Sticky transfer box

[Silverbake]

The transfer box on my '97 Disco has been stiff ever since I bought it last year, but it has always worked with a bit of brute force. Recently though, its been really difficult to get into high range, and impossible to select diff lock. I checked the transfer box oil level over the weekend, but it was fine (though see ***below).

I don't think the box has been used much, so it's unlikely to be wear. Could it just be stiff from lack of use, or possibly gunged-up somewhere in the linkages with a healthy dose of nature's very own concrete (the thick, oozy Shropshire clay which I spend hours hosing off every weekend)?

Could the solution be something nice and easy and accessible from inside, like a good splash of oil under the rubber gaiter in the cab?

***Going back to the oil level, the Haynes compendium of modern fairy-tales tells me to park on level ground before checking the level. Great, but after I've got the front-end on axle stands to allow my toned six-pack to fit under the car, it's no longer level. Is this slight front-to-back tilt enough to seriously affect the reading?

[J@mes]

Yes it wil probably just be stuck - I sorted mine out by removing the centre console, making a small slit in the boot on the transfer lever and then spraying around half a can of WD40 down it will stiring it through all the selections until it felt like new.

Get the back up on stands to level it out a bit - its only another 5 mins work to get a better reading!

[CURLY]

mine was seized solid too.

took the center console out, drilled out the pop rivets that hold the gator on around the high/low lever, undid a few bolts, and took off a circlip, removed the whole top part with the slider in and had to hammer it out with a lump hammer! i gave the rod a bit of a wipe with some wet and dry, slapped a load of grease and oil on it, and its as smooth as silk now..

sounds like hard work, but didn't take very long at all.

CURLY

[Silverbake]

Thanks for the responses guys. I was tempted to try James's method of slitting the boot, but not knowing at that stage what was underneath, I was reluctant to create a potential way-in for contaminants.

So, I followed Curly's advice and drilled out the rivets. Why rivets? Why not just a few self tappers or bolts? Drilling them out was awkward as the fascia gets in the way of the drill and forces you to drill at an angle. Not great, but I got there.

Only to find that the whole thing is open to the elements anyway from below.

No matter, with a liberal spray of WD40 and a lot of yanking around, things began to ease up. I gave it all a good wipe-down, covered the whole shebang in grease and ended up with satisfyingly smooth changes, gently cushioned by the grease (sounds sexy? Must get out more).

Despite my comments above, I rivetted the boot retainer back down and re-assembled the console, minus a few kilos of biscuit crumbs, fluff and grit.

Result? All mechanicals working just as Lode Lane intended, but now the diff-lock warning light on the dash doesn't work. (It did before the whole thing got siezed-up). This doesn't bother me too much, as I hope I'll be awake enough to know when I've chosen to lock the diff, but I would like to get it sorted if possible. I didn't see any switches or wires under the boot that might be activating the light. Does anyone know where the switch is or how it works?

If I end-up having to drill-out the rivets again, one thing's for sure: it goes back with self-tappers!

[kevinr]

I had the same problem , though I had to opt for a replacement diff lever housing. When you reassembled the housing, did you set the lever position correctly? When I rebuilt mine, I hadn't and it stopped the light working, or in my case, the diff lock itself. I seem to recall that there was no actual switch attached to the linkage, it was all internal, so I would suggest that maybe your diff is not quite engaging.

It's a simple adjustment, just loosen the collar that connects to the lever, and slide the lever through a little more, tighten and try it out before replacing the diaphragm.

[Silverbake]

I had the same problem , though I had to opt for a replacement diff lever housing. When you reassembled the housing, did you set the lever position correctly? When I rebuilt mine, I hadn't and it stopped the light working, or in my case, the diff lock itself. I seem to recall that there was no actual switch attached to the linkage, it was all internal, so I would suggest that maybe your diff is not quite engaging.

It's a simple adjustment, just loosen the collar that connects to the lever, and slide the lever through a little more, tighten and try it out before replacing the diaphragm.

