Nigelw Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 Tonight was time to drain the oils off and get the little jobs out the way before next weeks planned safety test, back axle was quite clean, front is clean as I changed that when I did the swap to 24 spline, but the gear box.... Like my christmas tree? Only a couple of smallish fragments in the filter but quite a few flakes. Here is a comparrisson of new ATF and what I drained out. Would anyone be so kind as to give a prognosis on how long this LT77 has before it gets terminal? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 I'd give it about 7 days Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigelw Posted February 1, 2014 Author Share Posted February 1, 2014 I'd give it about 7 days A***hole Will swap it out when I do the clutch then :-[ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 Seriously, quite possibly be fine for a very long time, but of course it will be in the back of your mind to drop a refurbished one in in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigelw Posted February 1, 2014 Author Share Posted February 1, 2014 Trouble is this thing has been so badly neglected that by the time I have actually got it back to a reasonable running condition it is going to cost me the trebble of what ot is actually worth PS have to post accordingly now with my new title Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diff Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 If the gearbox works fine, with no nasty noises it could keep going without problem for many tens of thousands of miles/another decade, or it may pack up in a few months. If it was mine, and the box was working ok, I would just change the oil and keep going. Especially if it is an original box. One thing to remember to check is the condition of the mainshaft splines upon which the transfer box input gear sits. How worn these splines are may influence whether you change the box or not. Regards, Diff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daan Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 This is what you see when you have magnets in the drain plugs. I recently started doing this in the diffs and engine as well. What you see is quite scary, even on brand new cars, you just have to stop worry about it. Yours clearly hasn't been checked much. Still better than leaving the swarf inside the box. If it works, than clean it, new oil and leave it I reckon. Daan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snagger Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 To be honest, I'd just change the oil again in another 500 miles and see how you go from there. Even healthy units have swarf on the magnetic chips when they get frequent services. Jet engines have magnetic plugs and chip detectors - all machinery does it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwakers Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 looks just like the plug in the gearbox on my disco.... just before it lunched the syncro in 2nd... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smallfry Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 To be honest, I'd just change the oil again in another 500 miles and see how you go from there. Even healthy units have swarf on the magnetic chips when they get frequent services. Jet engines have magnetic plugs and chip detectors - all machinery does it. Like Snagger says, change the oil again in 500 miles. Clean the filter too. If it works OK ATM I am confident it will be fine. Everything mechanical will fail in the end anyway, its just a matter of time, and everything that you can you can think of that is regarded as reliable, will break down in the end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troll Hunter Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 Apart from magnets in all drain plugs I also have a Filter-Mag sleeve fitted to the engine oil filter, which I transfer to the new filter at each oil and filter change. This allegedly captures the micron size particles that can pass through oil filters and continue to cause further wear. I must admit, I haven't cut open a used filter to view the results, but judging from the "growth" on drain plug magnets they could be doing a lot of good and very little harm. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eightpot Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 Sure that's ATF? looks like it may have had EP90 put in.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jad Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 Its not the "tree" you have to worry about, Its when it turns into a very silver glittery type sludge. This is what mine did when it was self destructing. Jad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Noisy Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 Lt77 loves to go noisy when it is failing bearings. Without funny noises or particularly baulky shifts the box is probably just fine, nice easy going old chap is the 77, some say will withstand more brutality than the finer tuned r380 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boydie Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 Looks a bit like the gearbox drain plug out of my old Diahatsu GTi Turbo rally car and that used to get a gearbox overhaul every three events - well lets face it the GTi was only intended to be a high speed shopping trolley, not a sports machine. Even the best Timken bearings wear, my guess and experience is what you are looking at is the product (grey coloured metal) of the taper bearings rubbing up against the softer metal bearing cages, this wear is quite normal and to be expected, all the cages do is hold the taper bearings in place while being installed and once fitted they are, to a degree, expendable, they also of course "space" the bearings apart but even if they were to fully disintergrate the bearings would still remain in situe unless the inner cone lips wore away, which is very unlikely. Drive it like you stole it and replace it with an overhauled unit when, as you say, you replace the clutch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muddy Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 Doesn't look too silvery to me, my R380 did over ten thousand miles with me changeling the oil very two months and every time it came out it was thick and silver. Put new oil in and run it I say. Will Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigelw Posted February 2, 2014 Author Share Posted February 2, 2014 Sounding better and more optimistic than my worst case scenario mind tells me There was a lot of sludge in the pot of the filter plug that was silvery and as the fluid ran out it was "glimmering" , not a big deal now as had a quick drive around the yard with it and within a few hundred meters it was already noticeably easier to go in and out of gear, there is hope yet and I will just be sure to keep that spare box handy along with a new H/D clutch for when either decides to give up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffR Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 6 years ago we had the wife's Mini set up on a rolling road (all of 70hp at the fly wheel, wow), as part they gave it a bloody good service, attached to the magnet on sump plug was a 8mm chunk of gear, don't know from which gear it came, but the little bugger is still going strong! I honestly wouldn't get too worried. Every gearbox I've had that went bang has done it without any warning (well apart from a straight cut, close ratio jobbie I I had on a 1558cc Mini). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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