Another R380 Defender stuck in gear

[Petrolheadache]

Hi all,

My 2004 TD5 Defender has the dreaded stuck in gear problem. I had reversed into a parking spot, put it in first and when I released the clutch it stalled as if I was in 3rd. Now if I start the engine without the clutch down I lurch forward and no matter how I manoeuver the gearstick it creeps forward in what I believe to be 3rd. 

I've searched around on here and have seen various people describing releasing the detent and massaging it back into neutral. My problem is I'm vaguely mechanically minded (I've done some basics like replacing the intercooler, changed to braided brake hoses, etc), but I've never worked on gearboxes before. So when I read people's descriptions of how to go about fixing it, I am a little confused by some of it.

After wrestling the tunnel and sound deadening off, I didn't recognise what people were describing. Lifting the middle seat and cover, I THINK I have found the detent, but I wanted to confirm that it was what I was looking for (see picture).

Questions for the gurus on here;

1) Is that hole what I am aiming for ? If not, where am I looking ?
2) Assuming that is what I am aiming for, what is the correct procedure for releasing the spring and getting it back into neutral ?

Any help would be most appreciated.

Craig

[neil110]

judging by the shiny silver colour, that isn't the gearbox, it is the transfer box so unrelated to your problem

[dave88sw]

From my experience i'd guess the grub screw that holds the selector yoke onto the shaft has worked loose.

It's not a particularly difficult job but it does require releasing the mounts and lowering the box an inch or 2 on a jack so that you can get the gear selector off the top of the box (it fouls the seatbox on the way out, if you'd rather you could remove the seatbox).  Just follow the selector turret back to where it meets the gearbox and undo the 4 bolts that hold it on.  You'll have to seperate the diff lock linkage too as this mounts to the gear selector. Once it's off, you'll be able to see the selector shaft and the yoke, it's held on by a single allen head grub screw which you'll need to remove, clean and refit with medium strength thread lock.  You'll see the dimple in the shaft that the grub screw should engage in. 

[Petrolheadache]

Thanks for the feedback. I have already taken the top off where the gear lever attaches to the box and can see that the shaft moves when I move the lever around, so I am guessing that it's fine. No matter what position I put the gearstick in, the car is locked in gear. It *feels* like it's in neutral at the gearstick, but it's not in neutral in the gears.

[dave88sw]

When you say you have removed the top, do you mean you've removed the whole selector housing?  You should be able to see inside the box through a rectangular hole if removed where i suggested above, not just the gearstick turret which you can remove seperately.  Your symptoms fit with the grub screw coming loose.  If it's not that, it's probably gearbox rebuild time.

[dave88sw]

 

Picture borrowed from elsewhere, that's what you're looking for, you have to remove the reverse light switch to get an allen key in to tighten the grub screw.

[benjwom23]

I second that. I had the same symptoms occur in a car park 300 miles from home. Limped it to a local garage (I was stuck in 2nd so that was a slow journey) who wanted £600 to 'have a look' as they 'had to take the gearbox out'. Had road rescue recover it back home and I seem to recall it took about 30 minutes, 1 screwdriver, 1 spanner and 1 allen key. I didn't have to lower the box, I just removed the gearbox tunnel cover and gearbox selector housing. Good luck!

[Petrolheadache]

Thanks Dave & Ben, I took the turret off and checked where the actual gearstick attaches to the shaft, but not that particular screw.

I'll have a look at that myself before going to the expense of an AA tow and my local specialist.

Thanks once again, I'll let you know.

[Petrolheadache]

It's definitely what you described Dave - I have got the cover off and can vaguely see it is completely disconnected. However, I've gone underneath, removed the 4 bolts in each of the gearbox mounts and still can't get it to drop enough to remove the cover completely. Any advice in getting the gearbox dropped ?

[Petrolheadache]

UPDATE: Thanks to Dave and Ben I have finally managed to get the problem fixed.

A lot of messing for such a simple problem, but once I had managed to manoeuvre the gearbox mounts out of the way, I could drop it down sufficiently to get the cover off properly and reattach & tighten the grub screw. A brief moment of panic as I dropped an allen key in the gearbox, but extendable magnet later and everything was good.

Shifting feels a lot more direct now, I hadn't noticed how much it had degraded. 

Thanks once again, Craig