Katy's on the road again

With new gear and transfer boxes in place and working well and making Katy more driveable I think todays shakedown cruise to Pwll Du and back deserves a song in our hearts, and as I'm no good at singing, With due deference to Manfred Mann, Here it is ...

Katy's on the road again
Wearin' different gears again
Katy's turning propshafts round
To keep her tyres clean
All her fuel is flowing again
Her gear's as good as gold again
Sez if you see Rhian now ask her please to sit in me

Rhian and I we moved along
Since the day - down in the hollow
When the mind went driftin' on
And the wheels were soon to follow

Katy's on the road again
Wearin' different gears again
Katy's turning propshafts round
To keep her tyres clean
All her fuel is flowing again
Her gear's as good as gold again
Sez if you see Rhian now ask her please to sit in me

Downtown in the big town
Gonna set you back on your heels
With a camper full of memories
And a lot of stickers for my windshield
Shut the door, Cut the light
Katy won't be home tonight
You can wait till the dawn rolls in
You won't see our Katy again

What a Difference Some Gears Makes

SUCCESS !

What a difference !

I went up to do the final bits today and all is now completed. Including fitting all the  interior back and finding the air leak into the fuel system and having replaced a section of fuel pipe.

Steve found a piece of metal fuel pipe that would go inside the rubbine one and we could luse jubille clips to get a good seal . That was fun as I had to cut into the fuel pipe with a full tank of diesel and splice in a section. No matter how I tried I wasn't going to win and I ended up standing under a Diesel shower.whilst I got the new pipe in and tightened up the joints

Just as we were about to finish Rhian turned up with some rather wonderful fresh egg sarnies made with the output of the Walford hens. A few more minutes and some help from Phil (Rhian's dad) sorting out the airlocks that I had created in emptying the pipes (I learned an new trick of loosening injector number one and letting the air bubble out) and and we moved from a stationary hulk to the sound of a rumbling 300Tdi once more.

So here she is ready for the off.. .

And what the doors look like up close... 

Never mind that I've got a boiler suit on.


At that point I was able to start her up, engage reverse without it jumping out again, and back her out of the garage and do a quick back and forwards up and down the drive.

So a few more jobs it was out for a test drive of Katy with her new gearboxes today and I have to say that the sound and performance were superb !

Gear changes are now positive and the take up has no massive clunk, the sound of cruising is a simple high pitched gearbox wine and the speed up hills is maintained much better

I have to admit that I would never have been here had I not had Steve, Phil and Dan helping along the way but the pleasure I have had in doing much of the work myself is significant and I now feel that I will be able to show my face at land rover events and say with some confidence that I understand how they work and I can even show a few bumps and bruises for a while to prove that I have really been doing the work myself

It's not all done. There are jobs that need looking at again such as the reversing lights which need a connector that Bearmach were not able to supply and of course a complete clean inside and out before anyone is allowed to go in with nice clothes

Gearbox Refitting - Part 3

Another fruitful session today

Both propshafts are now back and most of the wiring and linkages are back in place as well.
 

Prior to refitting the rear propshaft Steve recommended that we refurbished the transmission brake because as he said "Any problem we find now will take 10 minutes and it will take an hour later".

Two of the linkages were a bit stiff so Steve knocked out the pins and we cleaned them up with some sandpaper and applied grease and now it's moving easily. A good clean of everything inside with brake cleaner and everything is all silky smooth and should last a good while

Also I popped into what is fast becoming my local corner shop (Bearmach) and picked up some air filter mounting bushes so they've been replaced and things should be quite a bit less rattly under the bonnet as you can see

There's a lot of interior to refit and an AWFUL lot of cleaning needed before the Mrs will let us use it as a camper again, but I certainly feel that we're on the home straight and getting ready for proper adventures.
So What have I learned in all of this ?

1. Unless you know what you are doing get a reconditioned unit - with that amount of work you don't want to risk having to do it again - this is especially the case if you are paying to have it changed, in that case using a second hand one seems false economy
2. The flexible rachet spanner set I bought from Halfords haa been invaluable - they are open spanners one end and the rachet on a flexible joint the other - I woudl say a must have bit of kit for anyone's toolbox
3. I need a decent socket set for those things that the spanners are not good at - mine is too small and cheap
4. Lifting the heavy bits could be done by one person, but it would be incredibly hard - you really need 2 people for this part of this job to do it safely
5. Given all that work, Steve was abolsultey right that changing the clutch, fork and slipper pads etc. is a sensible thing to do while you are there
6. Taking the whole transmission tunnel off would maybe have made more sense than the keyhole job we did. (I've read up on this since I did it)
7. Rule one of finding an expert to work with was definitely the right thing to do, if you can find one in a LR club or forum you should. If you can't I wish you luck and hope this is useful
8. Some people may be able to do this in a day, but if you are a newbie like me plan on 3 long and very hard days
9. And lastly, and most important ENJOY IT ! - It's your Land Rover and working on it should be as much fun as driving it. I really enjoyed my time with Steve

Update!

