and behind all those rivets their feeling could be there's no need to do a decent job - especially for a fair weather Discovery driver!

As to documentation with the gearbox - none - should there be some?

I'm just gathering whatever information I can on this subject before I confront them and ask exactly what they did and why
Click to expand...
if it was reconed by a reputable company i would expect some sort of warranty and paper work
 
No, its not Wadebride, nor County (Barnstaple - who are currently coming up trumps for me) or, indeed, any Land Rover dealership.

I'll hold back from naming them for a while - maybe it'll be part of the negotiation ;)

Anyway, the picture shows the nicely oily water filled housing and rusty spring-pins. I have no pictures showing the rusty rivets and swarf that had been left behind - any shiny swarf you see is from my drilling.

You can also see just how broken the bias plate was - which was the main reason I took the photo.

As to the paperwork for the recon gearbox - I was naive I assumed they were trustable, even accepting the new 'brass bush/spigot' noise that started soon after! :doh:
 

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There's 145k on the clock - Owned since new (we were rich once) we're on the second clutch now.
If I had a pair of ramps it'd be easier to get under and look for unmarked bolts (not that I've examined them ever) as it is, I have to wait for fair weather and do the work on my sloping drive (with the nose in the garage on axle stands!)
So I'll not be checking them any time soon :(

I know what you mean about the swarf. But I realised the swarf could also be from their hacking the gearbox out of a doner vehicle and not bothering to clean it up (!!)

I think the gear lever came from the doner too - which is why they left the stupid piece of the seal around the lever - they couldn't be bothered to take it off and they certainly would not have bothered putting it on!
 
TaDa said:
I'll take a look when it stops raining :)

Is there any unique ID on a gearbox?
Is there any way I can tie that back to my car's original build?
Click to expand...

possibly.does your v5 give you manafacture date?

you can then ask landrover to check records.some gearboxes have numbers but im not sure about later stuff like the lt77.

You might get lucky.as for the rain ...well....:eek:

you could ask for your old box returned i suppose.doubt that will work but it will stirr the garages custard a bit or they will tell you to fook arf...
 
I'll take a look at the V5 when I can and contact LR.

I suspect the garage's initial response will be, as you say, 'fook arf' :(

Then I'll name them for you :)

BTW what did you think of the pic/standard of work - am I expecting too much from a 4x4 garage?
 
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