We went away for the weekend, to do a navigation event. When we got there I had to change the battery - took over an hour :(
One hour into the first roadbook and the autobox suddenly shifts to 1st. Oh dear. A quick check in the rear view shows smoke - lots of it. Slam on achors, shout to "clear the car" and leg it. Wait a few minutes and look at smoke pouring out from bonnet :(
Pick up courage and open bonnet. ATF all over the engine and manifolds - thankfully no external damage. Smoke dies away and we call for help.
AA diagnosis - "You need a new geaebox mate...". Useful.
Luckily I know of a spare gearbox - more luck - it's only 20 miles away at my friends house! I am duly towed there - and at about 4pm we begin stripping the underside of Piglet.
I now hate propshafts, exhausts and ANTI-ROLL BARS with a vengeance. Afte disconnecting the wiring andbreathers and linkages - we retire to the pub.
6pm.
Next morning, at 10am we begin to remove the gearbox, usual problems - stuck bolts etc. Had to laugh at the back of the engine - as it had "this side out" written on it.....
When dropping the box we noticed RPI had not blocked a sensor hole - so my bellhousing was full of tixover mud :( Must remember to tell them about that.
Box dropped, LT230 split and TC removed. We began to remove the good bits from my box, as the spare had been in a fire damaged Discovery. As we remove the control box we see the failure- the clutches have failed massively and blocked all the oilways!!! It's about 2pm now and we are rebuilding the gearbox. By around 4pm we offer it and have it running sometime around
6pm....
By 8pm all the rubbish around it is all bolted up .... 800 yard test drive, load up the gear and passengers and drive back home - 120 odd miles. Baptism of fire.
Got to Daventry to drop someone off and it wouldn;t come out of drive....which was a pain as he lived in a cull-de-sac. After much swearing - Maddy fixed it!
Home now and Park doesnt..but hey?