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i wired 2 40amp relays [ for dip and main beam ]direct from the alternator ouput terminal, ie the terminal that the thick cable goes to for charging the battery , and then ran 25amp cable feeds from the relay outputs to the headlight units and connected to the back of the H4 bulb sockets as close as possible to the socket and with some bullet connectors . i switched the relays for main and dipped beam using just the nearside original headlight wiring which activated the relays via their coils . this then removed the heavy current load on the headlight switch which is normally the cause of the switch contacts melting into the plastic of the lighting switch on the steering column . i blanked off the offside drivers side headlight wiring and it isnt used anymore . now i have 14.5v at the headlights with the engine running on tickover and 55w bulbs are just fine and nice and bright . before i wired direct feed from the alternator output i had similar voltage drop to you and really dim headlights . unfortunately landrover used some seriously under rated wiring which resulted in high resistance and a lot of voltage drop at the headlights compared to the voltage input , but also the headlight switch on the landy would get that hot it would make the switch contacts melt into the insulation of the bottom of the switch , i had it happen to me one night at 60mph down a country road and my lights all of a sudden went out , not for the faint hearted trying to brake and hope you stop without hitting anything !! . i am using wipac crystal headlights , much better pattern from these , and 60/55w standard halogen bulbs and they work fine for me . i did have 80/100w bulbs in but decided to go back to the 55w ones because of the current reqd to power them versus diesel economy and trying to save myself some fuel . i do find that the standard halogen bulbs give me better visibility on dark tarmac and off road , for some reason the yellower light shows up better than if using those "white" type of replacement bulbs .

could be just the connection of the connector on the injector pump stop solenoid . happens now and again on my 300tdi and its same setup on the 200tdi as i have a disco 200tdi too . to check the solenoid works , unplug the connector from the stop solenoid on the rear of the injector pump , then switch ignition on , then put the wire connection onto the solenoid terminal connector and you should hear it go click , you can put the connector against the terminal just by resting it and you can see if the solenoid goes click click click etc as you tap the connector against the terminal . if it does go click then the stop solenoid is working , it is open when there is voltage to it and closed when no voltage , so in other words if you lose the connection between the plug and the terminal the engine will stop . usually the connector and/or terminal become corroded and lose contact , most of the time all thats required is a simple pull off and put back on again of the wire and it will all be fine again . mine stopped on me going up a steep incline last year , easy job to sort out but was funny trying to get bonnet up when it was already at 45degs angle on the slope . hopefully this is your problem and nothing else but the lift pumps can fall apart inside and stop being able to mechanically pump , although usually you lose power when these go but the engine doesnt necessarily stop on you . if engine actually cuts out mid flight then i think its just the stop solenoid wire connector losing contact .