Since writing this I have found that others have found the information useful so I have added a few clarifications.above.

You can find other writeups at these locations
http://www.landroverexpedition.com/technical/replacing-the-gearbox-clutch-and-transfer-box/
http://www.repairmylandrover.co.uk/defender-repairguides/guide-to-defender-propshaft-removal
http://www.expeditionlandrover.info/gear_ratio.htm

Gearbox Refitting - Part 2

ITS BACK !

The gearbox that is - both parts are now in place which is a huge step forwards

However it's not the end of the story and Katy is still immobile as we haven't yet attached the transmission brake and rear propshaft and the front is only held on with 1 bolt

But here it is before being lifted in place and as you can see from the sticker it's a 1:1.410 ratio box not the 1:1.667 one that came out. from the calculations we made using the Ashcroft Transmissions Ratio Calculator which gives us a massive 15% difference of top speed at 3000 rpm - I foresee a lot quieter and more enjoyable motoring to come!

When you put it back it is useful to have it in difflock so you can rotate either of the propshaft takeoff's in order to get the spline from the gearbox lining up. This was a key bit of knowledge from Steve, and something acheived with a pair of molegrips on the selector.

Lifting it was a case of reversing the removal - ropes onto everything we could put them onto (the front and rear propshaft bolts and then lifting from below, whilst also pulling from above, with Steve rotating the gears by turning the propshaft takeoff to get everything engaged.. Just before lifting it Steve applied liquid gasket onto both surfaces so we'd have a good seal when the 2 mated together and then we stated lifting. All went well, there was one last puch needed once the gears were correctly aligned and the whole think slid into place 

As you can see from this one, taken by Dan who turned up just at a useful time to get roped in to helping me lift the transfer box into place, I'm very happy with the situation

The next steps were to start putting the exhaust back in and connect up all the linkages which we managed to do today, and put in the nice new engine mounting bushes which have replaced the old cracked ones.

In putting the exhaust back I was keen to take a good look at why I had ended up with a 2 hole / 3 Hole problem in purchasing a new section and I think the telltale signs of some welding give the game away. the exhaust if not the rest of her is a cut and shut job

There were other successes today. Steve thought I had put the wrong bolt in and when he brought a new one it was identical to the one I had just removed. I must have been paying attention!

Hopefully just one more session to go and it will all be back together and Katy will once more be drivable and we can have some real adventures

Gearbox Refitting - Part 1

After the long day yesterday I was shattered and stiff!

It was Saturday so only half a day was available with Steve. He said we would do as much as we could this morning, but I needed go get some bits because there were a few parts that were worth replacing whilst we were there because they cost pennies and we would hate to waste all this work by having a cleap part fail.

First was the slipper pads and clips that Steve had assumed would come with the clutch fork, and the second was the engine mounting bushes which were looking split and may a well be changed while we were there.

Old and new Clutch forks - the old one has slipper pads which I needed to get for the new one and has the actuating rod wired in place whch steve said was actually not a bad idea as the plastic clips have a habit of breaking when you put them in - he has a technique mind you so we didn't need to do it that way.


So first stop of the day was Bearmach our local Land Rover parts dealer and located in a very useful place not much of a detour to Steve's workshop

Once I got to Steve's he focused on fitting the new clutch and I worked on transferring parts from the old Gearbox to the new one. Of course Steve was soon ahead of me so came across to complete the work I was doing slowly.

Steve fitting the clutch fork into the newly refitted bell housing

And also helped out with the recalcitrant nuts on the old engine mounting bracket which stood no chance when faced with the full force of his cutting torch. If you read the removal section you will heave learned that I'd been oiling all the nuts and bolts for days before starting and this was the only one we had trouble with so it must have done some good.


It stood no chance 

After that it was remarkably smooth with the main gearbox and clutch going back into place in only about 20 minutes and with the clutch going straight into place first time. Steve's technique with the trolley jack on a steel plate across the pit, and also in raising the front of the engine using another jack and wooden post fitted under the front ofnthe engine made really short work out of what was possibly a very long job.

New Main Gearbox in place!   Now I really hurt!

That's all we had time for today

Gearbox Removal in Many Painful Steps

The first phase in replacing a gearbox is to get the old one out

It sounds simple doesn't it

I had a quote from a friend to start me off 

"I've done a few clutch swop's on l/rs and that is a serious proposition on the driveway!

Gearbox with handbrake, transfer box and low ratio units is a big heavy b****d to try and maneuver when you are lying on your back in a pool of oil.

