Thread: Loss of Drive - won't select low range

The less-pessimistic answer is linkages - the high low selector may be floating around and letting the box slip out of mesh.

The more-pessimistic answer may lie in the H/L cog of the TC. The selector fork may be flopping around.

How to tell: You can use a pair of vice grips to change ranges from under the car. GB in neutral - flat surface - handbrake off- If the links are at fault then it should be able to get into low and back. If the TC is a fault, no amount of trying will get it into low.


Get a phone - you broke down 1.5k from where I live.

Hi Dave,

Are the basics ok? Does the trans clunk into & out of gear normally through P R N D ?

Any drive with the CDL engaged?

Regards
Max P

Originally Posted by DiscoDave

After a slightly worrying trip home with a tow truck driver who operates his ham radio link shows me some photos on his Garmin GPS, grabs a coke from the fridge in the back and changes lanes all at the same time

His name wasn't Lee by any chance (big bloke, in the Suzuki 4x4 club with his Patrol).


I assume Max is thinking along the lines of a diff problem. Maybe remove the front prop shaft & see if the noise is there all the time (which would point to a problem in the rear), then vice versa if that doesn't help pin point the problem.

Originally Posted by Scouse

His name wasn't Lee by any chance (big bloke, in the Suzuki 4x4 club with his Patrol).

That's the one - he said he knew someone who worked for a Land Rover dealership but didn't respond when I said your name. But then he was talking to a robot-radio-beacon in Florida at the time so he might not have heard me.

Updating:
Langy - I did what you suggested but my lack of familiarity with the levers meant I couldn't get anything to move around underneath.
Max - There is no noise of drivetrain movement changing from P R N D. I can see the lever on the side of the auto box changing position so the cable is good. I can move the small stick from high to neutral to high CDL and back. CDL light comes on at the appropriate times. It's not interested in going into low range in either position but if the gears aren't turning that doesn't surprise me. No drive in either high range position.
I can roll the vehicle with the handbrake off and the auto in Park.
Am I looking at an auto failure?

Originally Posted by DiscoDave

I can roll the vehicle with the auto in Park.

Is this the case with the CDL locked too ?

snip

Originally Posted by DiscoDave

I can roll the vehicle with the handbrake off and the auto in Park.
Am I looking at an auto failure?

Very odd. Park problem would be unrelated to the lo range problem..

Seems to be an auto issue though if theres no difference moving between P R N D

Transfer case input gear/gearbox output shaft may have worn out splines?
If the transfer case is in neutral, the park position in the auto wont work. I would remove the PTO plate and see if the splines are ok and if there is drive to there, see if its a gearbox or transfer case problem.

I've drained the transfer case oil and removed the cover plate for a look see. Aside from a build up of iron filings on the magnetic drain plug everything looks fine. I don't know the correct terminology but I can see a grooved locking collar which sits between two cogs the collar is central in neutral and moves back to engage with the rear cog in high range. I still couldn't get it to engage going forward (which I assume is low range?) but I'm fairly sure this is just due to the alignment of the cogs. In any case with high range selected turning the tailshaft by hand (quarter turn maybe) moves all the gears around in the transfer case. Nothing happens when I start the engine and select any of P R N or D.

Jimbo: thanks for the good ideas but I'm ignorant of gearbox mechanics. Where would I find the PTO plate and what should I look for to tell me the splines are okay?

Scott: My mistake. I must have had the transfer box in neutral when I rolled the car forward. In High Range with or without CDL the transmission is locked when in Park. (where does it lock?)