R380 drain plug

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Steve H

New Member
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29
Quick question if I may. Is the R380 main gearbox drain plug right at the bottom centre of the gearbox? I was having a look underneath my 300Tdi today and found a threaded hole that looked like it might be a drain plug but with no plug, about half inch thread. Haynes doesn't say where the drain plug is. I'm worried that the drain plug has fallen out! Any help appreciated,thank you!
 
If i remember rightly theres a square drive socket plug, mildly awkward to get at and the fill plug is even higher so even more awkward!!!
Cheers
Tom
 
Is the drain plug on the side of the box or right on the bottom at what looks like the lowest point?
 
Quick question if I may. Is the R380 main gearbox drain plug right at the bottom centre of the gearbox? I was having a look underneath my 300Tdi today and found a threaded hole that looked like it might be a drain plug but with no plug, about half inch thread. Haynes doesn't say where the drain plug is. I'm worried that the drain plug has fallen out! Any help appreciated,thank you!

Sounds like your wading plug hole in your bell houseing to me.
 
Having re-read your post the thing your describing is a drain hole for any excess fluid that leaks into the gearbox bell-housing, supposed to be plugged only when wading in deep water. If it was your gearbox fluid drain plug you'd know about it as your gearbox would probably now be seized solid!!!
cheers
Tom
 
Thanks for the advice, I think I found the drain plug on the RHS of the gearbox below the filler. Is the bell housing wading plug normally left unplugged?
 
Thanks for the advice, I think I found the drain plug on the RHS of the gearbox below the filler. Is the bell housing wading plug normally left unplugged?

Opinions vary. You are meant to leave it out and only stick it in when you are gonna be wading. I keep mine in and take it out every couple of weeks to check there is no oil contamination cos I tend to lose em.
 
I gorra feeling there is a spare threaded hole somewhere underneath for you to screw the drain plug into while it's draining so's you don't lose it - that might be what you found!
 
hi guys R380 on disco, large hex plug (32mm) is the drain (drivers side on the side of the gearbox), above it is the filler (this is a torx drive) if your playing silly bu88ers with your ratchets and hands around the rear end of the front prop shaft then your in the right place!
 
just to back up chunky engineer,
Drained gearbox oil last week, he's right.
gonna do it again , have some fancy new mtf94 fluid for it now, gonna give it a whirl.
P.s, re; filler plug, ensure you get torx drive bit TX55, don't do as i did and try using other unsuitable tool( i couldn,t see the socket type due to angle on gearbox)you run the risk of rounding the edges off.
Make sure you can remove this plug first too, before you drain gearbox.
 
I've tried the 75w-80 (MTF94) in my R380 and found the ATF oil made it run smoother and quieter. I just thought i'd let you know that all other oil companies, who get their info from LR, are the same in this. They all list their own version of MTF94 except between these dates.


Manual gearbox: R380 gearbox 1994 model year to Jan 98, 2.4 ltr / 2.9 ltr (without/with oil cooler), DONAX TA

hopefully this helps
 
oh right,
this has been an ongoing drama, to get the correct gbox oil,
{apparantley i also have a broken bias plate, which is causing gearchange difficulty)...However, i 've been to countless, motorfactors, halfords, and other links and forums on the net, and the only definitive answer i could get, (finally from my local LR sevice dept) ,for correct spec was the MTF, which was a LR recommended improvement on the handbook spec of ATFDexronIID(which has also had a change in classification/identification, now being recognized as suitable for other Specs).
I'm gonna get the bias plate replaced, and the take it from there, at the moment i have Comma AQM(meeting DexronII,(not IID mind!) in it, which i was
"assured" would be ok by the motorfactors, when i wanted to change the stuff and get my money back in favour of some MTF94*, before the first drain and change.(* after doing web research...are you keeping up with this?!).
The AQM did give me a big time improvement esp on cold starts changing to 2nd which was the original problem that set the whole pinball richochet.
I was gonna check out the MTF94, after talking to the LR guy, who reckoned it was great, and also on the strenghth of it being a factory upgrade.

Waddaya think?:confused:
 
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