Big axle stands, trolley jack, etc required and you will invest blood, sweat and the skin off your knuckles.

I also have memories of hiring an engine hoist (reach in through the open door to support the gearbox) and using lots of ex-caving slings and crabs to support stuff! Rewarding when you do it successfully though and it all works."

Seriously Malcolm how hard can it really be ? 

Let's find out ... Here's how we started that's an LT230 Transfer box in the middle and the transmission brake to the right with propshafts leading to the front (left) and the back (right) ... see how much I've learned already :-)

Steve had agreed to provide expertise and facilities and was happy I could do as much as I could so suggested I got underneath and started removing a few bits that would be in the way, and give us some room to work.

First went the rear propshaft and then the front was disconnected from the transfer box. I had been recommended a propshaft nut removal tool by many people on the internet Land Rover forums, but I have to admit now to being unconvinced and it's about 50:50 as to whether each bolt was removed using this tool or just a plain old  pair of spanners. The tool was OK, but if it got stuck it's hard to reposition or remove and replace.

Then the next step was to start disconnecting all the things attached to the gearbox and as many of them were on the top it would be best to remove the centre console and get access from the top so out came a whole load of the interior and we started in from that direction as well and here's the scene of devastation that soon ensued with Malcolm's words ringing in my ears.

The transmission brake which yuo can seein the picture below was then removed, which was a really simple job and some good news for me is the shoes and springs look OK so I get to save some money.

The next step was to remove a section of exhaust that was in the way and then remove one of the engine mounting brackets (which look a bit tired as you can see so we're replacing them), we then added a bottle jack to support the main gearbox so we could loosen off the other bracket and we were finally getting close to being able to get at least the Transfer box out.

Back up on top I had to disconnect some more wire's I found which are just twisted together as a connection and then attach a safety rope to the transfer box which was lashed to a crowbar which was placed across the 2 front seat bases, and another in my hand so I could maneuvre it.

Then with much more sweat and nearly a few curse words it was loose, and then Steve was called away, so I was suddenly left alone with a rope in each hand and a very loose Transfer Box. There seemed to be only one thing to do so I wriggled it off the last inch of gearbox spline and lowered it down onto the boards below with a heavy thud!


Now this all sounds OK doesn't it, but it had taken me from 8:30 until about 4:00 which I suspect is a lot longer than Steve would have taken if I'd just paid him to do the job instead of offering to be his apprentice for the day.

Having removed it I can see the state of the gearbox spline and we both agreed it was confirmed that this job was entirely necessary and probably somewhat overdue as you can see by the state of the gearbox spline that's now showing. We also decided that someone probably knew there was a problem given the goo that passed for oil on the spline we wondered what had been put in there?

Now the hard bit :-(

Steve had another unexpected visitor with a possibly blown head gasket so I was left to get on with removing all the clutch bell housing bolts and connections. In order to get to the ones on top the air filter needed to come out and now I can just how bad the rubber bushes under the clamp plate for it are (of you look closely below you will see one was held in place with a jubilee clip), so will need replacements.

I'd been applying "shock and unlock" , and WD40 liberally to bolts for a few days leadin gup to this work to ensure it had time to fully lubricate the threads and give us a good chance of removing them rather then cutting them. it really paid off when it came to removing the front crossmmeber as you can see from below where all the bolts came out easily leaving us just needing to spread the chassis a little with one of Steve's hydraulic jacks in order to lower it out

I struggled for ages trying to free up the handbrake to remove it and then Steve came back and showed me the correct bolts to undo which made the job a lot faster. The good news was that all of the clutch bell housing bolts came out easily ( I was surprised) and then the whole gearbox came loose.



Knowing how heavy it was I thought to stop here. Soon Steve was back and with both of us and some ropes to stabilise it and then in with a metal plate and trolley jack to take the weight and with one final heave it all came loose, and with a little more manhandling it was all out.


So here it is  in all it's glory, Gearbox and clutch bell housing removed as a single lump. It was now 6:30pm and I admit to being entirely shattered so it's time to go home !

Of course that's only half the job !

Serial Killer

I've been in discussion with the various helpful people on Land Rover Owner and Land Rover Addict and the question keeps coming up as to what gearbox I have

So I decided to get the camera out and record it properly - it's not that clear, but there is definitely a J at the end

Looking at various websites I am told that a J suffix is a Series 1 Discovery R380 Gearbox. This fits with the Discovery type gearsticks and the description of having a discovery engine so I think we've tracked it down for sure.

