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Gear box vulnerability


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I have heard from the owner and leader of Atlas Overland that they had a Grenadier on their Moroccan trip which had done exceedingly well and impressed a lot of people, right up until it struck a rock with the gear box oil sump.  Apparently, most ZF8s have plastic sumps, and this car is no exception.  The sump cracked and lost all fluid, stranding them on a track.

They were able to move the vehicle for recovery by using a manual disengagement bolt on the transfer box that allows for towing, which is a great idea, though the ZF’s locking pawl later caused problems when getting the car off the trailer (not sure how if the transfer box was disengaged - perhaps it was an issue they were facing getting the car going after the sump repair).  A temporary repair with epoxy was made to the £600 sump, but it still cost £500 to refill with the correct fluid.  Time will tell if the repair holds, but they are at least on their way back.

It seems that an aftermarket guard plate is essential if taking these vehicles of road, even on established tracks, as this appears a significant and costly vulnerability.

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Might still crack if it takes a hard knock, though it should be tougher than the original plastic sump.  Probably good enough for moderate conditions, but the broken vehicle wouldn’t have been put into extreme conditions on that trip anyway.  A bit of bad luck, probably.  Anyway, thought I’d share the warning.

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There are some more extensive bash plates you can add if you are intending to go more "extreme". Looks to be very bad luck to me.

I always expected the various cooling radiators to be the most vulnerable point of failure, but I appear to be wrong, (not uncommon, I'm a better IFA than engineer).

Here's the thread on The Ineos Forum, https://www.theineosforum.com/threads/gearbox-sump-pan-cracked-and-cant-select-neutral.12415119/

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24 minutes ago, Retroanaconda said:

Seems odd that there would be no guarding at all from the factory?

Apparently, it was planned but dropped.  There is speculation that it was for cost saving on a vehicle that had already significantly exceeded planned sales price, that it was to save weight and a few other reasons floated.  One more unlikely suggestion was that the guards were produced in Russian or Belorussian plants now under sanctions.  The scale models of the car have the plates fitted.

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1 hour ago, Snagger said:

Apparently, it was planned but dropped.  There is speculation that it was for cost saving on a vehicle that had already significantly exceeded planned sales price, that it was to save weight and a few other reasons floated.  

I'd suggest it was weight and emissions as the Grenadier was already about 200kg over original target. As Ineos Automotive have deemed the aftermarket to provide them, I'd suggest they got ditched before formal homologation.

Edited by jeremy996
When they got ditched
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All that no-compromise rufty-tufty talk and they fit a plastic sump :ph34r:

TBH I'm sure it's fine in reality, but if JLR do that sort of stuff everyone complains they're clearly losing it...

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On 4/5/2024 at 5:33 PM, FridgeFreezer said:

All that no-compromise rufty-tufty talk and they fit a plastic sump :ph34r:

TBH I'm sure it's fine in reality, but if JLR do that sort of stuff everyone complains they're clearly losing it...

I believe LRs within 8HP have plastic sumps too, but have bash plates underneath.

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