i can tell you exactly whats wrong . i have rebuilt my 2 overdrives 3 times since i had it , i have sussed it now . youre problem is in the cone clutch , the lining has either had some or all of it come off the outside of the cone clutch . pretty much all the gkn cone clutches fitted to their landrover overdrives were all fitted with silly little thin [to save money] linings , they are bonded on but are very thin, something like 1mm thick , and they come off . usually they start breaking little bits off which you might find in the "sump" of ovderdrive when you take the filter plate off , and then possibly you might lose say 1/4 of the clutch lining but not all of it so it kind of works to a fashion for a short time , but it wont be long before the lot comes off . the speed sensor only works IF the clutch is rotating below it , and if youve lost the lining and its trapped when the cone tries to move when the solenoid is engaged , then the speed sensor thinks its not moving and so wont switch the solenoid on . the tightness you get in reverse is what happens when the lining comes off and wedges in and things go tight . put it this way , on mine one day , on a 10 mile trip , the overdrive gearbox got that ot it melted the handbrake cable outer and inner plastic and rendered it inoperable . i am now a dab hand at repairing these overdrives and i know where to get the cone clutches from which are superior to the gkn ones , ie they have thick well bonded linings . if you are desperate to drive youre landy and dont mind doing this without the overdrive being used , then you can fix this easily to allow you "drive " and also to keep the overdrive gearbox still installed, but you will not use the overdrive function [ disconnect the power to the solenoid] , but it will still work as a "normal " 5 speed gearbox , ie you dont need to put all the original landrover gears back in place , you can simply render the o/d in a state as if the gearbox is working as a standard 5 speed but with the o/d box still fitted but with the lining material removed , until you can get it fully repaired . remember though that once youve removed the lining you can physically still switch the overdrive in but it will slip all the time because it will be metal to metal contact on the cone clutch minus the lining , so hence you dont want the overdrive facility to be funtioning at all in this state , it will however have the clearances reqd to work in its OFF state and wont bind up with loose lining lodged in between the cone and the clutch . .. in order to sort it what you have to do is to take the overdrive box off , and remove the broken lining , then the overdrive will work in its OFF state , but you CANNOT run it in overdrive mode until its been repaired . i think you could get the broken lining out bit by bit if you just remove the backplate and the filter/sump plate , but it would be better to remove the overdrive unit and take apart , remove the broken bits and then blow it out with air and clean it and then put it back in place . you wont get any spare cone clutches from gkn , theyve ceased selling or fixing any units , and devon 4x4 wont have any spare cone clutches .. one thing you could do is find a laycock J type overdrive and remove the cone clutch from it , this will fit youre landy overdrive because the landy overdrive IS a j type overdrive [ but runs in reverse to the "normal" types of laycock overdrives . i can tell you where you can buy a reconditioned cone clutch but im not saying on here because the guy might throw a wobbler if he gets inundated with requests for them for landrovers , he rebuilds the cone clutches on an exchange basis normally but you can buy outright if you pay the £50 surcharge , they arent cheap but i have 3 new spare cone clutches here . you do need to know how to dismantle and rebuild the gkn overdrive, i know how to so its easy for me but if you pull one apart for first time you may not work out how it comes apart and will damage something . do not hammer it to try and get it apart, it comes apart a particular way easily if you know how , its full of circlips etc , and you MUST NOT break the bronze thrust washer , as you cant buy them , unless like me you can make one or get one copied then youd be stuffed otherwise . the epicyclic gearbox in the overdrive is not the same as the ones in the other laycock overdrives because they run in a different direction , so you cant swap those over and must keep the landy gkn epicyclic gears in it . i have been running my "own repaired" overdrive for a few months now all fine , i cant guarantee how long it will last but to be honest i doubt the clutch lining will fail now i have a superior type in there . i have my own ramp to work on so it isnt too hard for me to get under the landy and take things off but i guess for someone working on the ground it may take longer and give a bit more hassle . when i repaired mine i put the vehicle on 4 heavy duty axle stands afterwards to test and check the overdrive was working . on another note , if you were to have 285/75x16 tyres on a standard landy transfer box you wouldnt really need the overdrive , i hardly get to use mine now and i have these size tyres . put it this way im showing 2600rpm at 70mph with 285 tyres and the overdrive on, its a bit too highly geared to pull the vehicle in overdrive other than on the flat .. sorry i did a long reply to youre original message , but i hope it isnt too late for you to salvage the overdrive you have . its a fairly simple repair to put it right again , so long as you know what and how to do it , and no doubt i would guess that every gkn overdrive thats failed on a landrover has had the same problem and no other . even if you had an overdrive that was working , but had the original gkn "thin" clutch lining , i can guarantee it WILL FAIL at some point in time , no question about that . i had 2 brand new gkn overdrives and both failed , and one failed within a day of fitting it .. took me a while to suss out what the gkn engineers did to mees them up but i worked it out in the end . i mean they might just have worked if the bonding solution actually stayed stuck on !!!. they probably knew only too well what theyd done , but having sold perhaps thousands of gkn overdrives for landrovers , it would have been mighty expensive to repair every one of them under warranty , so what did they do , they went quietly . funny thing is that these drives have been made for decades , and if you had a ford transit overdrive or a scimitar or mgb gt or triumph or vauxhall ventora etc then chances are it has the same type of unit , except for the fact those had decent clutch linings on the cone clutches . dont try fitting one of those to a landrover though, first it wont fit anyway and secondly they run opposite direction and dont have many parts the same except for the cone clutch and a few other odd parts , solenoid is same though !! .

