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OrangeAlpine



Member Since: 10 Oct 2025
Location: Winchester
Posts: 27
United Kingdom 2013 Defender 90 Puma 2.2 HT Alpine White
noisy change into 3rd gear when cold - is that normal?!
morning all,

a few weeks into owning the 90 now (2013 puma 2.2) and starting to learn some of the quirks vs my Discover 2 (like the 35 page "water ingress manual" - and I thought the D2 was a sieve!)

Anyhow, I've noticed what I'd consider to be a poor engagement when up-shifting to 3rd gear when starting journeys - when engine/box cold typically, but have put this down to me/poor change process after years of not driving manual gearboxes and certainly not one as, well lets go with, unrefined as the defender!

Changing into all other gears seems fine, and downshift from 4th or 5th to 3rd is fine, its just the upshift into 3rd when the gearbox is cold - later in the journey this seems to "go away" and upshift behaves as (I think) it should - but could be me refining my change style?!

Should mention that a reconditioned gearbox and clutch was fitted prior to me owning it, in Nov-24

So, a few novice questions if I may;
1 - is this typical?
2 - could this be as simple as changing the oil (its on order so that's a job for next week)
3 - could this point to a more sinister issue and, if so, where should I start to look? (I'll add that to the list!)

thanks in advance for any suggestions and wisdom!
Post #1077985 21st Oct 2025 7:55am
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OrangeAlpine



Member Since: 10 Oct 2025
Location: Winchester
Posts: 27
United Kingdom 2013 Defender 90 Puma 2.2 HT Alpine White
doh Sad - just noticed this post https://www.defender2.net/forum/topic96967.html so I'll have a full read through!

If my gear changes are anything like my ability to search the forum then the issue will most definitely be me!!
Post #1077987 21st Oct 2025 8:12am
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blackwolf



Member Since: 03 Nov 2009
Location: South West England
Posts: 18058
United Kingdom 2007 Defender 110 Puma 2.4 DCPU Stornoway Grey
The MT82 box is not renowned for problems and this is not typical. I suggest reading the other thread, being very aware of your technique, and changing the oil and - importantly - making sure that the correct amount is put in the box (if filled to the filler plug there will be issues).

See if that improves the performance.

Remember also that the Defender is far less car-like than a Disco2 and always will be. You don't say if your Disco was auto or manual but if the latter the MT82 should be a more pleasant box than the R380 in a (manual) Disco, the R380 is very agricultural and whilst good ones are fine, bad ones are awful.
Post #1077992 21st Oct 2025 8:39am
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lightning



Member Since: 23 Apr 2009
Location: High Peak, Derbyshire
Posts: 3552
United Kingdom 
Change the gearbox oil as a first step, before you try anything else.

l have just done this on mine and the cold start gear shift has got a lot better. The gearbox takes 75w/90 oil, there's a thread on this forum regarding the correct type of oil.
Post #1077993 21st Oct 2025 8:39am
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OrangeAlpine



Member Since: 10 Oct 2025
Location: Winchester
Posts: 27
United Kingdom 2013 Defender 90 Puma 2.2 HT Alpine White
thank you @blackwolf Thumbs Up - the D2 has an auto box thats surprisingly smooth for its age etc so I suspect a lot of this will be me getting used to the manual box and will, I hope, be helped with oil change

thanks @lightning Thumbs Up - oil change is on the cards (along with transfer box, engine and axles) as soon as the oil arrives....
Post #1078013 21st Oct 2025 12:25pm
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steveww



Member Since: 05 Jan 2022
Location: Malton
Posts: 612
United Kingdom 2015 Defender 110 Puma 2.2 XS CSW Bronze Green
The change can be a bit awkward when the gearbox is cold. I find that a slight pause in neutral when changing gear with a cold gearbox works well. Once it's up to temperature the change is smooth.
Post #1078029 21st Oct 2025 5:04pm
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OrangeAlpine



Member Since: 10 Oct 2025
Location: Winchester
Posts: 27
United Kingdom 2013 Defender 90 Puma 2.2 HT Alpine White
Yes that’s what I’m experiencing - hopefully an oil change (when it finally arrives!) and adapting driving style will do the trick.

I keep reading a lot about the slick shift which seems like it could be an option to fit…
Post #1078049 22nd Oct 2025 6:55am
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Johan_B



Member Since: 20 Sep 2024
Location: Gothenburg
Posts: 171
Sweden 2007 Defender 110 Puma 2.4 CSW Tonga Green
Slick shift really only effect the stroke of the lever as far as I can tell. I have one installed in mine and it does make the shifting experience more car like. But I would say there are at least two drawbacks, it promotes a faster shifting, which works against the gearbox, and it raises the force needed to get into reverse.

