Land Rover and Range Rover Gearbox Issues

Despite four speed gearboxes being used in the Land Rover since 1983, the LT95 – one of the strongest gearboxes in their history – has still succumbed to a number of issues over the years. Owners of Land Rover, Range Rover and Defender vehicles should be aware that these gearbox or IRD issues can cause a number of expensive problems.

Logistics of the Gearbox. With the mainshaft connected to an oil pump for lubrication, the oil filter strainer should be extracted and cleaned after each service your vehicle receives. Because most Land Rovers and Range Rovers have differentials that are locked by a vacuum operated system, complications often result when mechanics try to switch to a mechanical system from a vacuum system.

Fragile Components within the Gearbox. Because the centre differential is the most fragile component of the gearbox, when the differential lock is engaged and low traction situations are encountered, the gearbox is often damaged. Extreme use will also cause the centre differential to fail, like when the differential lock is disengaged and the handbrake engaged and the driver then forcing the engine to rev to 5,000 rpm – when the clutch drops, the front wheels will spin; this should not be attempted if differential and gearbox preservation is the goal.

Problems that arise typically follow from overheating issues, especially those originating between the shafts or the casing of the planetary gears.

Another weak aspect of the gearbox, the reverse idler gear should be preserved by keeping full throttles and high engine reverse speeds down, as well as ‘jerky’ tow starts.

Located inside the transfer gear and on the rear of the mainshaft the splines tend to wear easily. With an excessive ‘backlash’ in the transmission, if the splines wear out the vehicle will fail to operate properly with many experts advising the remove the PTO/overdrive cover to check the status of the transfer gear.

Shims – spacers used to fill spaces and gaps between objects – are often worn in the transfer box. Re-shimming allows any wear to be minimised, though will require the removal of the engine box to do so.

With most garages charging a few hundred pounds just to strip down the engines so as to inspect the state of your engine damage from fuel pump or fuel injector problems, let Sell Your Problem Car ® help you out! Settling those finance and garage costs for cars less than 10 years old, contact us now for a quote.