Thread: Steepish inclines and 'faulty' brakes???

Originally Posted by Sue

Okay, this is a bit of a long story so please bear with me..

Several months ago I was on a steep incline (for those that know LCMP it was the hill on Rally Circuit), I was in second low range and as I started on the wombat holes at the top of the hill I realised that I didn't have enough grunt to get over them. I stopped the car, depressed the clutch (I know... I know!) and went to put the car into first gear. The car started to go backwards at a rapid speed (my most scary moment ever!!).. and despite trying to throw it into a gear (I tried both reverse and first) to gain some control it wouldn't go into gear and the car slid backwards some hundred metres or more. How I didn't roll over the edge I will never know as I had absolutely no control whatsoever. My hubby assumed that I had done something wrong and decided to get into my car and drive it to the top. But exactly the same thing happened to him. I was only eventually only able to stop by applying the hand brake - even this was iffy as by that stage quite a lot of speed had built up and it took some time for the hand brake to have any effect. Hubby was able to get the car into reverse after some time to gain control - needless to say I drove the car out the other way.

Now I had at that time had some problems with the TC and ABS lights lighting up and was waiting for some parts to arrive at Land Rover so they could replace the sensor. I went and saw them and explained to them on several occasions what had happened and the service guy (I wasn't able to speak to a mechanic) said he was sure it was probably related to the sensor they were replacing. The sensor was replaced and I thought that all was well.

This afternoon I drove to am area near home and was driving up a dirt steepish (but not unreasonably so) hill. Once again I decided towards the top of the hill that I would stop the car and put it into first gear to get some more momentum. I stopped the car, put it in first gear and as I released the clutch I started going backwards (very fast). Several times I stopped and tried to find a gear any gear - at this stage reverse was what I wanted so I could back to the bottom and try again. I was unable to get the car into any gear so I stopped and put the car into low range then I was able to reverse down the hill. At this time it occurred to me that the gear stick that selects whether you are in high or low range was in the neutral position. I hadn't touched this gearstick for weeks. I did some experimenting then and on a couple of occasions when I was stopped on an incline (nose up) and I tried to put the car into first gear the high/low gear stick moved to neutral - which in effect won't allow any gears to be selected. Is this making sense??

Has anyone else had a similar problem with this before.. I am rapidly losing confidence in using the car offroad. (and that makes me sad)..

It sounds like you have a problem with the transfer case selector shaft, I had the same thing while it was under warranty and took it into landrover multiple times only to get "we cant seem to replicate the problem" to which I asked did they take it up a steep hill in low range? Of course they didnt, the workshop floor is flat.....

There is an adjustment that can be made by those "in the know" (to which I am not one) that allows the selector shaft to be held more firmly in place. Be careful however as too much adjustment will cause you not to be able to move it easily.

Once I finally found someone that knew how to adjust it (they are in Sydney) it was a five minute job and I have never looked back.

The transfer case gear select lever is sometimes difficult to get it to lock correctly into the new position.

It may require you to put the gear box into gear and while slightly releasing the clutch and then push the transfer case lever into the required position.

Regardless of the position of the transfer case, it will not inhibit you selecting gears, but will determine what if any drive you might get.

It sounds like the transfer case is either not being engaged correctly or just not engaging correctly.

I had the opposite problem with descents. The transfer box would jump out of gear sending us down the hill at a rapid rate with no engine braking.

This fault seems to have gone away, but I always get the passenger to hold the little lever in low, whilst I hover over the main (which has never jumped out). Not had the problem for a long time now, but yes, it is to do with the transfer box lever not engaging properly.

"dogging" it into gear works while you come off the clutch. Its fully manual so make sure its FIRMLY in, you don't have to be gentle with it.

G

The best way to select low or high IMHO is to be moving at a snails pace and clunk the sucker in,if it clunks in you know it's in. Pat

The 'Official' line is:

• Stop.
• Leave the main gearbox in gear.
• Move the transfer lever from Lo=>Hi or Hi=>Lo and maintain some pressure on the lever.
• Bring the clutch up to the 'bite point' and then put the clutch back down again.

This simply aligns the gears in the transfer box so that when you put the clutch back down, the lever will shift that little bit further, fully engaging.

M

Originally Posted by PAT303

The best way to select low or high IMHO is to be moving at a snails pace and clunk the sucker in,if it clunks in you know it's in. Pat

I'm with Pat, this gets me a much better success rate going into low. Coming out you go via neutral to get back to hi. I'm sure this method gets a mention in the manual somewhere.

Originally Posted by Lagerfan

I'm with Pat, this gets me a much better success rate going into low. Coming out you go via neutral to get back to hi. I'm sure this method gets a mention in the manual somewhere.

Same - I always try to use rev matching and go hi - low (or vice versa) while still moving. I've only had the TC pop out of gear when I've done a lazy stationary change - CLs recommendation seems to work fine too, but I lore fee to keep things rolling along.

I reckon the transfer case lever is different on the PUMA than the other Land Rovers I've owned. for example on my TD5 the Lever moves forward and backwards, when forward it's in Low and when backwards it's in high, when central it's in Neutral. BUT on the 2 PUMA's I've owned the lever returns to the center. So when you push it forward it engages Low, but then the lever flops back to the Neutral position. It no longer seems a direct linkage, but some sort of floppy rubbery thing... Has anyone looked at how the PUMA high low range works, is it different to a older LT230 transfer case in the linkage area?