If your box is only 6 month old then the oil should not be older, but it could still be wrong spec or wrong volume so still worth changing as you experience problem.
Post #1078052 22nd Oct 2025 7:57am
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OrangeAlpine



Member Since: 10 Oct 2025
Location: Winchester
Posts: 27
United Kingdom 2013 Defender 90 Puma 2.2 HT Alpine White
ok, thats useful to know, thanks Thumbs Up

I'm going to go with oil change first and see what changes (if any) I notice and then go from there
Post #1078053 22nd Oct 2025 8:06am
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OrangeAlpine



Member Since: 10 Oct 2025
Location: Winchester
Posts: 27
United Kingdom 2013 Defender 90 Puma 2.2 HT Alpine White
update from today's maintenance....

Changed the oil in the gearbox - removing the filler plug resulted in a stead stream of oil coming out, so overfilled by all accounts

I drained the box and caught just over 2.3L plus another 1-200ml that I missed when removing the filler plug at the start!!

Refilled with 2.2L of "the correct" grade oil and cleaned everything up as much as possible - went for a drive.....

First change into 3rd felt better and the changes after that I actually didn't notice so something is working! Not there is probably healthy dose of me getting used to the truck and gearbox/gear changes but it certainly feels smoother. On to the next job(s)!

As a final question on this topic, while under there I was surprised to see a cross-member/brace with a mounting bracket that seems not to have anything mounted to it! It's proximity to a threaded hole on the underside of the gearbox made me wonder if its supposed to be like that or if some plonker had re-fitted it incorrectly??


Click image to enlarge


Click image to enlarge


A bit of googling would suggest its not supposed to be connected to the gearbox, but thought I'd check with you all as its on topic!

Cheers
Post #1078073 22nd Oct 2025 4:11pm
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Ianh



Member Since: 17 Sep 2018
Location: Essex
Posts: 2557
United Kingdom 
Whey hey....if the site had a pound for everyone of us that has asked that question Martin would be a millionaire.

You are correct, it is not to support the gearbox so what you have is perfectly normal.

The only use I found for that bracket is to jam a bit of timber between it and the gearbox to support it while removing the transfer box.
Post #1078075 22nd Oct 2025 4:34pm
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blackwolf



Member Since: 03 Nov 2009
Location: South West England
Posts: 18058
United Kingdom 2007 Defender 110 Puma 2.4 DCPU Stornoway Grey
The unused bracket is there because the work experience 'yoof' who was given the task of designing the Ford engine/gearbox installation on the Defender saw that all Fords have a gearbox mount there and thought he'd better include it because nobody had told him that Defenders have a transfer box and therefore much more substantial transmission mountings. Because of this all Defender from 2007 to 2016 have an entirely pointless bracket welded onto the cross member.

One day it will be covered in an episode of "Great Engineering Mistakes" on Quest! Laughing

I'm amazed that anyone managed to overfill your box by that amount, it's hard to see how you fill it higher than the filler orifice. I'm glad that filling it correctly has improved its performance.
Post #1078078 22nd Oct 2025 4:53pm
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OrangeAlpine



Member Since: 10 Oct 2025
Location: Winchester
Posts: 27
United Kingdom 2013 Defender 90 Puma 2.2 HT Alpine White
Thanks @blackwolf - puts my mind to rest re the bracket.

As for the overfill - I can only imagine they removed the bolt above the filler plug and used that?! I’ve seen a few mentions of it being possible to do so but not intended for that purpose. Who knows!! Confused

Thanks again
Post #1078080 22nd Oct 2025 5:24pm
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Ianh



Member Since: 17 Sep 2018
Location: Essex
Posts: 2557
United Kingdom 
Blimey, they may have filled it to level via the “not the fill plug” Shocked no wonder you were having issues .

https://www.defender2.net/forum/topic83407...=fill+plug
Post #1078088 22nd Oct 2025 7:16pm
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OrangeAlpine



Member Since: 10 Oct 2025
Location: Winchester
Posts: 27
United Kingdom 2013 Defender 90 Puma 2.2 HT Alpine White
It does seem that way. Oh well, it’s back to “normal” now - at least that part of the truck is!!

Door seals and trying to work what front grill I can fit are the next challenge - but that’s for another day and another post!! 🫣
Post #1078089 22nd Oct 2025 7:26pm
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