Transfer Box Issues

Hi all,

I've had my '76 Series III petrol engine 88 landy for a while but haven't used the transfer levers much, or recently (yes, I know, I've wasted one of the best parts of owning her). I was having a play a couple of days ago and now the main gear box is emitting a concerning clank, especially in second gear. Its not a grind, it sounds more like something is loose. The gears still work fine. There's also oil leaking from the front of the transmission brake. I'm hoping that its as easy as a broken seal, but have spoken to another enthusiast who said that that wouldn't necessarily be the reason for the clanking. Any ideas?

And to confirm your suspicions of my novice-ness, can someone please explain the workings of the transfer system? I thought the yellow up/down button was 2/4WD and the red lever the high/low range. When I put it in low range, the yellow button pops up, and when I put it back into high range, the gearbox remains in neutral until I push the yellow button back down.

Any help greatly appreciated!
Sallyb

Yes the yellow up/down knob is 2wd/4wd. When you switch to low range the yellow knob should pop up (low range is always 4wd. This is also the method to dissenage 4wd by shifting to low range then back to high.) Switching to high range should not require pushing down the yellow knob (unless there is some issue with the tranfer case.) Are you sure that you are pushing the lever forward enough to engage high gear (mine actually hits the bulkhead as it engages,) you might need to slowly (and I mean slowly) release the clutch to align the gears in order to get it in high (once again I have to do this on mine.)

Thanks pickuprover.That's pretty much what I'd thought, but was, like you, perplexed as to why it wouldn't go back to 2WD in gear when I pushed the lever forward. It definitely goes past neutral and into high range when you push it forward. If you rev with the main gear in 1st, you go nowhere, even with slow clutch release. Without moving anything else, push the magic yellow button and you're away! So maybe there is some issue with it - bugger!

Thanks again.

Any other help on the rattle/clank and oil leak?

Yes would say that you have something wrong in there.... when you go around a corner on dry pavement does the front wheels jump a little. (just wondering if you are actually running in 2wd even with the yellow knob engaged. ) Unfortunately I have not had my transfer bos apart and am not really sure of how the internals actually work. Hopefully someone will be along soon with more knowledge. Andrew.

Hadn't noticed the front wheels jumping but will pay more attention.
Cheers.

If it's only working with the yella knob down perhaps you've got no drive to the rear wheels. If this is the case you wouldn't notice any of the symptoms associated with wind-up coz you're in 2WD with the yella knob down and 0WD with it up.

It works with the yellow knob up when its in low range, just not when its in high range. So as far as I can tell, I've got low range 4wd and high range 2wd but no high range 4wd. So not too worried on that one I think??!

Gareth, any ideas on leaking transmission oil and nasty noises?

As Gareth Coe says, sounds like there's something buggered with the back end which could be anything to do with the transfer case, propshaft, half shafts or hubs. Pushing down the yellow lever is only giving you front wheel drive rather than four wheel drive. Try dropping the clutch in mud or ice and see if any of the wheels spin. In four wheel drive, if it's really icy, the car should lurch forward or spin all four wheels. If you drop the clutch with the yellow knob pushed down or in low range and only the front wheels spin, you've got problems with the back end. Don't get into too much ice or mud though as you won't be able to get back out without 4 wheel drive or a tow! But to re-iterate Pickuprover's point, it's really easy to get false neutrals unless all of the levers are completely engaged, if not the engine will just rev out, or you'll be able to hear the gears spinning/crunching. This stills gets me every now and again.

most likey thing would be a busted rear half shaft. it ain't yer propshaft unless some **** has nicked it. unlikey to be the hubs and if it was yer t/box you probelly get some kind of noise

aye, they break at the splines where they enter the diff.

unless you have a direct line to the great landy god..in which case they'll brake at the hub end

Other way to test if you have rear drive is to drop the front prop shaft, might be safer than spinning on ice or mud... and if it is a broken shaft then putting the transfer case in nuetral, and spiinng the rear pro shaft should tell you that. With the transfer in neutral, if the half shaft is snapped then I believe the prop shaft should rotate with little resistance. But could be wrong.

drop the front prop???!!!!!!!!!????????? why not go the whole hog and take the flucking box out??? just pull yer rear shafts out and have a look. six bolts on each rear hub and pull the buggers out, if one is snapped then i believe the break should be easily be seen. but could be wrong

Righto guys,
Thanks for all your help to date. I've had someone look at it and he agrees (without taking the half shafts out) that it is a broken half shaft.

