04 TD4 Gear Changing Problem

[Forby4]

Hi Guys, new to the forum. Looks like a great place and it's nice to see there are no pain in the butt Freelander bashers on here!!!

Anyway, I've owned my TD4 for a year now with no problems (touches wood), but I've noticed recently that the gears have become a little more difficult to drop in to gear.

Movement between the gears is fine, nice and smooth, but im finding that i have to really push sometimes to get in to the lower gears, almost as if things arent lining up correctly???

I'm no expert and have little experience fixing things my self, i just wondered if this could be the start of a bigger problem or is this a common thing that i should ignore?

Any ideas what could be causing this all of a sudden. I thought it could be the cold weather as it seems to improve after an hour or so driving.

Any advice much appreciated!

[tim_roberts]

Normally I would suspect the clutch hydraulics first. Is the clutch 'biting point' quite low down? If so, the clutch might not be clearing properly and causing difficulty in low gears.

[FridgeFreezer]

Welcome along! We do have Freelander bashers here, but most of them are labouring under the delusion that the Defender is in some way a superior vehicle so can safely be ignored. The truly enlightened know that the Freelander marks the end of a ~20 year gap in LR producing anything worth owning

Is it clutch-related (EG clutch drags, pedal feel or movement has changed, gears grind when going in) or gearbox related (clutch dis/engages fine but your knob is stiff or awkward to get into the slot)?

The gear linkage is what can best be described as a contrivance of rods, bushes and levers flopping about under the car, so there's certainly the chance that something could be out of line, or a bushing is worn, or something's moved. It can be something as daft as the rubber gaite round the gear knob getting caught in the workings. Have small children been anywhere near it?

[Forby4]

Thanks for the reply guys.

The clutch seems fine, the biting point is in the same position as always and it holds well on hills etc.

clutch dis/engages fine but your knob is stiff or awkward to get into the slot?

From what you say here it definetly seems gearbox or lever related.

Could the colder weather be exasperating the problem?

Cheers

[FridgeFreezer]

From what you say here it definetly seems gearbox or lever related.

Could the colder weather be exasperating the problem?

Could be, some gear oil / gearboxes can be worse in cold weather (in a Defender it's called "Character" ) but could be worth checking/topping up/changing your gear oil, if only to eliminate it from the equation. It should be MTF94 in the main box, not unheard of for people to chuck the wrong thing in.

[Forby4]

Thanks for that, I will get that checked first.

Much appreciated.

[2005freelander]

Hi all

I too have a 2005 TD4 manual and the symptoms are similar:-

Struggle to get it into 1st or seccond or any gear at stand still.

While trying to engage gear at stand still I can feel the car trying to move.

Seems to go into gear if I pump the clutch pedal a few times when standing still.

While moving I struggle to change gears especially lower ones.

I suspect it could be either the Master or Slave Cylinder.

Any comments and how will I be able pick which Cylinder it could be, if anyone agrees it is that? Thanks