Well, I seem to have jinxed another one. This time the manual box on my
620D has started making really loud noises whenever the car is being driven (not so bad when coasting though), and there is very little drive when in reverse gear and it judders a lot. Suffice to say I think it's got problems...So I read the Rover overhaul manual for this gearbox (PG1) and it says that the same gearbox is fitted to a number of petrol and diesel Rovers throughout the last decade or so.
I couldn't find a 620D gearbox but I did find a 220D one on eBay (same engine, smaller car) and from the photo it looked the same as mine. However it wasn't until I got it home that I spotted the difference - mine had a cut-out and bolt holes for a hydraulic slave cylinder whereas the 'new' one has an arm for cable operation. :-(
I haven't removed the original gearbox from the car yet, but I'm planning on opening them both up and transferring the innards. From the symptoms mine has I would say it's likely to be collapsed bearings on one of the shafts or differential (especially as there's an almighty oil leak out of one of the driveshaft seals). I just hope that they are more similar inside than out!
Anybody done this before? Obviously I won't know exactly what's died until I split the original 'box apart, but a google search throws up a few mentions of diff bearings so I'm hoping that that's all it'll be (presumably I can just swap the diff complete from the other g/box, maybe changing the final drive ring gear if needed?)
Scrapyards near me want £150 for a s/hand gearbox with 30 day warranty - being as they only pay a tenner on average for cars they get in (and it's about £200 to have mine reconditioned) I thought it would be worth a shot at having a go myself - just wish I'd noticed the clutch release mechanism before I'd bought it!!!
Darren