So. I've got my Haynes, I've got two print outs from links from here, and I've got the will. Just not sure about the know-how.

If I pull the half-shafts out and find that sure enough, one of them is busted, and sure enough, its near the diff so its not the half-hour job. Am I well stuffed if I need to get it to a mechanic at that stage?

I read that Roger A had managed to change his diff without having done it previously. Possible but fiddly or best left to the experts?

One more - the guy that looked at it also reckons the two front prop shaft UJs need replacing and says there's a skill to it so that its near impossible for anyone that hasn't done it before (how does anyone get the skill if they don't have a first go??!). Again, have a go or smile with resignation at the mechanic as I pull out the cheque book?

Cheers!

Bad luck. But all is not lost.

My view about land rovers is that they are well engineered machines. They are also quite simple and hark back to the days when most drivers used to do many more repairs themselves than today. I think land rover owners - Series vehicles anyway - need to be able to do odd bits of repairs. The land rover manuals are excellent and much easier to follow. There are some on line which you download.

Half shaft - you can do this yourself. At least take shaft out and see where it is broken. If its browken at wheel end its easy to repair. If its broken at the other end you might have to take diff out. Thats not hard either. The manuals have clear instructions in and very good diagrams.

Universal joints - there is a knack - but again the manual covers this quite well and there are some hand tips in the Haynes Manual. Again, this is ajob you can do yourself with very basic tools.


The problems I have found with paying someone to do the work are:

- its expensive.
- finding someone who knows how land rovers work - the spotty apprentice at Kwick Fix won't know and neither will some of his superiors - last series 3 rolled out of Solihul in 1986 or so!
- you should use genuine parts.

This forum will also support the work that you do.

Slob will probably say I've rambled on too much - I think the ale is kicking in.

Best of luck.

Sorry, AOL crashed whislt I was trying to find this link:

http://www.landrover.ee/est/varia/downloads/cars.htm

This chap has a load of manuals in english you can download. The site has a load of useful links - but most of site is in Dutch. There are about 7 sections or so for series 3 manual.

Page 51-1 for rear haf shafts. There are are 6 bolts to remove the draft plate and half shaft.

Page 47-1 and 47-2 cover the propshafts. The 'skill' your chap refers to is, according to the manual para 8 is:

Tap the yokes to eject bearing cups.[/I]

There is a diagram showing how to hit the yokes with a hammer? I've seen my dad do this on his series 2a and I can vouch for the manual.

Best of luck. Lets here how you get on.

if you decide to do yer uj's get a spare one cos if its yer first time you'll be dropping needle roller all over the shop. as fir the half shaft easy job like all jobs on proper llandies, just be aware that the diff is HEAVY and depending on what axle you have you might need a spreader to get the thing out.

Alright. I'll give it a go. Although I can't this weekend and work's gonna be baaaad next week so it might be a little while before I get back to you to let you know how it went.

Wish me luck!
Sallyb

Remember :

Rev up when shifting down and let the revs die when shifting up. take it easy and don't rush the box. it hates it

sallyb said:

Righto guys,
Thanks for all your help to date. I've had someone look at it and he agrees (without taking the half shafts out) that it is a broken half shaft.

Cheers!

Click to expand...

mm! i glad he agrees with our opinion but ya still gotta take one out to find out which is broken. you need to order the correct one. and make sure you get one with the correct number of splines. i know someone will say that your model will have 'x' number of splines but if it has been changed at some point in its life it might not match what the book says.
my front axle had 10 on one side and 24 on the other.
also get two hubs gaskets and a diff gasket. you might want to renew the diff seal while yer at it