Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing Gearbox removal

Over the last couple of years my 1997 plus 8 (short door) has been developing a rattle in the gearbox (R380) I have checked and replaced the gear oil with syncromax synthetic but no improvement .
It’s time to think about having a look inside it at the bearings etc , my question is can the gearbox be removed without removing the engine either from below or by removing the tunnel and extracting it through the passenger compartment?
Normally I would just pull the engine / gearbox as a unit but I am currently 2500 Kilometres away from home and have limited tools and equipment with me .
Thanks Dave

Never mind , I just crawled under the car and there is no way the bell housing would clear the bulkhead , so I guess it will have to wait untill I return home in the spring .
Cheers Dave

Unfortunately it's an engine out job if you can get enough height on the chain and block the engine and box can be tillted enough to lift out together. I have done it in the past.

Hi Dave

Just a thought. Are you sure that the rattle comes from inside the gearbox?

All my gearbox rattles have come from the remote gearchange rather than the box itself.

Lots of information to be found on gomog.com

Best of luck

Andrew Green
Glorious Devon
2002 Plus 8

Sorry to read of your gearbox issue Dave. My +8`s engine ran less than smoothly when brought back into use after a lengthy lay-up, at which time my gearbox really rattled when the engine was trying to idle, though seemed fine while under load, I found a split in the diaphragm of one of the carbs and a few other issues that once resolved, removed the rattle from the gearbox..! If nothing as simple as that then perhaps this link might help...

https://www.ashcroft-transmissions.co.uk/manual-gearboxes/r-380.html

I think some +8 folk changed to Toyota gear boxes..

Good luck.

I was just about to type what Andrew has above. First port of call is the rubber bushings for the remote.

Good luck it’s just those.
Colin

Check both the bushes but also the spring loaded cup on the gear shift. On my 97 +4 the securing tab on the cup broke. This caused a rattle & made gear changes difficult..
http://www.gomog.com/allmorgan/remoteissues.html

Given Andrew & Colin`s input, I just thought it might be worth adding that during my +8`s lay-up, I had replaced all the rubber bushes on the remote mounting, which was prior to the gearbox rattle I experienced and was fortunate enough to resolve with an engine tune up..!

I had a rattle emanating from the gear box in my 94 +8 which turned out to be grub screw coming loose on the remote gear shifter. Certainly make sure you have eliminated all the easy fixes before you start taking the engine and gearbox out.

Wow guys thanks for all the input .
I have been fooled before with rattles and squeaks coming from different places , I will dig into the remote linkage and see what’s to be found .
While I have your attention what oil are you running in the R380 the land rover gearbox manual calls for ATF M2C33 F or G which I read as type F ATF but Land Rover discovery guys have lots of ideas for alternatives
Thanks Dave