I can't show you pictures from today because Photobucket seems to be down. I'll edit them in when it's back online. I took a long trip (well, 120 miles) to Wales as I'm making some new garage doors at my mid Wales friend's house. I loaded up the roofrack with wood and filled the rear compartment with tools of every shape, colour and creed known to humanity, plus hinges and bolts and set off. Photobucket's available again so here's a picture:

Heading westwards into a headwind with a roofrack on took the edge off the performance a little. The transfer case oil temperature crept up on the fast bits of road, which was from the M69 junction at Leicester all the way to Shrewsbury. I was really cooking on the last bit of dual carriageway between Telford and Shrewsbury. I read that the flashpoint of GL4 EP90 is about 190 C so I'm not in any danger of setting the gearbox on fire just yet, But it was certainly warm. On the road from Shrewsbury to Newtown it cooled down. I assume it's still running in, so will let it settle over the next couple of thousand miles and then change the oil again. Here's me on the map:

Once in Newtown I was confronted with another problem. My friend couldn't get his R380 gearbox into gear. 'It's broken' he lamented 'I'm broke, I can't afford a new gearbox, they're hundreds of pounds'. I got in and tried for myself. There was no resistance (other than the return spring) on the clutch pedal so I surmised it was more a clutch problem than a gearbox problem.
The cap of the fluid reservoir wouldn’t come off. Eventually I turned it with some oil filter pliers I bought myself for Christmas. There was fluid in there but it was dark brown. I used the pressure bleeder for my brakes to pressurise the system and lo and behold it would change gear. So it must be a hydraulic problem. I bled it, and bled it some more, but it still wouldn’t work unless it was under pressure. Eventually I managed to blow some air out and it is now much better. I can change gear from stationary and on the move. I’ve only been along the lane by his house in it, but it seems OK. The fluid was the filthiest dirtiest stuff I have ever seen in a hydraulic system. There’s been no maintenance done on that car despite its main dealer service history. Anyway, I hope it's just the fluid degrading and that it's not dissolved its seals. Then I ripped the side off the shed where we're going to fit garage doors, and then it was time for tea.

Heading westwards into a headwind with a roofrack on took the edge off the performance a little. The transfer case oil temperature crept up on the fast bits of road, which was from the M69 junction at Leicester all the way to Shrewsbury. I was really cooking on the last bit of dual carriageway between Telford and Shrewsbury. I read that the flashpoint of GL4 EP90 is about 190 C so I'm not in any danger of setting the gearbox on fire just yet, But it was certainly warm. On the road from Shrewsbury to Newtown it cooled down. I assume it's still running in, so will let it settle over the next couple of thousand miles and then change the oil again. Here's me on the map:

Once in Newtown I was confronted with another problem. My friend couldn't get his R380 gearbox into gear. 'It's broken' he lamented 'I'm broke, I can't afford a new gearbox, they're hundreds of pounds'. I got in and tried for myself. There was no resistance (other than the return spring) on the clutch pedal so I surmised it was more a clutch problem than a gearbox problem.
The cap of the fluid reservoir wouldn’t come off. Eventually I turned it with some oil filter pliers I bought myself for Christmas. There was fluid in there but it was dark brown. I used the pressure bleeder for my brakes to pressurise the system and lo and behold it would change gear. So it must be a hydraulic problem. I bled it, and bled it some more, but it still wouldn’t work unless it was under pressure. Eventually I managed to blow some air out and it is now much better. I can change gear from stationary and on the move. I’ve only been along the lane by his house in it, but it seems OK. The fluid was the filthiest dirtiest stuff I have ever seen in a hydraulic system. There’s been no maintenance done on that car despite its main dealer service history. Anyway, I hope it's just the fluid degrading and that it's not dissolved its seals. Then I ripped the side off the shed where we're going to fit garage doors, and then it was time for tea.
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