i have a 90" defender and the front diff fell apart on me some years ago , and this was on road driving , although i guess that is the most stressfull of driving for landrover transmissions due to the lack of "give" on tarmac versus dirt or mud roads .. it was the sun gears that shattered and wrecked the diff . the original standard landrover diffs are not very tough to be honest and arent really capable of handling the stress that can be applied to them , plus they are an old design which was used in other models of rover cars , albeit with different side bearings later on . what i did was to put a detroit trutrac diff in both the front and rear axles . when you put a truetrac diff side by side with a landrover diff you will immediately note the detroit diff being far superior and stronger in every way . i know that now there are ashcroft "copies" available of the truetracs and so you have more choice in what you can buy these days , but when i bought mine there were only the detroit truetracs available in the helical type of LSD diffs . the detroit diffs have a big reputation , and after all they have produced diffs for all kinds of performance cars for many years , so the track record is a proven one , especially with the drag racing scene . ashcroft transmissions have a big reputation in the uk and wider and they know what a landrover is likely to need or be put through in its paces , so i guess you can say that whichever diff you pick you wont go wrong , ie detroit or ashcroft . you can of course go for other diffs , ie KAM QUAIFE ARB etc , but it all depends on what kind of setup you want and are prepared to put up with . with the truetrac/ATB it is mostly a fit and use it setup with no more operator input required other than regular oil checks etc , but with the ARB types you will need to make sure you switch them off when going back on hard surfaces . the truetrac type of diff works ok on the front steering of my landrover , with no real noticeable downsides . it is slightly different to an open diff at times when you are under power and have to turn quickly but it is one of those things you get used to and dont notice after a while . the preload on the front truetrac is less than a rear one, so basically the rear one will have more lock on both wheels but the front diff will act more like an open diff . you must buy separate front or rear truetrac diffs , ie a front or a rear model . i put a front diff in first in mine but that was because i needed to replace a blown diff in the front and wanted to fit a stronger diff other than a landrover one , hence i bought a truetrac lsd . then not much later i put the rear diff in . they are easy to setup in the diff carrier and adjust the side bearings , but i would recommend a decent quality set of new side bearings and make yourself some rings up for pressing the bearings onto the diffs , because you do not want to touch the roller bearing cages and knock them off and end up with rollers all over the floor . if you are doing a lot of mud driving then maybe fully locking diffs are what you want to look into , because even though a rear truetrac/atb will rotate both rear wheels to some degree equally and without much load on them , the front truetrac/atb will be somewhat "looser" on preload and act more as an open diff will , ie if you were bogged down to the chassis [ as i was last year] and had all wheels floating in mud and it was going nowhere but it was in gear and engine running at idle , what you will see is both rear wheels going round and only one front wheel . get back in and apply the brakes a little and then the front diff will take up drive to both wheels , because it has resistance on both wheels , thus the helicals wound up to the face of the clutch inside . i like the fit and forget part , hence i drive everyday , on or off road , and no more action needed to think about it . i would like an ARB diff lock in the front but to be honest if i get stuck as i did previously , there is no way out under my own power and it means a snatch recovery the same as i had to do . i drive across fields in the wet and my truetracs have served me well up to a point , but now i have upgraded to larger tyres with bigger tread + more ground clearance under axles . i think at the end of the day its an ongoing "hobby" when we start messing with landrovers and drivetrains , so be expecting to want to do something else and then something else as you go on in time with your landrover . truetrac or ATB you wont go wrong with either . whichever way you go i wouldnt fit an open diff in when you have already got the axle apart , fit something that will give you extra traction ability and strength . on another note , if you pull the front axle apart , you can fit the earlier parts that allow adjustment of wheelbearings , as opposed to the later shim system , but i dont know if your landrover is late enough to have that shim system fitted [ which many people hate and swap over to the earlier setup again ] . good luck with whatever you do .

