milan

I got around doing it now. Taking the box apart was actually very easy with a good set of standard tools. Taking out the gearbox was however a bi...ch. My dads lift couldn't cope with the weight of my (fully laden) car so had to do it the bush way, that is, roll up the front of the car on a set of spare wheels and crawl around as a greasemonkey. Now to the conclusion this far. As suspected, the rear roller bearing on the layshaft is busted. Looks as the damage was caused by debris from the two teeths missing on the fifth laygear . The other bearings appear to be in a fairly good stand and so do all the other components. Eg. Mainshaft splines are as new, syncros look as new and so on. Weird, I have covered more than 200 000 km with the vehicle. Anyway I will get the maste rebuild kit from Ashcroft as the bits are apart. The bad thing is as follows. When I took the oil pump to out I discovered that the hosing is pretty worned out, in particular where the impeller tap/shat is supported and also the surface at wich the pump ring rotates against. I'm not quite sure how critical this is in a gearbox, in a engine it would be consideed scrap. This means that either I have to do a lot of machining and insert at bush both at the tap and the outer surface or buy a "new" housing. Although I find it od that there isn't any wear in any components so there must be a good pressure. I have not seen any data on the tolerance to measure the pump housing wear. Any advice ? Will post photos tomorrow.

Hmmm. looking at the kit the needle bearings are included as well.....

Ok, I will order new bearings separately. Did you mean needle bearings as it seems to me that the rollerbearings are included?

Well, the shafts are not that expensive, at least not compared to a new box. I will check about the pump, thanks. Oil coolers are a good option and they should have been mounted from factory. However aftermarket kits are expensive unless I find the time to build it myself. But there must be a bunch of springs rings and other small things, not included in the kit, worth changing.

Thanks for the replies. I do have a manual and I'm planing to get the kit from ashcroft but will wait to order until I strip it so I Know what more has to be replaced. There was no transmission backlash so I hope the shaft itself is ok. Is there anything worth replacing, except the various components in the kit, to improve the strength of the box? Another reason for doing it myself is to get the knowledge on how to do it, hope I wont need it again but in some parts of the world it's a good skill to know your vehicle. I will contact Vinny Milan www.adventurefamily.se

Hi My -97 Defender 130 finally needs some care Just came back from a one year trip from Sweden to the Middle east and then through Africa to SA together with my family. The car has performed superb, no breakdowns at all until we reached Capetown when all of a sudden I could hear a grinding noise from the gearbox when in first gear and "engine breaking". I changed the oil mainly to see what will come out and there was not to much metal stucked to the plug and the level was ok. The car was shiped back to Europe as this first overland trip has come to its end. Then, driving from Rotterdam back to Stockholm the grinding noise became more apparent in all the other gears as well except the fourth. However, the shift is smooth and no troubles with syncros. Since I'm planing to continue the journey and do all America, starting next summer, I'm obviously saving money at the moment. Even if we have a whole bunch of sponsors I still have to save up for the fuel and food and therefore all the maintenance of the car is done by myself. Unfortunately I have never rebuild a LR gearbox before and could need some advise.As I used to work as a engine mechanic and have access to a workshop I will give it a go myself. I understand that the best option for someone living in the UK would be to by an exchangeunit from ashcroft transmissions but for me the shiping costs will be to high. I will start next week and hopefully I will get some tips and hints in this thread. I will also document the progress of my work here. Ofcourse without stripping it I wont know whats wrong, but my guess is that the bearings on the layshaft have gone and that the play is to large, hopefully the gears are ok. Any suggestions? Regards Milan www.adventurefamily.se

RE : as fitted to 300Tdi Discos p/n YLE10113 Ok, so that is a Denso. Should be allright quality then. I didn't know bosch is doing them. Does anyone have the part number ? Otherwise I'll call a Bosch agent tomorrow and post it here. I'll go for a Bosch as first hand and the Denso second, if not to big diff in price. Still unclear why a Magneti Marelli for a Defender is som much more pricy. I'll not fitt a Britpart alternator. To be honnest, most of the Britpart items I fitted have failed in one way or another. Some pretty serious....

Hi I'm preparing a overland journey (Sweden-Australia) and need to upgrade my alternator. I would like to fit a 100 Amp capacity upgrade on my Defender 130 -1997 (300Tdi). I was surprised to find the huge variety in prices when comparing the different alternatives (disco alt. cheaper). Do you have any suggestions? Will one from a Disco 300 Tdi fitt and what are the differences between YLE10113 and AMR5425 (Magneti Marelli @ £93)? I find it quite odd that the AMR4247G, which is also a Magneti Marelli, but is listed for the defender is roughly £50 more expensive. The prices were from Paddocks. I have very very bad experience from Britpart in terms of lack of quality concerning their engine parts. Are their alternators any good? Help is Appretiated Milan (www.adventurefamily.se)