Disco TD5 "Jammed gearbox"

[ianh]

I just hate seeing our favourite cars under tow and this unfortunate experience became mine last Friday.

Whilst three point turning, engageing gears and clutching speedily my manual gearbox decided to stop responding to my instructions, it jammed and when I released the clutch the engine stopped.

Subsequent attempts to release the gears or move the vehicle proved fruitless. It appears to be stuck in 3rd or 5th or some other permutation.

Before I attempt to perform surgery, what should I know?, can I correct this without getting into the box?, do I have to pull the box out?, can I get access to the forks or shafts from an inspection plate? etc etc.

Has anybody had a similar problem? HELP!!!!!

many thanks Ian

[Hellspawn]

Sounds about right 5th and reverse share a syncro gear. I guess the only way to get at anything in the 'box is to remove from vehicle.

Just hope for you nothing vital has busted as the parts catalogue seems to show $440 for just about everything which would hurt any repair.

[DEFENDERZOOK]

<span style="color:blue">sounds like it grabbed two gears at once.....
i havent of this happening since the early 70s falcons....

if it has grabbed two gears at once if you pull the shifter out you might be able to manually pull the gears back to neutral without dropping the box...

you may have a worn gear selector....or possibly even a broken one...

i would start by removing the gear selector.....then see what it has to say...</span>

[CraigE]

I had a similar experience with a Pajero. In the middle of the bush on a nice wet day. Had to pull out the top of the gears tick housing and found the stick had somehow jumped at the union and jammed against the housing. Hope it is something simple like this.

[matbor]

some linkage maybe !

[langy]

Given that you have a D2 disco, and it's worth a fair bit - I would suggest drop the box and take to a decent trans place. Whilst you can get to the top of the box after having removed the console, insulation etc, it's not easy to take the top off and see if you can get the forks back in order. Besides which, if a piece of the box is worn, what happens if it does the same thing 5 min later? If you have the time, take the box off yourself - do the handbrake drum and LT230 first, and then crossmember and the rest of it. ( That part isn't too bad. ) You will need two sets of strong hands, but it is do able. Read up on the manual first and it should all go ok.
Langy

[ianh]

Dear all,

many thanks for all your help, it turned out to be lack of lubrication in and around the selector shaft at the bottom of the gear stick, this resulted in the 5th gear shaft when pushed a fraction too far was trapped with friction in a position that it wouldn't return back into its natural resting place.

The carpets up, the console up and the inspection plate rivits drilled out and replaced with Pk's and some gentle persuasion and the box works again, I'm confident it won't happen again, with lube it just won't jam again in the same position!!

Thanks again

Ian

[DEFENDERZOOK]

<span style="color:blue">much easier than pulling the box out....
good to hear it was only a simple problem....</span>

[Redback]

Thats lucky eh 8O