i could pretty much guarantee you that it is the actual connector on the fuel stop solenoid , happened to me many times . in my case i may have only to brush my hand past the connector in order for it to lose contact . on the end of the injector pump where the injector pipes come out you will see a black plastic push on connector which fits onto the spade terminal of the stop solenoid , usually if you have the engine just stop or fail to start for no reason all you need to do is pull the connector off and put back on again and all will be ok . you have 2 options here, either just give the spade terminal a quick scratch with something , and maybe clean and slightly squeeze up the insides of the connector to make it all make good contact , or cut off the connector and fit a new one, the BLUE insulated types fit the terminal .

i think what most people do , and also something you can buy off shelf , is to raise the seat rails by 25mm using lengths of 25x25x2.5mm box so that the seat can then slide back a little farther and over the rib that sits behind the seat rails that usually gets in the way of moving the seat slider back farther . i dont know if this is same for 110 as for 90 but depends on which model and derivative you have m ie 110/90 or csw type . if you have a bulkhead behind the seats then this mod should be what you need, and if you have a CSW type ie county station wagon then there is no bulkhead so you should be able to slide seat back farther anyway . i know what you mean about lack of legroom on landrovers , it seems to have got worse over the years , and what with the addition of the aircon and heater vents added , the room was squeezed up even more . youd think theyd have known what a landrover is designed for by now wouldnt you, ie working people and those who work on or with the land or on and off the land or rescues and expeditions , ie people of good stature and physical size and stength with clothing and footware and equipment to match all weathers and terrains ha ha . i can remember that my old 1973 2 door range rover had so much room inside, especially in the back seat where i could actually sleep if i wanted to , yet later models seemed to get even more and more cramped . i guess everyone became a gymnastic convert over the years .

hi it may be one of a couple of things here . wire connection at stop solenoid on injector pump needs cleaning and tightening up , it may be coming loose when you go over bumps and is shutting solenoid . i have been off road going up a steep track and mine cut out on me , only 1mph too , loose connection on end of wire at stop solenoid . lift pump arm pivot pin may have broke [ common as muck to happen on landies ] and you arent pumping any fuel through, and just relying on the injector pump to draw a small amount . change lift pump first and fit new fuel filter along with it [ fill filter with diesel before you put it on and if you need to prime the system dont forget to switch ignition ON so the injector pump solenoid is OPEN .. water in fuel and the filter needs changing , or filter has become loose, or one of plastic fuel lines has been rubbing against something and formed a leak on the intake side which will not show up as an external leak that you can see , check anywhere that the pipe sits against . check all turbo hoses internally that they havent delaminated and closed up under running conditions and also that the wastegate is opening , but youll know if the wastegate opens because the power will increase as you drive , you can check wastegate arm will move by pushing the rod in with a bit of round bar or something you can push againt it with , there will be a fair bit of resistance but not too much that you will almost break it .

very easy to do, especially if you only swap the bottom hinges . if you have worn hinges where the door drops a fair bit its probably only the lower hinges that are worn badly , you can just replace the lower hinges and it will tighten things up no end . you need an impact driver to easily undo the screws holding the hinges in place that are screwed to the bulkhead pillar . on the door if you look around the back of the hinge youll see the 2x 1/2" unf nuts in gaps in the back of the door card plastic, they should be clearly visible , to remove the hinge from the door you only need to prise the bottom of door card away and then you can get a 1/2" spanner onto the nuts and undo them , allowing the screws [bolts] to slip out . on the bulkhead pillar you will need to use an impact driver to start the screws coming loose , then once they are moving you should be able to unscrew them easy enough , make sure you pick the tightest fitting crosshead bit for the impact driver so it grips properly . the hinge screws at front of hinge are screwed into some clips that have the nuts in them and they are clipped into a slot in the pillar , the clips are installed from outside of the vehicle so you dont have to worry about trying to get down inside the inner wing panels or anything like that ,its not a problem if you have to drill these screws out at all because the new mounting clips just clip into the slot by hand and you cant mess it up to be honest . once the hinge is removed youll see the long slot at the front mounting point along with the clips hidden behind , there are also some plastic sandwich plates in between . top hinge is mounted similar way , the mirror bolts on from the back of it . to adjust door height etc you just slide the door/hinge combination up or down in conjunction with door whilst screws are slackened , then tighten whilst door is fixed in position . best to remove hinges one at a time . leave door shut when undoing bulkhead pillar screws . when you install new hinge , bolt it to door first and close door, then screw the front screws in place and you can open and adjust door etc without it falling off . use some copper anti sieze compound on all screws when assembling . usually the new hinges are supplied as bare steel , so you need some etch primer to prime them and then something for top coat . many hinge kits include screws and spacers and nuts/clips . you can buy from any landy parts suppliers or they are available from ebay .

