The V8 Owners Forum -

I have a recon R380 box in my DAX Rush. In the garage on axle stands, drive the car fine - no leaks, no matter how fast the wheels spin. Drive it on the road and floor it, and oil drips out of the back of the box - clearly due to it surging toward the back under acceleration. I am guessing it's coming out of the output shaft pinion, but cannot be certain due to the box being buried deep in the car.

When I filled the box, I left the oil level at the filler plug level as is standard practice.

So...is this a common issue with this box, or do I have a dodgy seal somewhere ?

Alex

Is the breather working properly? Most common cause of leaks on Land Rovers is blocked breathers....

Chris.

Chris,

Yes I believe the breather to be working correctly - is there any easy way to check without removing engine/box from the car ?

Alex

Did you thoroughly lubricate (usualy I use HT greese) the lip seal on the back of the box where the drive shaft pushes in? if not the lip/ oil seal is bggrd and needs replacing (lubricating it this time) installed dry they last about 250 revolutions before melting.
Mike

The box is a recon, so I wouldn't know how the seal was fitted. It came from a reputable box supplier, so I believe it to be a good job..but you never know. Guess I'll keep topping the box up for now and when it's time for an engine rebuild / upgrade, I'll whip the whole lot out and take a good look.

Alex

This does sound like a rear seal has failed.

Just because the box came from a reputable supplier, don't assume that the seal was lubricated. Some brands of seal come pre lubricated, while others don't - the person assembling the gearbox wouldn't necessarily notice if the company switched supplier.

Breathers can be a bit of a problem, and I don't think there's any reliable way to check them. I had a diff seal that kept failing. Tried blowing through the breather pipe with a high pressure airline (with the filler plug out of the diff) to clear it, and it didn't help, though it didn't show up any obstruction. After spending a lot of money doing a complete rebuild and still not solving the problem, I finally replaced the breather pipe, and problem solved.

I think I might be able to take a closer look with the box still in the car - it will mean taking out the carpets / centre tunnel, but then I can disconnect the prop and probably take the back of the box off without the need to remove the lump.

The thing that pi$$es me off the most is the box is the only part of the car I didn't build myself. The engine, diff etc I did all from scratch and not a drop leaks from them. I only got the car through SVA 2 weeks ago after 3.5 years build time only to find this out

Never mind - it's a good excuse for more spanner time

A