Thanks Kevinr

Looks like I'll have to go back in and drill out those rivetts again? Oh BOTOX!

As I didn't bother to dismantle the housing, just lubed it all, I'm not quite sure what you mean. Are we talking about the selector lever in the cab (vertical), or the rod (horizontal) which slides laterally through the housing when the selector is engaged? That did have a collar around it (outside the housing) and looked fairly easy to adjust. If it is that one, I guess you mean to slide the rod further into the housing?

Silverbake

[Stu2985]

My diff lock goes in real easy each time

however what I have trouble with is getting it into low box (mines an auto)

sometimes it drops straight in to low box or back out high other times you have to wiggle and jiggle and use both hands to drop it in

other times you think you got it in move off then it drops out of drive and you have to push / pull on it again to get it to drop in

is there a way to loosen this up to move between high and lo ?

[steve_d]

Have you driven it yet since freeing it up?

It may be that you are selecting it freely but something inside is still sitting in one place.

I can select my RRC out of lock but the light does not go out until you move off.

Steve

[Silverbake]

Have you driven it yet since freeing it up?

It may be that you are selecting it freely but something inside is still sitting in one place.

I can select my RRC out of lock but the light does not go out until you move off.

Steve

Hi Steve. You're spot on. As soon as I'd driven it 20 or 30 ft, the light started to work and has done since. What I need to know now, is whether the diff is really locking. Is there a simple way to test this? I'll have a play in some mud over the weekend, but even then its not always easy to tell.

Silverbake

[LittleBlue88]

Stu2985 - It should be easier to select between high+low if the g/box is in park or neutral,they tend not to like it when its in drive

[J@mes]

Hi Steve. You're spot on. As soon as I'd driven it 20 or 30 ft, the light started to work and has done since. What I need to know now, is whether the diff is really locking. Is there a simple way to test this? I'll have a play in some mud over the weekend, but even then its not always easy to tell.

Silverbake

Put it in lock and jack one corner up - if the wheel spins freely, it is not locked, if it doesnt - it is.

takes 2 minutes with the bottle jack and is what I have started doing once I have come back on road if I have been off and used the DL. saves winding it up.

[Silverbake]

Put it in lock and jack one corner up - if the wheel spins freely, it is not locked, if it doesnt - it is.

takes 2 minutes with the bottle jack and is what I have started doing once I have come back on road if I have been off and used the DL. saves winding it up.

Thanks Dave: obvious when you think about it!

BUT get this everyone: I stopped off at a Main Dealer in Stourbridge this morning to ask the same question. As soon as I went in I was surrounded by sales staff who clearly had nothing to do and no customers. I told them I'd got a '97 Disco V8 and asked how to check diff lock was engaged. Their responses were barely credible:

Senior salesman: "Diff lock? That's when you push the gear knob forward and then to the left isn't it?"

Me: "Well yes, but you can select it in either high or low ratio..."

Senior salesman (to his colleagues) "Isn't that the switch for making both axles work together?"

Others look blank or shrug, but one asks "Is your car a TD5?"

Me: "No, it's a 1997 V8 Automatic"

General response: "Ah, we don't really know about the old models".

Me, losing the will to live: "The transfer box was seized-up, but I've stripped it and free it up. I just need to be sure diff lock is engaging. The dashboard light is showing the locked symbol. Does that mean it's definitely locked?".

Salesman: "Lots of them get stuck. No-one really uses that part of the transmission. If I were you I'd just try it every now and then to keep it working".

Me (through clenched teeth): "Yes, but how do I know if its working?"

General shrugs and shaking of heads. One younger guy suggests: "Test it?"

Me: "Thanks. Well' I've got to go".

And they wonder why they were standing around doing nothing, with no customers....................

[J@mes]

Do the current model defenders not have the H/L and D/L selection then? If they do then surely the sales staff need to know what it is?

[pw8757]

Do the current model defenders not have the H/L and D/L selection then? If they do then surely the sales staff need to know what it is?

That would involve them catching on about something called an "economic downturn" and relating that to the lack of people with cheque books speaking to them................