i have truetracs front and rear on my 90 and they are great . easy to drive with , no fancy oils reqd and no need to remember to switch anything off or on in order to use them . driving and steering is fine and youd not really notice they are fitted . as far as grip goes off road well they certainly made a lot of difference for me , i no longer spin any wheels on a dirt track in 1st gear if i put foot down , whereas previously it would spin with just open diffs . in the mud i have not yet had any trouble, but i am also sensible in where i drive into , and so if its too much for me i will back out of trying to go through it . i did test with mine in the snow recently , 2 people watching front and back wheels to see if all 4 wheels gripped and turned forwards at same time when i made it spin on purpose , all wheels turned drove/spanb forwards equally as i applied revs etc . when you buy a truetrac , there is a front and rear version of them so you need to make sure you buy the right one for the axle to be used in . easy to fit , all you do is swap the crownwheel over to the new diff , fit new side bearings and then set the backlash using a dial indicator and magnetic base, about .004-.007" thou backlash if i remember right . check the backlash all way round in rotation , just in case you have the crownwheel slightly off true due to some debris etc under its face, then you can remove it and clean etc and check again , ie so you know its got the right backlash all way round and not just at one point of rotation . youll need a new diff flange gasket when you fit new diff to axle housing . make sure you buy the diff with the correct spline amount , ie 24spline for 94 and on defenders and 10 spline for previous approx , but make sure you take a halfshaft out of youre vehicle and count the amount of splines it has on the diff end of it , because even though you may have a later or earlier vehicle it could have been worked on by someone and axles swapped etc . if you dont want to remove youre own diff and take it apart for any reason, you can buy used diffs on ebay etc for around £50 , then do all the work on that and swap it over when you have finished everything you need to do , just make sure you buy a diff with same spline amount .. the truetrac diff is rated as one of the best diffs you can buy when it comes to quality of workmanship and strength , they are actually a work of art if you are mechanically inclined , and certainly ten times better than rover diffs for quality . its not the truetrac that has suffered some problems, its the locker version, but that isnt because the locker is a bad diff, its more to do with the fact that the locker is not designed to be used in wheelbases of less than 100" and unforuntately many have been fitted in 90 inch landies etc , and their turning circle is too tight in a manner of speaking , which brings about early or premature failure of the locker internals . with the truetrac you wont suffer any problems amnd you wont hear any funny noises either , they just work as it says on the box . ashcroft transmissions http://www.ashcroft-transmissions.co.uk/part_5.html devon 4x4 http://www.devon4x4.com/products_a/p29c54/0/true-trac-differential-24-spline.html crowndifferentials http://www.crowndiffs.co.uk/diffs.html#det_true if youre interested there is also a QUAIFE ATB diff which is similar to the truetrac but using more gears , but almost twice the price . hope this is usefull although many other people have already answered youre questions . cheers ian .

