stubbo Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 Hi everyone I am new to both this site & also being a Disco owner. OK here is the story so far. Bought a very cheap Disco. Over all not in too bad a condition. But the gear box was whining (really badly) so ok need a gear box! found one out of a scrapper. ok so it is an unknown. Had a good look at it. No play in the shaft and goes through the gears on the deck smoothly. The day before i was due to put it in the Disco it started to feel like something was starting to bind up when rolling very slowly. You know stick then free up & so on. Well not to worry new box in tomorrow. The day came & my son (a hgv mechanic)& i had to drive the Disco 7 miles to the garage. Set off through the village up through the box, got to 4th & bang all four wheels lock up. Managed to rock the car back & forth on the gears & eventually got it to move. So we thought not a good idea to use 4th. About half way there 3rd gear starts to chew itself to bits. Got it into 2nd just in time. Rest of journey slow but OK. Got old box out & yep you could get hold of the shaft & move it. Loads of play. Six hours of the air turning blue with 4 letter words & a good supply of blood to the Land Rover God the box is in (never again i hope).Started Disco put it in to gear & let the clutch out. Crunch! It felt like the car was fighting the gears & locked up. OK here is where i need help Symptoms; All 4 wheels lock up Transfer box does not feel right, won't go in to neutral (you let the clutch out & you can hear the gears not quite meshing but not disengaged either) Gear box with clutch in feels smooth. Goes into all gears & starts to bite if you ride the clutch. So any ideas? Did we kill the transfer box (or was it on it's way out?) Is the new box we put in a duff? Or did we do something wrong when we did the swap? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BogMonster Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 Did you take the input gear out of the transfer box when you split the boxes? If so, did you put it back in the right way round? On most LT230s it will go in either way but the wrong way will bridge two gears together and lock the transfer box solid and if you push it, will break several teeth off the intermediate gear in the box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stubbo Posted February 21, 2011 Author Share Posted February 21, 2011 Just took the old gear box out. pulled off the transfer box. put it onto new box & put it back in. also forgot to say i have a manual L reg 300tdi 5 door. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BogMonster Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 Easy way to see which box it is. Take the round PTO cover off the back of transfer box and slide the input gear out. Note which way round it fits, for the reasons outlined above! If the gearbox is goosed but the transfer box is OK, you should be able to push the vehicle around on the floor now as the gbox and tbox are no longer connected. If it is still locked up then the transfer box is fked, unless it's a diff/CV gone or collapsed wheel bearing. Likewise you can now test the gearbox and run it through all the gears using the clutch as it will not run away anywhere you will just turn the mainshaft in the hole where you took the gear out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stubbo Posted February 21, 2011 Author Share Posted February 21, 2011 we managed to to get the disco rolling (Just) at the time by pushing the clutch in & putting both boxs in to nutrul & keeping the clutch pressed. But at the next chance i will try what you say. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stubbo Posted February 22, 2011 Author Share Posted February 22, 2011 ok now this is weird! Went to the Disco after work today to try what BogMonster said. Pushed her over the pit & my son said while we are here we may as well drop the oil out of both boxes to see if it is worth doing any more checks. You know to see if we need to go & weigh the oil in (full of metal bits). Gear box first. Bit dark but no bits. Transfer box next. Took drain out & nothing. Well not for a few seconds any way. Then plop plop plop then a slow dribble. Oil jet black & the consistency of treacle. Looked like never been changed in the cars life time. Tried the hi low & click click click. OK in for a penny in for a pound. Started her up, put Transfer into neutral & she went through the gears ok. Bit of a rattle from clutch (prob loose spring). Why not try! into high, select reverse gear & let clutch out..... smooth as you like she backed her self off the pit at tick over. Now over the years i have had many old cars & yes i have had to do a lot of work on them but never one that appears to fix itself! Bits fall off when left but not run better than when left! Took the Disco for a very short run round the yard & at tick over very smooth. Bit of rev & you get a clunk. Just like it did before it locked up but nowhere as bad & not followed by a lock up! It is like it is taking slack up somewhere or something not in line! So BogMonster any ideas as i am stumped? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BogMonster Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 Nope. However the oil in the transfer box suggests it's probably not going to live a long and happy life! I'd take the rectangular cover off the bottom of the transfer box and have a look for any obvious discontent inside - you can see most of the big oily bits. If it looks OK, fill it up with fresh EP90 and if you get to take it for a run without it blowing up, drain it again after a few days use and refill with fresh oil. From your original description I'd be amazed if there is not a big problem brewing but can't immediately think of how to explain what happened... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stubbo Posted February 22, 2011 Author Share Posted February 22, 2011 ok wiil do. I will let you know how i go on many thanks for your help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Range Rover Blues Posted February 26, 2011 Share Posted February 26, 2011 I had something similar when the garage left bits of a collapsed bearing inside a diff casing. Bits of metal get lifted by the oil when you raise the speed and get into meshing gears. As sugggested drop the bottom off the t box and look inside for debris, which of course came form somewhere unfortunatley. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stubbo Posted March 1, 2011 Author Share Posted March 1, 2011 Well, finally got a chance to look at the disco. Took the bottom off the t box as suggested & yep there were bits of a bearing case in there. Had a good look round & took the pto cover off & out fell a load of races & other bits of metal. The end bearing which is in the end plate was non-existent. It has also spun in the end plate fitting. Checked the rest of the box very carefully & can find no damage. Got the gears spinning a bit & no crunching or any other bits of things falling out. So a quick phone round & we located an old t box a frend has. So going to swap the whole plate & gear. With any luck that will solve my problems (i hope!). will let you all know how i go on. Thanks for all your help so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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