Oh dear! Loud bang and clatter racket.

[JayBoRover]

I just played around with the front brakes on DeeDee (109" S2a) to replace one drum and juggle the brake shoes around while the ordered ones are in the post. Went for a quick test drive around the block but didn't make it that far. At the first turn, as I changed down from 4th to 3rd going around the corner, there was a loud bang and then shudder and lots of clattering. I pulled up with foot on the clutch and found the gear stick was difficult to get out of gear. Then I discovered that even with the gearshift in neutral, there was still drive when I eased the clutch out. So I struggled to get the gearstick into 1st and started letting the clutch out but it felt like it was in 4th with the engine taking up load but no movement. So I tried reverse and as I eased the clutch out it suddenly leapt backwards. Back into 1st and it really felt like 4th or the handbrake was on. I put it into low range and 1st and managed to get under way but with a lot of clattering noise and the gearstick shaking around. I idled the 500 or so meters back home in Low 1st.

Obviously I will pull the hubs and make sure it isn't something to do with where I was just playing, but it seems quite unlikely from the symptoms. After that I have no real idea what to do. (Apart from finishing reassembling the Nissan Patrol after replacing all the injectors and glow plugs).

Does anyone have any ideas? Maybe there's a common problem with these symptoms? I'll let you know what I find in the brake hubs after I've had some lunch.

Ciao
John B

[JDNSW]

No common problem, but it does sound as if something pretty serious has happened in the gearbox or possibly transfer case. I'd say a first step would be drain the oil from the gearbox and see if anything except oil comes out. If not, try the transfer case.

John

[Lostkiwi]

Bugger!!
We will watch in anticipation

[SIImad]

Hi John B.

It sounds as though John is spot on. I had a similar thing happen a few years back, and when I drained the gearbox parts of the gears came out as well as oil. The gear stick not workingproperly and feeling like it was in 4th sounds very familiar.

I wish you luck, but it sounds like a rebuild may be in order.

AJ.

[JayBoRover]

Thanks guys.
I did check the brake hubs just in case but everything is fine there.
Luckily I just happen to have a parts donor S2a here that I have already removed the body, seat box, floor covers and tunnel cover from. I can fairly readily see how the gearbox and transfer box are supposed to look and even have spares if it comes to that. I don't know what condition the donor car was in when it was retired but it does seem to select each of it's gears anyway.

The book of receipts that I got with DeeDee includes a receipt for a gearbox rebuild. I think it was a few years ago because the previous owner didn't use the car (used as a prop in a showroom) so the gearbox was done for the owner prior to that one. I'll dig it out and see if there's any clue as to why it got rebuilt, other than as a part of the Holden 202 installation.

I'll keep you all posted, but in the mean time all I have to do to get my Patrol going is to finish bolting up the inlet manifold, turbo cross-over pipe and bleed the fuel injector lines. That'll take the pressure off for having to travel 240kms for work on Monday!

Ciao
John B

[JDNSW]

Some Holden conversions are reported to result in the input shaft being misaligned due to inaccurate manufacture of the adapter, and this could cause gearbox problems, from bearing failure to shaft breakage (either resulting in consequent damage).

It seems you may have a spare gearbox. Note that the six cylinder and four cylinder bell housings are different, but can be swapped between gearboxes except between suffixes A and B. i.e. you can swap the four and six bellhousings unless one is A and the other is anything else. This assumes both boxes are 2a.

John

[wrinklearthur]

Hi John

Could be the Holden motor with a crook adaptor , if they are not directly in line with the input shaft, there can be a considerable load on the intermediate bearing, when it fails it causes the main shaft to lock up and leaves you with the symptoms as you have described.

See if you can find yourself another adaptor plate and clutch setup, to match the other gearbox and then swop it all over.

When you are onto a good setup, it should give you years of trouble free service .

Good luck! Arthur

[JayBoRover]

Hmmm, the adapter plate huh. One of the reasons I bought the donor was because it came with a 2.25 LR engine so that maybe one day I could put a LR engine back into DeeDee. I wasn't planning that specifically and definitely not for a few years but maybe I should fast track that possibility. Something to consider and keep in mind when I survey the damage.

Is it possible to open up the top of the gearbox in situ to see what might be wrong or is it a matter of remove it to assess? (Apart from the aforementioned draining the oil).

[JDNSW]

.....

Is it possible to open up the top of the gearbox in situ to see what might be wrong or is it a matter of remove it to assess? (Apart from the aforementioned draining the oil).

Yes. But if anything except oil drains out of it the box will have to come out anyway.

John

[RobHay]

.....and the problem is........??????