Defender transmission slack

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Simon765

Simon765

New Member
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Lancashire
Currently looking around for my first Defender and drove my first in a very long time last week. It was a 2.4 tdci and I felt there was more than a little slack in the transmission when pulling away. It is my aim to drive another this weekend, but what is "normal"?

Thanks

Simon
 
Simon765 said:
Currently looking around for my first Defender and drove my first in a very long time last week. It was a 2.4 tdci and I felt there was more than a little slack in the transmission when pulling away. It is my aim to drive another this weekend, but what is "normal"?

Thanks

Simon
Click to expand...
Hello, and welcome to the forum.
What were the symptoms? What did it feel, sound like etc.
Simon, it's forum etiquette to go to the Introduce Yourself Forum Here and post a thread to say hello, before you start posting questions. :)
 
"Normal" is a very personal thing.

I personally would not accept anything significant whereas another person may accept lots of slop resulting in the vehicle moving off several seconds after the clutch being released (well, maybe a slight exaggeration but you know what I mean!).
Whatever you do, don't accept the seller saying that "they all do that" because it just isn't true! The more models you drive the more of a feeling you will get for what is "normal".
 
Thanks, it wasn’t a lot but since it was the first one I’ve driven in ages I’m just a little cautious - you get very used to modern (ish) cars Hopefully seeing another one tomorrow.

Thanks also for the prompt on etiquette, introduction now done.

Cheers

Simon
 
How many miles had it done? It’s common to get some take up in the transmission on higher mileage ones but my 100,000 mile TD5 110SW has none.
 
That is a low mileage to have significant transmission slack so be aware.

That said, the TDCi's are known for wear in the drive-flange members at very low mileages as LR saw fit to stop greasing the splines on assembly and in use they don't get the benefit of axle oil for lubrication. My own rear axle had some slack and was red with thick rust on the splines at a very low mileage but I managed to save it by just replacing the drive-flanges (which is very cheap & quick to do), worst case scenario if the wear was really bad would be both the drive-flanges & half-shafts having to be replaced (not the end of the world). Obviously if you catch this in time (as I did) the application of grease on the splines will do wonders for the life-span of these components!

Not saying this is the cause in your case but it just might be.
 
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Whats right and what is normal are two different things.
Any man/woman who can do flawless gear changes on a well worn coiler transmission is reaching god like status!

There are so many moving bits even the slightest bit of wear on each part adds up to quite a bit of slop.
 
There's quite a bit of discussion on here about slack in the transmission on Land Rovers. It seems to be something they're prone to. There are a lot of splined joints between the engine and the wheels and they're usually where it originates. In my case the biggest improvement is achieved by replacing the drive flanges, especially on the rear. But over a period of time it comes back, even with well lubricated splines. Most of the splined items like drive flanges and half shafts are not prohibitively expensive, so it's not necessarily a major problem. Where slack is more problematic is in things like CV joints or in gear wheels, but once again, they can all be taken apart and replaced. It's not terminal, it's just about being aware that work might be needed.
 
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Thanks for all the advice, still to drive another and the one I'd looked at has now been sold. No hurry to buy so I'll take my time and enjoy the search
 
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