i think you said you heard ticking from the exhaust manifold side and perhaps have a split gasket. its common on the 300tdi for the inlet manifold gasket to split up the centre of each port and lose a bit of the boost pressure . also the exhaust gaskets can start to disintigrate and then blow by which will cause a spitting noise . its easy to change the exhuast and inlet manifold gaskets without undoing the exhuast downpipe etc , just need to remove the rubber hoses from the inlet side and then undo the inlet manifold bolts and exhaust manifold nuts and then you can pull the inlet manifold off and then pull the exhuast manifold away from the head whilst downpipe is still connected . if you put a new inlet gasket on , put some hylomar sealant on one side of gasket and also on inlet manifold face before installing it . the exhaust manifold studs have 15mm head nuts on them and you need a good 15mm combination spanner and also 3/8 drive long hex socket in order to undo them nicely . dont use spanner to try undoing the nuts , use a 15mm long hex socket to loosen them and then a spanner once loose if reqd . another area that youll get some "spitting " noise from is the injector seat washers . easy way to check if the injector seats are leaking is to spray some soapy water down onto the injector body and see if it bubbles up much from down where they seat into the head when in tickover . if you ever take injectors out, allways anneal [soften] the washers before putting back in otherwise they will be too hard and not squash down when the injector face is tightened against them . to anneal the copper washers you just heat them up over the gas to an orange colour and then immediately drop them in to a jam jar of cold water , then they will be soft/annealed and ready to use . you need a puller to remove the injectors though, 14mm thread , easy to make one up with some 12mm round bar and a bit of 40mm solid bar drilled down centre etc , use a 6" long sliding bar on it or youll have to tilt the bonnet right back in order to allow you to work on the rear injector . the injectors do get coked up a bit in their bores and take a small amount of pulling out, but shouldnt be too difficult to pull out by hand with a small slide hammer . to get the sealing washers out all you need do is to slightly taper the end of an m8x200 or so roofing bolt so it will go into the centre hole of washer and tighten it slightly so it will pull the washer out by its centre hole . when putting injector back in put some loctite onto the washer side that faces injector face and it will seal better . usually the "ring" side of washer faces upwards to injector . it may well not be the injector seal ticking but is worth checking . most posts beforehand point to the vacuum pump and thats probably the first point of concern , and then theres the few other common areas as mentioned. hope you sort it out, usually its a simple fault . .

http://www.tyresdirectuk.co.uk/xcart/home.php?cat=254 try here , cheapest i could find in the uk and these prices INCLUDE VAT whereas most other places either dont include vat or they dont post any prices . i bought 4 tyres from tyresdirect myself only a few weeks ago , no problem at all .

to be honest i wouldnt use spacers at all and i dont know the legality of them if you had an accident . i have an old chevy camaro that the previous owner used 30mm spacers on and he broke all the wheelstuds on one side . i would say that if you had spacers in , then it would allow twisting motion to the wheelstuds which will in turn probably do the same thing as on the camaro on standard landrover wheelstuds i wouldnt think there is enough stud length to allow fitment of spacers , or do they supply new longer studs with the spacers . i am using wider offset wheels and tyres myself but i think the 90inch landies handle better with slimmer standard spec wheels and tyres , ie so that the rims are tucked in over the hubs and make the complete axle width as narrow as possible and the wheelbase as long as possible in relation to this . its probably a cheaper idea to buy 4 new rims than it is to buy a set of spacers , steel spoke or modular rims are what £28 each or so new . im running 265 tyres and offset rims and they only just have the tread inside the wheelarch extensions , and some of the edge of the tyre sticks out past this , so i wouldnt want to have them any wider . older landies had similar width bodies and axles and the wheels on those were behind the metal arches , so the 90/110s nowadays are using a much bigger offset all round without addition of spacers .

this is what you want . plasticare trim dye http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Plasticare-Trim-Dye-...id=p3286.c0.m14 i have just used some today to black my wheel arch extensions and the door mirrors , the front light surrounds, the grille , rear fog and reverse light covers and door handles . great stuff, just put it on with a cotton cloth and rub it on there . any residue you get onto the paintwork you can just wipe off using thinners or spirit wipe . need vinyl gloves when putting it on . the bottle it comes in is not that big, just 150mm tall and 60mm wide , you just dab some of the fluid onto the cloth a few times so its nice and wet and then wipe over the plastic and you will see the rest . this stuff is coloured black and is a little like thin paint , but is a plastic dye , it isnt like the other junk you can buy which is merely silicone or other clear liquid . i buffed my landy paint last week and ended up with all the plastic turned a greyish white colur due to the rubbing compound being sprayed all over it whilst i was running the buffer over the body . i did have some fluid that they use on wheels and plastic trim , which i initially cleaned the wheel arch extensions with but they have gone light grey again in the week, so this time i have blacked them with this dye and it works great . i dont really care what is actually in the bottle, because it worked a treat and was easy to do . i only found it by chance after doing a search on ebay .

