Defender 300 Tdi gearbox problems et al Posted by Tim, Western Australia on March 12, 1999 at 05:28:57:
There has been plenty of publicity re the problem with premature wear on the gearbox output shaft/transfer box input shaft on the R380/LT230 boxes (due evidently to inadequate lube) suffered by LR's of a certain build period including my '95 Defender. After experiencing the other well publicised "original" problem of the 300Tdi cambelt wear, I decided that I would like my gearbox checked out for the aforementioned problem despite the local dealership saying that as I could not yet identify a specific problem, there was no problem! Correspondence with LR Australia elicited a polite response culminating in a free check (from the back of the transfer box) by the local dealer and confirmation that if there was a problem, it would be rectified with me to pay 25% of the cost given the age and mileage (a low 54,000 km) of the vehicle. The job sheet evidently must have just said "check splines". The upshot of the check was that the gearbox showed minimal wear but that the rear half shaft splines were worn (on the outer side according to the service advisor but who knows) and those have evidently been replaced 100% under "extended warranty". Certainly the rear hub driving members look new. This is the first I have heard of any problems with those components - maybe there are more "fundamental" problems with this vintage than just the cam belt and the gearbox shaft ! It would be interesting to hear if anybody else has experience of half shaft spline wear.
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