Gearbox rebuild.

[keithmac]

Was looking at a Ssangyong Korando a bit ago, 2.2l Auto (Japanese Aisin gerbox, Mercedes engine). 7 year warranty on that.

I have a 2017 gearbox to go back in this one (need to make a conversion plate because it doesn't fit). The flywheel is different as well, they have decoupled the gearbox at the flywheel now with a modified spline drive.

Has to last us 3 years at least, can't bail out now; too far in (time/ money and sanity!).

I refuse to be beaten by a car, it's got personal now!.

 

[keithmac]

I've got some 10mm clear Acrylic to make a template for the gearbox bellhousing adapter.

Making it out of 10mm steel, not looking forward to cutting that! (Plasma cutter on the way to make it less of a chore).

My mate has designed and got a pair of flywheel spacers laser cut for me as a favour so that's half the battle.

I've been dabbling with CAD to make a model for the spacer but decided to go old school prototyping so I can physically bolt it to the engine/ gearbox..

 

[keithmac]

Differences in flywheels, they knew they'd ballsed the design up 10 years ago but still plowed on regardless imho.

New flywheel is damped, rather than dampers inside the gearbox..

 

[keithmac]

Just rhought I'd bring an end to the story!.

Spent a month of nights and weekends measuring and making bits..

Used the acrylic sheet to mark out all the mounting holes in the gearboxes. The only two points that lined up were the input and AWD output shafts!.

Working with 10mm steel plate was a nightmare but worth it in the end.

All holes drilled, countersunked and tapped by hand.

Amazingly the gearbox slotted on with relative ease, so all my holes were within 1mm!.

Had to by a 2017 starter motor, then chop it to bits to fit, think of better ways to spend a Saturday night..

The electonics wouldn't play ball so I ended up fitting my orignal Mechatronic Unit (had to take front of car off AGAIN!).

Still all good now, done 300 miles so far all fine (touch wood!).

 

[keithmac]

Couple more pics, never been more relieved to see a car move off the drive!.

 

[Proto]

The piston to bore clearance is that low it could possibly have been a sticky control piston, or a sticky solenoid.

That’s not close clearance. THIS is close clearance ...............

PS great work!! I hate throwing stuff away so I fix everything. I’ve done pl3nty of work on motorcycles too. Ruebuilding BMW F650 motors became a bit of a hobby at one time in my life.

 

[Tail End Charlie]

Couple more pics, never been more relieved to see a car move off the drive!.

View attachment 476571 View attachment 476573 View attachment 476574

You Sir, are an inspiration. Top top marks for perseverance, effort and craftsmanship.

 

[Proto]

Finally read to the finish. Fantastic work!!

 

[Pale Rider]

I've lost track.

The mounting plate you made was to fit a 2017 gearbox to the car.

Is that a newer gearbox and is the hope that it will be more reliable?

 

[keithmac]

I've lost track.

The mounting plate you made was to fit a 2017 gearbox to the car.

Is that a newer gearbox and is the hope that it will be more reliable?

Yep, the 2017 gearbox uses a different flywheel (damped), all the troublesome springs and guides have been removed from the 2017 gearbox.

Was a lot of hastle but ultimately makes the car more reliable, I couldn't have put another 2013 gearbox in knowing how bad the design is.

Fingers crossed that's a line drawn under it now!.

 

[Pale Rider]

Yep, the 2017 gearbox uses a different flywheel (damped), all the troublesome springs and guides have been removed from the 2017 gearbox.

Was a lot of hastle but ultimately makes the car more reliable, I couldn't have put another 2013 gearbox in knowing how bad the design is.

Fingers crossed that's a line drawn under it now!.

Sound reasoning.

I wonder if the earlier gearbox was less suitable for towing.

No doubt your rig was well within the specified limits, but the extra strain on the gearbox cannot have helped.

I still like the look of the Kuga, so the thought a more recent one should be reliable is encouraging.

Nearly new is best part of £20K which I could just about scrape together, but is more than I would be comfortable spending on a car.

 

[keithmac]

Towing limit on ours was 2100kg our caravan only weighs 1550 fully loaded.

Plenty of these gearboxes have gone wrong without towing. Ours only had 2000 towing miles on it (all done by us).

I'm too far in now to chop ours in but in hindsight I'd have bought a car with 7 years warranty on it (Kia, Ssangyong etc).

They are a lovely car to drive though, get a good spec (Titanium X or higher) as the interior and bells & whistles really do make the car. Make sure you get Xenon headlights, the normal ones are pretty poor by all accounts.

£20k should get you a good specced nearly new Kuga.

 

[Pale Rider]

I'm too far in now to chop ours in but in hindsight I'd have bought a car with 7 years warranty on it (Kia, Ssangyong etc).

In my admittedly limited experience, Kias are let down by their uninspiring drive.

The Focus-based cars from Ford take some beating in terms of handling nicely.

Some people think handling only matters at warp speeds, but even swinging into a supermarket parking space was a pleasure in the Focus I had.

 

[Drago]

In out experience Mrs D's new model Sportage is actually OK to drive, but is so prone to little faults that it almost feels biodegradable. The lease is up in September and my Dad has bought her a Volvo to replace it.

As for our man Keith, I love it. Its brilliant to see people fixing things and keeping them going. Its interesting, good for your wallet, good for the planet, and who ever really knows when such skills might be incredibly handy...such as during the inevitable societal collapse that is coming.

For your next project, might I suggest a Roadster Brabus engine swap into a Smart Fortwo. I'll even supply the car ane engine for you

 

[biggs682]

Bravo @keithmac