[Dave501]

Hi Everyone,

After doing some research regarding the dreaded transfer box failures and looking at the various exploded diagrams for the box, I noticed that there is a heat shield on it. However, I also noticed the lack of said heat shield on my Antara when is was on the ramp recently.


I'd like to know if these are fitted to the European models as when I tried to find one, it seemed they were only available in the US. I havent tried my local dealer yet, but was interested to know if anyone else had noticed if they had one or not?


I would think that with many people complaining about the sheer number of DPF regens these thing do, and the fact of the exhaust pipe running very close to the box, the shield would be essential.


See item 18 in below diagram. Part #19132957

Edited by: Dave501

 

[Dulac]

Interesting. If 18 is a heat shield it appears to be a complex shape for a relatively straightforward task, but preventing the oil from being over-cooked seems a good idea. My first impression of the exploded view is that the body castings look mean and pinched, as if they are designed to a minimum to save either weight, or money, or both, with local fins and thickening added rather than more 'meat' throughout.
It begs the question: " do the boxes fail because the bearing(s) pack up or is it because the casting(s) fail - perhaps starting with a hairline crack - and the guts simply fly out"? Perhaps we will never know the reason for these similar failures.

 

[Victor]

Since I don't have a transfer box on mines I can't comment on how close the exhaust pipe comes to it but there must have been a reason for GM to offer the heat shield. I'd think it was for more extreme driving conditions than what you'd normally expect in the UK but when a DPF regen is in process and the temperature reaching over 600 deg C it's a fair bet the pipe just after the DPF can get very, very hot. Thing is the DPF regen is (or should be) only every 500 miles or so and last for ~ 20 minutes so the question would be whether that was enough to substantially affect the transfer box.

 

[Dave501]

Ok, so I called the parts dept in my local dealer to enquire about this part. I can get it special ordered in from Germany for about £45 + VAT, so it is available. The puzzling thing is that this is only fitted to the 2.4 and 3.2 petrol models! I can understand that EGT's are higher on petrol generally, but the temps reached on a diesel during a regen must be considerable higher and yet no heat shield is fitted. If, like Victor said, the regens are limited to 500 mile intervals, then maybe that would be ok, but many have reported much shorter intervals. Perhaps thermal degradation of the oil is to blame? Have there been any reports of the petrol models destroying their transfer boxes?

 

[Dulac]

It might be why a particular oil is specified for these transfer boxes.

 

[Bigjohnsparky]

Well done on this Dave you may well have a very good point about the heat shield re transfer box temps with the braking down on bearings in there case seatings

 

[Dulac]

I lifted this from the Mokka Owners' Club, dated 2013:

I have owned my Mokka for 4 months and covered 7000 miles. The car was
great. I had not suffered any of the problems that have been reported on
this forum. Everything was rosey up until last Tuesday when I suffered a
catastrophic failure which led to a breakdown on a dual carriageway
and led me to call recovery and the police as I was in a precarious
position.

My car is currently sitting at the dealers awaiting
vauxhall technicians to have a look on Monday. They have diagnosed a
hole in the rear transfer box. The car can just about be coaxed around
in 1st and reverse but it is basically undriveable. My car was in the
dealers 2 weeks ago with an oil leak from a seal on the transfer box.
Vauxhall told the dealer to check for cracks. This was given the all
clear and I was told I could carry on driving. After this major failure
the dealer reported the oil level was fine suggesting the leak did not
cause the failure.

I really hope this is a one off incident and
other cars won't be affected. If you have a 4wd though might be worth
checking for oil leaks particularly on cars that have a higher mileage.

 

[Dave501]

The Mokka transfer box looks more puny than the Antaras! Just looked one up on ebay. I wonder if the exhaust passes nearby too?

 

[Victor]

Before we go off about Mokka transfer boxes, we only have speculation about the extent of the problem on the Antara. We have forum member Matti who is a full time mechanic and has removed 6 transfer boxes and found 2 of them were worn through in the area of the bearings. He apparently had these successfully welded up. That's a 33% failure rate but we don't know how representative that is for the whole range. It's a fair bet that the owners who toook their Antaras to Matt had reason to be concerned about them so maybe the figure is biased. We've had anecdotal evidence of failures at various ages and mileages but nothing definitive. I think what concerns most owners is the cost (figures of £4,000 + being bandied around) and the lack of any information on the subject from Vauxhall, not even any guidance on how often the oil should be changed or inspections of the transfer box performed. It's a safe bet to say Peugeot won't be all that concerned with legacy claims like this, they'll want to get us on board with their product range and Peugeot Planet diagnostics with its Gallic logic. God help us..

 

[Dulac]

Well put. For my part the extraordinary cost is the biggest concern - particularly if no improvement has been made to the original design.

 

[Dave501]

It would appear the 2.0 cdti transfer boxes had the heat shield too.

 

[Kastyy]

Hello to all. I am interested in my Opel Antara 2.2 cdti manual, a transfer box of 2.0 cdti

 

[Victor]

Hello Kastty and welcome to the Antara forum. Are you having trouble with your transfer box?

 

[Kastyy]

Yes. The transfer box broke the shell itself and now I need a new one. But I live in Latvia and here for this model the transfer box costs 5,000 euros. I think that ordering the UK and sending it to Latvia will be cheaper. But Latvia can get used to the 2.0 transfer box at a reasonable price.

 

[kevin b]

2.2 & 2.0 transfer boxes are different.

 

[kevin b]

2.2 transfer box from Bristol transmissions about £1600 gbp.

 

[Kastyy]

kevin b Yap I see it. Good price for new part.

 

[edgard43.kgrs]

Hi Everyone,

After doing some research regarding the dreaded transfer box failures and looking at the various exploded diagrams for the box, I noticed that there is a heat shield on it. However, I also noticed the lack of said heat shield on my Antara when is was on the ramp recently.


I'd like to know if these are fitted to the European models as when I tried to find one, it seemed they were only available in the US. I havent tried my local dealer yet, but was interested to know if anyone else had noticed if they had one or not?


I would think that with many people complaining about the sheer number of DPF regens these thing do, and the fact of the exhaust pipe running very close to the box, the shield would be essential.


See item 18 in below diagram. Part #19132957

Edited by: Dave501

I need number of part nr. 20 of this diagram

 

[Victor]

I need number of part nr. 20 of this diagram

...