Newbie adviced needed, about to buy my first series 3

alright everyone,
im just about to buy my first series 3 swb, 1972. but i dont know much about them, so have a few questions to ask you guys first. i know a fiar bit about defenders, so i have the basic knowledge.

what do the yellow and red gear levers do? is one high range and one low?

do they all have free wheeling hubs? and if so, does this mean that i have to go round manually locking each hub into 4wd?

can you select which drive it is e.g rwd or fwd, when not in 4wd??

are there any other hot spots to look out on them apart from bulkhead and chassis??

sorry about all the questions

thanks for any help you can give me

JoeBodge said:

alright everyone,
im just about to buy my first series 3 swb, 1972. but i dont know much about them, so have a few questions to ask you guys first. i know a fiar bit about defenders, so i have the basic knowledge.

what do the yellow and red gear levers do? is one high range and one low?
Yellow down is 4wd, up is 2wd.
Red switches between high (forward) and low (rearwards) ratios. Also disengages 4wd by moving lever backwards (Yellow lever should pop up).

do they all have free wheeling hubs? and if so, does this mean that i have to go round manually locking each hub into 4wd?
No.
Only the front ones, if you get FWH.

can you select which drive it is e.g rwd or fwd, when not in 4wd??
No.

are there any other hot spots to look out on them apart from bulkhead and chassis??
everything. injun, gearbox jumping out of gear, footwells, etc etc.

sorry about all the questions
np

thanks for any help you can give me

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.

JoeBodge said:

do they all have free wheeling hubs? and if so, does this mean that i have to go round manually locking each hub into 4wd?

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Even with the hubs locked, it will still be in 2wd, so you don't need to keep locking & unlocking them. If you know you are going to be riving off road that day lock them before leaving home. unless you are doing a couple of hundred miles, it wont make a lot of difference

As a fairly new owner, I've researched all this stuff.. as well I'm just starting to put my vehicle back together after an all but frame off (left the back on) tear down.

one lever is for "high low neutral" the other is for 4x4 4x2.

The only way you can select fwd only is to disconnect the rear shaft. (bolts)

I can only think of one fairly common problem.. other than the chassis.
For the chassis.. inspect it and wang on it with a hammer.. pay special attention to the spring perch area. I wouldn't bother with one that had ANY rust holes at all in the chassis, and only minimal foot well rot in the bulkhead. Both are PITA to do anything about.

Transmissions don't fail incredibly often.. but they're the most expensive part of the vehicle and are kind of a pain. They are less sturdy than their peers in other vehicles. Depending on how they've been used they can fail even before 100k miles. If its popping out of gear or vibrating its not likely going to be cheap or easy to fix.

Do they all have freewheeling hubs? Well. If they've had a conscientious owner they do. Auto locking hubs are not saving enough convenience to warrant the fuel mileage. I've never seen one with the original non selector hubs. But i'm not in the UK. When selected the carrier and axles rotate the entire time. When not, they dont. It's not a huge deal.. but it is noticeable in fuel mileage. I've got a set of warns on mine. You can always just leave them locked all the time if you want.. be like factory style. But it will wear faster i imagine.
I've had both manual locking and auto, but never all time locked like I believe the land rover to be.

The engines really just keep going. The 4 main ones are considered more desirable. But the 3s are plenty solid as well. Carburetors being carburetors, that may be something that needs replacing or rebuilding.

red knob forward, yellow knob up = 2WD High Range (Rear wheels).
red knob back, yellow knob up = 4WD Low Range
red knob forward, yellow knob down = 4WD High Range

to dis-engage 4WD High, move red knob back, then forward.

there's no 2WD Low Range available.

echooooooooooooooooooo sure this was all answered in post 2

Its Ok - we allow Trewy to be late fur the party - its partly his age - and partly bein in Kernow.

well I fink my explaination is clearer than daft's

it bin covered more times than " what size tyres can i put on my disco without having to lift the body?"

lrzed said:

Transmissions don't fail incredibly often.. but they're the most expensive part of the vehicle and are kind of a pain. They are less sturdy than their peers in other vehicles. Depending on how they've been used they can fail even before 100k miles. If its popping out of gear or vibrating its not likely going to be cheap or easy to fix.

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Less sturdy? Series gearboxes are excellent & tough as old boots. Keep them topped up with oil & go easy through the gears & they'll last a skwillion miles. Any gearbox that's been abused is going to fail prematurely, but they're ten a penny, not the most expensive part of the vehicle & a relative piece of **** to drop & change.

Do they all have freewheeling hubs? Well. If they've had a conscientious owner they do. Auto locking hubs are not saving enough convenience to warrant the fuel mileage. I've never seen one with the original non selector hubs. But i'm not in the UK. When selected the carrier and axles rotate the entire time. When not, they dont. It's not a huge deal.. but it is noticeable in fuel mileage. I've got a set of warns on mine. You can always just leave them locked all the time if you want.. be like factory style. But it will wear faster i imagine.
I've had both manual locking and auto, but never all time locked like I believe the land rover to be.

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Concientious owners fit FW hubs? Most around these parts think they're a waste of time & money, but each to their own! The wear is negligible, especially when compared to forgetting to engage them once in a while to splash some oil about & the extra drag is tiny & unless you're using an injun from a garden mower I really wouldn't worry about it.

Grippa said:

Less sturdy? Series gearboxes are excellent & tough as old boots. Keep them topped up with oil & go easy through the gears & they'll last a skwillion miles. Any gearbox that's been abused is going to fail prematurely, but they're ten a penny, not the most expensive part of the vehicle & a relative piece of **** to drop & change.



Concientious owners fit FW hubs? Most around these parts think they're a waste of time & money, but each to their own! The wear is negligible, especially when compared to forgetting to engage them once in a while to splash some oil about & the extra drag is tiny & unless you're using an injun from a garden mower I really wouldn't worry about it.

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did you actually read that lot? if so ah take me hat orf to yer. I only made it as far as "one lever is for"

slob said:

did you actually read that lot? if so ah take me hat orf to yer. I only made it as far as "one lever is for"

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Hee hee. Reckon 'how to actually put a Series motor in gear' might be ripe for a sticky post?

ah wiz gonna but ah thought ad let someone else find it first

Dont talk to me about putting series in feckin gear...grrrrr

did you get ya slave cly?

ya springs are ere

slave cylinder fine...pipe split...replace pipe ...clutch go bang...engine half out ready to replace clutch


grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

And what use are the springs being there?????

pt number

Sirus said:

slave cylinder fine...pipe split...replace pipe ...clutch go bang...engine half out ready to replace clutch


grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

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Huh? Wot yer V8? Nah, s'auto. Er, yer gorranuvva car or three?

series 3... snot auto......it were going for paintin then for sale....dint get far though