Need advice: Cracked transfer case, damaged shafts and gears: Worried

[earlneath]

I booked my 3.2 Diesel LWB NS in to the local dealer over a week ago as the centre diff light was flashing when in AWD 4H. I had previously noticed it used to take a long time to disengage from 4H to 2H the flashing green lights continued for a long time.
A few nights before I took it in the speedo stopped working and (just showed zero) the day before the speedo suddenly kicked in again after 5 minutes. At first the speed was going haywire and then it went to the right speed after a few minutes.

I'm very concerned now as I have just had a call from the service manager to say that the transfer case is cracked and on investigation the gears are damaged, the propellor shaft and output shaft are no good. According to the technicians this is not a manufacturer defect and, noting that I have bash plates and Lovells / Bilstein, they are inclined to think it is due to off road damage.

It sounds like I may not be covered under warranty and could be up for a large bill. But this has me stumped because I haven't been off road since driving on a forest track in July 2012 and also haven't noticed any funny sounds or roughness in the driving, either in 2WD or AWD/4H. Anyone have any advice or views as to what I should do and what sort of $$ I might be up for here?

[Cecu]

are you the first owner of the vehicle?
if so you are still under the 10 yrs drivetrain warranty... I would have thought that stuff like that is covered in the drivetrain warranty, unless they can find evidence that it was damaged due to misuse...

best of luck and keep us posted.

Cecu

[earlneath]

Thanks Cecu yeah I'm the first owner 2008. I think the line of reasoning that the service guy is following is that the technicians say that this kind of damage is unusual and haven't noticed any manufacturing defect, so by elimination they are assuming it is due to off road activity. There are no signs of damage as such. When he spoke to me earlier in the week he said he was asking for MMA approval under warranty to carry out investigations, and at that time he said there were no signs on the exterior of damage. I have a full set of bushskins bashplates on so the transfer case was properly protected. In any case there were no bangs or impacts and it was last off road for a normal short flat forest drive in December, then previously on a forest trail last July. Anyway the official word from MMA is not due back until Monday.

[Jords]

If needed you should be able to get these items from a wrecker by now. I would hate to think what MM would hit you for these parts. As too whether warranty or not they would need to show you proof of where you damaged it.
There would be evidence.
How ever having said that sometimes things can take a while to start causing issues after initial damage. I know as I crushed my cats on my old Adventra and didn't notice for months untill the core slowly crumbled blocked the exhaust and then the car would hardly run. Even the mechanic at first Thought it was bad fuel untill it was put up on a hoist.

[4wd26]

you don't run a auto front locker or anything else out of the ordinary?

you havn't been driving in 4 locked instead of 4h on bitumin or hard dirt?

The above can make the transfer work harder

[earlneath]

Hi mate nothing at all out of the ordinary; no front (or back) locker and no 4H locked on bitumen; no mods apart from the lift, plates and bullbar. Only done 74,000 kms and I only put it on 4H (not locked) if it's wet weather. It has hardly been off road as after I got my 2" lift and plates we took it out on the sand and the family decided they don't enjoy off road :-)

[psproule]

Well, I know you say it hasn't been, but my first reaction would be to say that it has been in 4 Lc on bitumen. Only way I can see that sort of damage happening. Did someone else drive it? One of the kids perhaps?

[MTN-KAT]

Well, I know you say it hasn't been, but my first reaction would be to say that it has been in 4 Lc on bitumen. Only way I can see that sort of damage happening. Did someone else drive it? One of the kids perhaps?

Oh Dear. That would xplain no xternal sign of damage! Can be a great temptation -to slip it into 4LLC. I even worry when I leave it with a workshop that the person who does the road test may just put it into 4LLC on bitumen.

earlneath, have you left the vehicle at a workshop since your last offroad journey?

[earlneath]

It went into Artarmon Automotive about 6 weeks ago to get brake pads changed and wheel alignment. Can't think they they would have driven it round in low range as that wouldn't make sense. Only other driver is my wife; she always leaves it in 2WD.

[Jords]

You know very fast when in centre diff lock on a hard road surface it would be hard to believe someone would go very far in it. I did it once last year by accident.

[Pauly Faulkner]

Having bash plates with no evidence of being hit hard is a good indicator that you haven't damaged it via dropping onto a rock etc.
I'm inclined to agree with psproule thoughts, was my initial reaction to your first post as well. Doesn't have to be in low range, just needs to be in locked centre on firm ground or driving to fast in locked centee on anything other soft dirt/sand or muddy trails to cause windup issues.

Hopefully mits fix the issue for you or othrwise its cheaper to just put a second hand unit in.

[Fro]

I would expect them to cover it under warranty. Having bash plates and aftermarket suspension is no excuse when the vehicle is designed (and advertised) to be used off-road. You could also argue that the bash plates and suspension didn't cause the damage so the fact that they're fitted is irrelevant.

I would also find out if there is any external damage on the case to indicate that its been on a rock or something else that could have caused it.

[earlneath]

Thanks for comments all. When the dealer called me to say he had the OK from MMA to open up the transfer case and to the inspection under warranty, he was clear that there were no signs of external damage. Lets see what MMA say on Monday. Even assuming its all OK under warranty I'm a little disappointed the whole thing has been really slow - it first went in on 4 July so they've had it for over a week.

[psproule]

They tend to crack the case when driven in 4LC on bitumen. They also jump the teeth on the transfer chain. The centre diff lock in these isn't the strongest - I have worn one out. The play between the teeth gets greater and greater with wear until they start to jump and burr the teeth right off. Vehicle was under warranty and dealer wouldn't have a bar of it.

Another possibility, although not that I have heard of a Pajero one doing it, is that the viscous coupling between front / rear has seized thus creating a locked situation. It's common as can be with Land Rover Freelanders (amongst a few others), which seize the drive to the rear and then smash up the drive take off from the gearbox (called an IRD) and chew out the diff bushes along the way.

[4wd26]

at this stage you would think if no external damage then MMA would be obliged to fix under warranty

they have already used up one "excuse" that has nothing to do with the problem, so are clutching at straws.

stick to your guns- my comments were around working out if anything else you might have done, they could use to point the finger. (lokka or driving in 4Hlc)

you now have some further information- forewarned