in all the 4 cyl diesel landrover 90 and defenders they use same release bearing and clutch cover , LT77 or R380 GEARBOX , 90/110/130 inch bodies ... only the clutch centre plate is different between the normal 90/110 and 130inch landrover . i have just fitted last week a 130 valeo clutch centre plate and a britpart cover into my 300tdi 90 with an R380 box . the britpart cover plate seems to give me a lighter pedal than previously , so i am inclined to say use a britpart cover plate and a 130 centre plate . the britpart "extreme duty" clutch kit as sold at paddocks for £43 + vat has an 8 spring centre plate in it because i bought one last week , although i didnt use the centre pate because i bought also a 130 centre plate which is slightly larger diameter . the 130 plate fills the cover plate whereas the smaller diameter 90/110 plate leaves about 5mm of the cover plate face showing all way round . you should also change youre pivot arm , slipper pads and clip at same time, for heavy duty one preferrably [ welded plate on back of it ] . make an aligment tool using a length of 1" dia alloy or steel bar , and turn it down in a lathe to suit etc .

i use dexron 2 or 3 in my r380 box and no crunching gears . you need the thinnest oil possible and definately nothing any thicker than red dexron ATF . if you have any other kind of auto trans fluid in the box it may be causing the problem of crunching gears . i have tried other types of fluid in my boxes but nothing beats proper dexron red fluid . unless you can buy a fluid that has a thinner viscosity than dexron, id steer clear of it because it will make things worse not better . what you need to try first off is to put half pint of diesel into youre gearbox as it is with the old oil in , and then if the gears go in smoothly you know the oil was too thick and you need something real thin in it , then you can try another oil and see if it works or makes the gears crunch even more . of course you might also need to make sure the clutch rod is set up correctly and that it actuates the clutch right , sometimes the nuts can come loose on the rod coming from the master cylinder , and if it becomes too loose then you may end up not engaging the clutch far enough down . there are other things to think about as well with what you are experiencing , ie clutch plate centre breaking up and eventually losing all drive [as mine did recently] and release bearing and cover plate wear or inoperation . ive just changed my clutch in my R380 due to the centre disintigrating [poor clutch plate design and engineering ] and found the old release bearing was seized and not rotating and had marked the fingers on the cover plate over a period of time . my gearbox first got a bit sloppy on the overrun and a lot of clunking going on , then eventually one day i changed into 3rd gear and all the drive went . took box out, found clutch centre had fallen apart due to the plate in the centre suffering metal fatigue and cracking on all the square edges , if the edges had a radius in them this plate wouldnt have cracked in those places . any time ive had problems changing gear, its allways been when the weather has got slightly cooler and is allways when i first drive the landy in morning etc , once warmed up the box was ok , thats how i found out it was the fluid in the box that was a little thicker than it should be , and i changed to normal red dexron and all was fine after . i had an old classic 2 door range rover that crunched gears , and back then you were supposed to put engine oil in the box , i put a pint of diesel into the gearbox and it ran lovely from then after . i had an LT77 box changed by a company once that put some other type of auto trans fluid in the box , i had to drive home from shropshire with the gears not selecting very well at all . as soon as i got home i drained the gearbox and put dexron ATF in it and it was so perfect after that . same thing when i got my 300tdi/r380 LANDY , gears werent going in that well , i drained the clear fluid out and put normal dexron in , then its been great ever since , it never crunches in even the winter mornings , except for when i dont push the clutch pedal down far enough . for all its worth though about all ive mentioned above , sometimes though it can be just a case of pushing clutch in and counting to 2 before dropping into 2nd gear and all is fine, it can just be trying to go through the box too quick thats the problem and nothing else .