Reverse not engaging

james1992 · Sep 3, 2013

Hi all been a while since been on here due to selling my disco and couldnt afford to replace it.
Just bought a p38 2.5 auto on a p reg. was told it had a intermitten fault on not engaging reverse does anybody know what the fault is and how to fix?

Any help would be sppreciated

Datatek · Sep 4, 2013

First check would be oil level in the box, second check would be selector cable adjustment.

james1992 · Sep 4, 2013

hi Datatek,
would too much oil or too less oil make it not engage? apparently according to the person i bought it off said its down to a relay in the fuse box not earthing propley have you ever heard of this?

thanks
James

Datatek · Sep 4, 2013

Reverse selection is primarily mechanical, nothing to do with relays. Lack of oil will stop it.

StuckAgainSteve · Sep 4, 2013

james1992 said:
hi Datatek,
would too much oil or too less oil make it not engage? apparently according to the person i bought it off said its down to a relay in the fuse box not earthing propley have you ever heard of this?

thanks
James

Presumably someone as knowledgeable as Datatek wouldn't have suggested it as a possibility unless it was possible.

james1992 · Sep 4, 2013

Datatek said:
Reverse selection is primarily mechanical, nothing to do with relays. Lack of oil will stop it.

thanks for the info I think I am going to have to get under it and start investigating now

cheers

Datatek · Sep 4, 2013

james1992 said:
thanks for the info I think I am going to have to get under it and start investigating now

cheers

Oil level should be checked with the engine/gearbox cold and engine idling, move through all gear positions and back to P before you check.

james1992 · Sep 4, 2013

Datatek said:
Oil level should be checked with the engine/gearbox cold and engine idling, move through all gear positions and back to P before you check.

Thanks for the info on oil check i think its best to change as it seems a bit over so i am going to order the parts after peterborough lr show

Grit Valve · Sep 4, 2013

Do you have a dip stick or a level plug?

lowfat · Sep 4, 2013

A bit over isn't the end of the world. Check the lever and the xyz switch are all working properly,

Grit Valve · Sep 4, 2013

lowfat said:
A bit over isn't the end of the world. Check the lever and the xyz switch are all working properly,

Waiting for feedback?
Yes a little over is nothing to worry about
Its impossible to over fill plug type but dipstick easily done
Hence my question he could off unplugged the plug type with engine off and thought it was overfilled .
As for cable slack that would be identified via the dash as it would not say is was in r for reverse . A large over fill could be bad tho

james1992 · Sep 5, 2013

Grit Valve said:
Waiting for feedback?
Yes a little over is nothing to worry about
Its impossible to over fill plug type but dipstick easily done
Hence my question he could off unplugged the plug type with engine off and thought it was overfilled .
As for cable slack that would be identified via the dash as it would not say is was in r for reverse . A large over fill could be bad tho

sorry for late reply phone died last night so I decide to try get some sleep.
I checked via the dip stick for gearbox oil and it showed it was past the max fill by too much.
There is no slack in the gear selector linkage or cable as the dash is showing reverse so I am trying to figure out what is best to do now as I have a land rover specialist not too far from me but my driver rear brake pipe has snapped as is leaking so I am going to have to fix that before anything can be done.

if you have any suggestions for getting reverse to work it would be greatly appreciated.

cheers

tomcat59alan · Sep 5, 2013

Check all the brake pipes especially the one that runs behind the tank, if you don't you will not have to bother if it goes into reverse.

james1992 · Sep 5, 2013

tomcat59alan said:
Check all the brake pipes especially the one that runs behind the tank, if you don't you will not have to bother if it goes into reverse.

it needs both rear pipes doing how hard are they? I had a look and can only see them running along the chassis rail to the front?

Datatek · Sep 5, 2013

james1992 said:
sorry for late reply phone died last night so I decide to try get some sleep.
I checked via the dip stick for gearbox oil and it showed it was past the max fill by too much.
There is no slack in the gear selector linkage or cable as the dash is showing reverse so I am trying to figure out what is best to do now as I have a land rover specialist not too far from me but my driver rear brake pipe has snapped as is leaking so I am going to have to fix that before anything can be done.

if you have any suggestions for getting reverse to work it would be greatly appreciated.

cheers

Hope you did this with the engine and box totaly cold engine idling etc or it will read over. Too much oil is unlikely to stop reverse engaging.
Try moving the gear lever a little either side of the reverse position and see if it engages, otherwise it sounds like the box is stuffed.

james1992 · Sep 5, 2013

Datatek said:
Hope you did this with the engine and box totaly cold engine idling etc or it will read over. Too much oil is unlikely to stop reverse engaging.
Try moving the gear lever a little either side of the reverse position and see if it engages, otherwise it sounds like the box is stuffed.

How hard is the gearbox to change as I might just change it to see if that solves the problem, just can't understand how it works in every other gear

wammers · Sep 5, 2013

Reverse main clutch is selected manually but there are two other clutches needed for reverse which are selected electronically. There is an outside chance it could be a dirty contact in XYZ switch.

Datatek · Sep 5, 2013

james1992 said:
How hard is the gearbox to change as I might just change it to see if that solves the problem, just can't understand how it works in every other gear

There are 2 main clutches, one for forward and one for reverse mechanically selected, forward ratios are then selected electronically by the ECU operating valves in the box.
It's still worth checking the cable adjustment according to RAVE as the dash dispaly is from the XYZ switch which could be mal adjusted to compensate for the cable, unlikely but possible.
according to the ZF manual there is one clutch that is unique to reverse, clutch D.
As I said, try moving the lever a little either side of the R position and see if it engages.
James Martin is your man for the ZF box.
It's a big heavy lump to remove.

james1992 · Sep 5, 2013

Datatek said:
There are 2 main clutches, one for forward and one for reverse mechanically selected, forward ratios are then selected electronically by the ECU operating valves in the box.
It's still worth checking the cable adjustment according to RAVE as the dash dispaly is from the XYZ switch which could be mal adjusted to compensate for the cable, unlikely but possible.
according to the ZF manual there is one clutch that is unique to reverse, clutch D.
As I said, try moving the lever a little either side of the R position and see if it engages.
James Martin is your man for the ZF box.
It's a big heavy lump to remove.

Do you have a picture or diagram of where to find the xyz switch and i remember the seller saying that the linkage for it got slightly bent would that be my problem?

wammers · Sep 5, 2013

james1992 said:
Do you have a picture or diagram of where to find the xyz switch and i remember the seller saying that the linkage for it got slightly bent would that be my problem?

On the left side of the box with a bloody great cable going to it. Unmissable.

Reverse not engaging

New Member

Well-Known Member

New Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

New Member

Well-Known Member

New Member

2000 4.6 Vouge

Active Member

2000 4.6 Vouge

New Member

Well-Known Member

New Member

Well-Known Member

New Member

No longer with us, RIP

Well-Known Member

New Member

No longer with us, RIP

Similar threads