94 TDI manual suspect Gearbox gate issue.

[elcarter]

Howdy,

Try to keep it brief and to the point. Car was sourced with a supposed new / reconditioned Gearbox fitted with no receipt looks new and shiny. Car was left overnight, started then tried to select reverse.

Gear shifter was stiff and felt like something was preventing it from moving to reverse.

After a few frantic seconds of trying to select anything the selector became floppy and gained a huge amount of additional range of movement not like anything that should be good.

With a little bit of luck and careful selecting all gears can be selected and got me home 300k's but it like the last 1cm of movement in the sea of soup actually selects the gear and a lot of movement is required with the clutch in to DE-select the gear selected to get guess the other one.

Downshifting was avoided as gear grinding would usually occur.

Gear selector is not jumping out of any gears during the 300k trek once selected and gear box is not noisy or doing anything unusual apart from the above.

Best describe it as the hard path that you can feel and leads you to your desired gear does not exist any more and your free to wander between the gearbox.

I did a bit of a Google and some have mentioned the top gearbox bracket could be snapped and have brought a new one and tore it down to find it is in good order.

I did keep tearing down and found a circlip underneath the gear shift leaver inside the gearbox once the shifter rod was removed out of the gear box. Ref pics.

I need some advice on what the best course of action is now. I can re-assemble to a degree to get it to a mechanic in Adelaide or is it worth dis-assembling a little further. Known faults?

Really appreciate any help here I'm now at a loss.

Pics below to help explain.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2012/04/775.jpg
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2012/04/776.jpghttps://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2012/04/777.jpghttps://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2012/04/778.jpg

[justinc]

There is a plastic insert and a steel ball that is held in by that circlip, fits on the bottom of the pin. That'll be the reason for that excess play.
Pages in here have a pic. http://www.landroverresource.com/docs/R380_Gearbox_Overhaul_Manual.pdf
http://www.brit-car.co.uk/product.php?xProd=117548 This is the ball, there is a cage/ insert http://www.brit-car.co.uk/shopimages/products/normal/FTC2203.jpg held in with the circlip too.


JC

[elcarter]

Err so the balls in the gear box I imagine..

Do I just disconnect the High / Low range leaver and take the top of the gear box off to attempt to fish it out.

The rubber base the gearshift rests on under the top plaste is degraded anyhow.

Edit;

You Sir are a legend.

At least now I know what I'm dealing with thank you very much.

Now I wonder if it's fallen down into the gearbox and if I can get it out.

[elcarter]

Well there's nothing much left of the cage found one small bit of what was left of it.

Do you think the ball is metal? It's in the gearbox somewhere just wondering if it's done much damage to the gear teeth let alone if I can get it out without pulling the gearbox out.

[justinc]

The ball is steel, HOPEFULLY it has dropped to the bottom of the case, BUT I am wondering if it was there in the first place, there isn't much room for it to drop down past the gears/ shafts.

JC

[gazby]

Yep the ball is metal, but if in the course of your 300klm journey you did not hear or feel a distinct "KACHUNK" you may be lucky enough to have the metal ball captured by the gearbox's magnetic drain plug, or somewhere else, if not then, yes it is the gearbox out or risk a major disintegration if the ball tries to mix in the meshing bits. As you have already worked out, remove the top plate off the box, you may even find the ball hiding down in that area. The plastic bush will not cause the gearbox a lot of grief. When the same happened to the box in our old Disco the ball was found in the immediate vicinity near where it fell out of after the plastic bush disintegrated, never managed to track the errant circlip though. Go well.

[elcarter]

The ball is steel, HOPEFULLY it has dropped to the bottom of the case, BUT I am wondering if it was there in the first place, there isn't much room for it to drop down past the gears/ shafts.

JC

My thought exactly I don't think it could have made it through with the engine running and not seize the gearbox. There's little to no room to go down the side.

Torch and mirror inspection after top removed shows no sign of elusive metal ball.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2012/04/759.jpg

Looking at what to do next, from what I can tell there's only the drain plug I can remove on the gearbox without actually pulling it out and splitting it to see what I can get out of it.


https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2012/04/760.jpg


The transfer case has a large plate that I can pull off after draining but I'm guessing the two are separate units? Eg the ball if indeed was fitted or plastic case could not make it to the transfer case?

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2012/04/761.jpg

I'm beginning to think I've got 2 options.

1. That's it for DIY at home might be time to tow it and give to the professionals. The rental I'm in probably wont be the best place to attempt my first gearbox removal.

2. There is no spoon "metal ball". Drain and replace oil, order parts re-assemble and roll like it never happened while hoping metal ball does not exists.

[elcarter]

Drained gearbox oil, no ball.

borrowed a magnet on a stick from work. Fished around from the top.

FOUND IT!

If your reading this and can get your hands on a decent magnet stick tool the ball can fall down the right hand side "facing forward from drivers seat" and you may be able to fish it out.

Saves dropping the gearbox.

justinc Cheers mate you saved me a lot of cash.

Please Pm me your Pay Pal E-mail I owe you a beer or two.