Land Rover 90 transfer box issues

Hi. Looking for some advice with my transfer box on my 1991 200tdi 90. I bought the car recently from a friend who said the wheels were scrubbing so he was advised by his mechanic that the transfer box was broken so the rear prop shaft was removed and he drove home with the handbrake on.
I bought it and began driving home. I didn't even dare come out of second gear due to the horrible noises coming from the box. After a couple of minutes the car came to a sudden stop and wouldn't move. I released the hand brake and the car drove from then on perfectly and quietly. Should my land rover even be able to drive with the rear prop removed and the diff lock dis engaged? I've checked the linkages and taken the top off the diff linkage to check that it's all working. It appears to be engaging and dis-engaging as it should.
Any advice would be gratefully received.

if you remove the rear prop it should only be able to drive with diff lock engaged
Ive never tried the driving with the hand brake on trick, it sounds doable but id rather slip it in lock
from your description it sounds like your box is stuck in diff lock and now you have over heated the hand brake shoes and seal etc

The strange thing is I've stripped the transmission brake and all is well. The dog clutch on the diff lock is also working as it should. I've moved the landy round the yard with the floor and transmission tunnel removed to see what's happening and the front and rear drives are both moving.

Because this unit drives so well and is nice and quiet, the last thing I want to do is remove it to replace it with an unknown box. Is there something internally that can be sticking that I can't see?

will the transfer box go into neutral

Yes it selects ranges perfectly and will sit in neutral

diff light not on? try manually moving the lever on the lt230 by hand.

No the diff light is off. The lever moves freely. I've taken the top off and moved the selector with a screwdriver and it all seems ok

Sounds like the centre diff is destroyed.

From Dave@Ashcroft
I have checked the adjustment but it won't come out of diff lock. Why?This is often reported after recent off roading, the centre diff is there to allow the props to turn at different speeds when cornering to stop drivetrain wind up, the speed difference is quite small and the centre diff gears are only designed to cope with these low speeds. If you are off road on snow or ice and you get wheelspin from one front wheel, what will happen is the rear prop will not be moving, the front will thus be going double speed, this means the small centre diff gears will be spinning like fury and after a matter of only a few seconds the plant gears will friction weld to the cross pins and the gears will fail etc, the result of this is that the diff will then behave as if it is locked as it in jammed with gear debris. The can happen if the driver forgets to lock the centre diff on a low traction surface or due to incorrect linkage adjustment, Please note this failure is not covered under warranty as we deem this driver error, the diff will never fail for any other reason other than excessive spinning, in which case the diff should have been locked by the driver.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFHCYuPTbfg

hasn't the 'mechanics' advice basically destroyed the transferbox?

It seems that way! New transfer box afterall!

Well, not necessarily the transfer box. That may be fine. It's probably the centre diff mechanism that you need. A bit of judicious dismantling before ordering parts might be in order. The diff mechanism is typically around £150-200.

Handbrake on test is only for identifying rear diff / half shaft issues, if you drive like that then you will over-speed the xfer box diff and seize it. That is why it stopped later with the handbrake on and then drove with it off and not in diff lock with no prop fitted. xfer box diff rebuild time!

sounds more like diffs knackered due to age and lack of servicing, lr center diffs can stand a fair bit of spinning over many years ,the ashcroft advice is to cover their warranty arse,

So swapping the transfer box may still reveal that the rear differential is playing up? Can I test the rear diff to see if it's working?

Zantos said:

So swapping the transfer box may still reveal that the rear differential is playing up? Can I test the rear diff to see if it's working?

Click to expand...

you will have to jack a rear wheel up and see, though it sound like you have center diff issues

Yes I agree. Luckily my friend has a good transfer box from a 110 that he's let me have. Will have to swap it at the weekend and see how I get on

peace and love to all first posters

:hippie::hippie:

Thanks so much for all your advice everyone