I need help urgently!!!!!

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Dopey_1983

New Member
Posts
314
Location
Aberdeenshire
Hi I was just removing the cover from my transfer box to change the gasket when one of the bolts sheared:eek: I would like to know if this is a problem I could fix myself or do I need to put it in a garage:mad: for said repair. I am a very novice mechanic but I am willing to try just about anything at the moment as I need the car on the road asap and at minimum cost. If I can do it myself is it just a case of drilling the old bolt out and re-tapping it? Please help as I am fairly stuffed just now.
 
DON'T PANIC!

First of all, you can re-assemble it with one bolt "missing". It might leak some oil, but no-one will notice because all LandRovers do that from birth.

Which bolt was it? Top or bottom?

Question is, WHY did it break?

Was it stuck enough to shear it off?

NEVER apply such force to bolts and screws that might break them.
ALWAYS find some other technique to "crack them" loose first.

If it was so stuck that it sheared, it will not be easy to extract the remaining stub. Put it back together now with one missing bolt, and the mating faces very well cleaned, and either a new gasket or a good sealant.

That gets you mobile.

After that if it worries you, seek the advice of a more local expert.

CharlesY
 
or just start beating the crap out of it with a lump hammer.
you won't go anywhere, but you'll feel alot better
 
Thanks for the help, I thought about beating with a hammer but decided it might make my problem worse. :D

The other problem now is that I can't get one 2nd bolt from the top on the left hand side of the plate as it is up against the extension drain plug. My spanner is only getting on about 2/3rds and it is rounding the bolt head. I have tried all sorts but the bolt won't budge:mad: and I am a bit worried about shearing another bolt:(

If I was to tow it to the local garage would I do any damaged as there is no oil in the transfer box.:confused:

Thanks for the advice I may end up just getting my garage to fix it. :eek:
 
Towing a short distance won't harm it much, but keep the speed down.

Why don't you just bolt it up as best you can and suffer the oil leak meantime?

During the next while, you could investigate from the gurus on the list how best to solve the problem.

CharlesY
 
Hi, I don't want to doubt the advice I have already been given but I am quite nervous that I may do some damage to my transfer box so would anybody else agree with CharlesY about it being ok to drive with one of the top bolts sheared off the transfer box inspection plate? I have topped it up and there doesn't seem to be anymore oil leaking than before so I am really just looking for some reassurance. Thanks
 
Keep an eye on leaks and oil levels, and it should manage a couple of hundred thousand miles more ....

some things are best left well alone, and that includes most LandRover parts!

Good Luck!

CharlesY
 
Bolt sheared at top + oil tending to obey gravity by sitting at bottom of t/box = very minimal leakage except when driving on the roof of tunnels!

I'd put it back together and see how badly it leaks before deciding to spend hundreds fixing something that might not be that bad.

Cheers,
 
I tend not to spent a lot of the time driving on the roof of tunnels:D so I should be ok.

I really should change the gasket as it is leaking quite a bit now but I also can't get another bolt off as the head is just rounding off. I suppose I will take all the advice and live with it for now.

Thanks again for the help.
 
Hmmm..... are you using good quality spanners?

You isn't trying to undo tight set-screws / bolts using an open-ended spanner is you?

Moral .... NEVER do up or undo a nut or bolt using open-ended spanners.

Use a RING or socket to crack 'em, and only then may you use the open-ender.

I just mention this because those setscrews/bolts really ought not to be mega hard to get out.

Of course, if you was trying to turn the brutes the wrong way .....
OMiGawd !

CharlesY
 
The one I can't get out is up against the extension case drain plug and it is so tight against it I can't get a ring or socket on it:mad: I did try to take them out with the open ended spanner and I think I may of tightened the bolt first before I loosened:eek: it which caused it to shear, I am putting it down to a rookie error, I have never worked on vechicles before.
 
The one I can't get out is up against the extension case drain plug and it is so tight against it I can't get a ring or socket on it:mad: I did try to take them out with the open ended spanner and I think I may have tightened the bolt first before I loosened:eek: it which caused it to shear, I am putting it down to a rookie error, I have never worked on vehicles before.

It's easily done, and I bet most of us (but not Slob of course) will have done the same thing in our early days. It takes a little experience to be able to hoick a nut or bolt the right way first time, every time, and also to know when enough trying is getting nearly too much.

Good for you for trying. Somewhere on this forum you'll find someone who will help you solve the problem.

By the way, would the drain plug not come out to give you clearance? Sometimes the obvious isn't so easy to spot.

CharlesY
 
Yer MAD I tell yer! Drain the main box into a clean builders bucket (98p from B&Q) and re-use the oil to refill the box after you've done what yer doing to the transfer box if yer that 'ard up!
 
I am confused Adz why am I mad? I am hard up but that hasn't become a problem yet. I can't get the plate off the transfer box as one of the bolts is hard against the casing so removing the drain plug won't help. I also seem to have a much bloody worse leak now from somewhere else on the transfer box. It is actual quite bad the first leak was just a wee one but now it seems it is leaking from a plate which I couldn't get at because of the main box. I am totally confused and also very worried as it is leaking quite bad.
 
It is time you sought serious guidance to sort this out!

Tell the listers roughly WHERE you are and I bet one of them will appear smartish to suggest a way round this.

Don't make it worse in the meantime - STOP till one of the guys sees it.

CharlesY
 
The one I can't get out is up against the extension case drain plug and it is so tight against it I can't get a ring or socket on it:mad:

Sorry matey - but this earlier post of yours does a bit more than just suggest that you can't get a bolt out because it's trapped by the gearbox drain.

So it's either not trapped by the drain in which case yer mad fer saying that it was in the first place... or it is trapped by the drain and yer mad fer rounding off a bolt in the transfer case when you could have given yerself loads more access to it by draining yer main box and removing the drain.
 
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