Also playing with Ashcrofts' transmission ratio calculator with this information and the transfer box information I posted earlier I am now even more convinced that a move to a 1:1.4 defender transfer box is sensible and it could even be worth trying a Discovery Transfer box with a 1:1.2 ratio, but that may be too much as Katy (like me) is no lightweight

I May Need to Have More Money Than Sense

It looks like I may have a rather significant transmission problem

I've had trouble getting 1st and especially second and it seems to lock and go whilst reversing, all this on top of a rather nasty metallic scraping noise on our last trip which resulted in the breaksown recovery I wrote about.

Steve, my father in laws mate and mechanic supreme, thinks it’s a gearbox issue and I don’t know enough to disagree so I’m considering getting a complete unit including new transfer box etc.

This is part because Katy still has has the 1:1.6 transfer box that she woul dhave been fitted with as a military vehicle and I feel over geared and running out of revs very soon when driving.  So I was thinking of a 1:1.4 unit in the longer term anyway (I’d rather have a little more quiet and fuel efficiency even if a little less acceleration)

I had worries about the transmission, but had hoped to have fun this year before spending out on something in the winter when I could take it off the road and do some work myself, but if I have to do it now I will want a guaranteed unit as I want to keep her for a while

SO

I have concluded therefore that Katy needs an owner with more money than sense and that seems to be me.

This should not be interpreted as me being especially rich, but lacking in the common sense that had her last 2 owners decide that there was a bit too much money needing being spent on her and therefore moving her on through that virtual graveyard for old cars that is eBay

Sigh !

I want to have fun... I was intending to have it over the last week and the next 2 bank holidays camping somewhere in the greenery that is our beautiful spring sunshine, but it looks like it's more woodwork whilst I learn enough to decide what to purchase and from where, and I will probably have this sorted just about the time spring turns into summer and the monsoon season arrives

The good thing is Land Rover suppliers seem very clued up in asking you the right questions and providing a lot of information on serial numbers etc so you can get it right

Disaster Strikes

This was meant to be the first post in a series regarding the adventures of Katy on her holidays to Yorkshire to meet the family (mine not hers).

Sunday afternoon. the weather was glorious, and the run from Cardiff was going well and we had both commented on how well she seemed to be running after Steve Walford's magic hands had given her a full and proper service. We seemed to be retaining speed a little better probably helped with a clean arifilter last changed over 55,000 miles ago according to the note on it, and making clean overtaking maneuvers as we passed a number of lorries on the motorway.

Stability seemed good and the road noise seemed a little less with the new tyres with a slightly more road friendly pattern

However as we pulled of into Hopwood Park services on the M42 and came down from 5th to second gear there was a very loud squealing noise from beneath. A quick drive down into the lorry park as that was the 1st available parking and we seemed to be able to select gears and drive OK, but whenever we pulled off there was this massive squeal.

Engine is running fine and brakes work so a bit more back and fore in the gears we can go in any direction, but still the massive noise. Seems to be transmission then?

I'm still too new to Land Rovers to be sure so it's a phone call to GEM who duly dispatch an engineer to take a look.

He listens to the engine run and agrees it's sounding OK, then we move and he hears the racket and decides he needs to take a look at the differentials and make sure they have oil. I told him that they were serviced the Friday before so it was no surprise to me that he got an oily finger full of nice clean stuff when he dipped his finger in to check. Up off the deck came the wheels and they were freewheeled easily with no noise front or back so it's between the engine and the diffs then.

"Sorry mate ... we don't do transmission at the roadside so where do you want taking?"

With great regret we decided that the only sensible way to go was back home as they would not recover us again if we were not able to get it fixed up north. A truck was requested "No a bigger one!" was his comment to the dispatcher and a colleague of his duly turned up in about another hour

Up onto the back of the truck by means of a winch (how undignified!) and we were off. Limited to 56  miles an hour it was a long way home !

All my plans for nice evenings sitting in campsites cleaning bits I missed with the jet wash undone and more importantly, we're booked in at the Pencoed Classic Car Show on the 6th of May ... can we get her fixed in time ?

Tyred out by Decision making yet ?

My new friends on the Land Rover Forums are helping me decipher what I have so I cam make the correct decisions in terms of what refurbishments to make

I was toying with the concept of an overdrive, but I've been recommended to look at simpler options 1st which included the possibility of a new intercooler and some bigger tyres

I posted some thinking on the various Land Rover Forums I have joined and they have asked for some information so here it is for us all to share

A useful resource is http://www.ashcroft-transmissions.co.uk/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=45

Transfer Box - my reading is 20D  = 1.667

Now there is also some debate on the gear box

I forgot to get the serial number of that whilst I was underneath, but here is a picture of the sticks which I am told is not the original position

And the layout of the shifter is that of an R380 5 Speed box, which replaced the LT77 fitted from approx 1994 to 2006

Oh and another clue is the wooden panel under the floor - doesn't look original to me and would have been OK for a trip to Africa, but I'm not sure about Wales's damp climate

I wonder what new ideas all of this new information will bring