I posted this on the weekend and said I thought it could be low on oil. I was only able to get a little over one quart in. Is there anything else that could cause the shifter to get untouchably hot? I'll try anything at this point as she is my daily driver 40 miles each way.

 

Strange at it may seem, it could be a grounding issue. I've heard of this before but with the parking brake handle getting hot. I believe there are two locations on the right frame rail. One on the outer side behind the right wheel that leads to the starter. The other on inside near the front of the rail that comes from the battery via a body mount behind the battery. Clean and check those two (plus the body mount behind the battery) but if it still gets hot check the ground on the parking brake itself. You'll need to loosen the center console to get at it from underneath. There are other ground points inside the cabin as well but can't remember where exactly (behind footwells?).

Update: On second thought, this is not likely the problem as the trans shifter isn't attached to the body (whereas the parking brake is).
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Someone said that before. aBut wouldn't a ground cause battery issues? Today it only got to about 125-130. I could still touch it

 

No obvious battery issues. It sounds like you're not sure what fluid is in the transmission so I would recommend you drain and fill with one of the recommended fluids for the R380. I use Redline MTL. I always drain and refill all the fluids when I buy a vehicle. It's amazing what people put in these things sometimes.

 

Might as well change the transfer case fluid as well. I use royal purple max gear 75w90 for that as well as the front/rear diffs.

 

Got this truck sight unseen. But my friend the foreman at local Land Rover dealer but since these manuals are so rare he hasn't had experience with them. But this has only been a short lived problem

 

I have an R380 as well. My shifter got pretty hot while I was doing body repairs and didn't have transmission tunnel insulation in place for a few weeks. Exhaust and engine heat + heat from the trans seemed to creep up the shifter. I would grab a laser thermometer and shoot some temps of the shifter stalk as well as the body of the transmission and transfer case. If the temps aren't crazy, then it might be an insulation thing.

50-70C / 120-160F are about the standard running temps for manual trans/transfer cases. Those temps are still pretty untouchable.

Otherwise if the trans is running real hot, check your trans oil cooler circuit?

 

I don't see a trans oil cooler in this truck

 

They came standard so you should have one unless for some reason the previous owner removed. Connection is on the (north american) driver side of the transmission. Black hoses will carry to an exchanger on the front of the engine radiator. Exchanger looks kind of like a big metal pipecleaner.

 

I'll get under it later. This is my daily driver too