Freelander 1 Disaster

Nodge68 said:

Sorry to hear about the latest issue. It does sound like the reverse brake band has failed, which can happen on this box unfortunately.
Good luck with getting it repaired.

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Thank you, I'm going to see if my brother in law (farmer) has some space in his barn where I can work on it. I've down loaded a overhaul manual for the g/box & spoken to JP auto transmissions & the band is £70 so I'll hopefully get the box out & strip it to see what else it might need (it's never exhibited any issues with gear changes but wont know until I get there).

andyfreelandy said:

Glad it moved OK.
Obviously failed in a different way without jaming the whole thing.
Probs best to take to an auto specialist for diagnosis, small chance it is summat less severe but thinking reverse brake band.

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I checked the oil level this morning as per the book & I got about 100ml 'to much' out but it hasn't made a difference. The Foxwell isn't showing any fault codes on the box & it will test the solenoid's individually but I didn't bother running through the tests.
It still has the same feel when you select reverse, slight bump but no drive. I drove it forward again today but still have to push it backwards.
Will it be easier to take the IRD & g/box out as one lump or can you take the box out on it's own ? I have an engine crane to help with support so as I said to @Nodge68 if I can get some space in my brother in laws farm barn I'll get it out, thanks.

As you're in Hertfordshire, you could ask Stephens Engineering, they are in Thundridge, Ware. I had mine there some years ago when the gearbox was messed up, but I had no forward gears only the backward was left. https://www.stephensengineering.co.uk/ but worth a try maybe.

Andy Warren said:

It still has the same feel when you select reverse, slight bump but no drive.

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That's the brake band worn out.
You'll see when you get it out, that not all the friction material is used, limiting the life of the brake band.
Oddly auto box brake bands normally fail shortly after very dirty fluid is replaced with nice clean fluid.

Mine had fractured and so maybe that is why it jammed.

IRD has to come off to access the gearbox bolts.
Lower gearbox out with engine supported.
I had to drop the engine on the gearbox end slightly to allow the box to part company with engine. This gives just enough clearance to pull it off.
Crane fitted to gearbox with L shaped plates bolted to mount holes and a cable from these through the crane.
Are you doing the repair yourself ? If so, photos and description is needed !! Goes without saying!!

andyfreelandy said:

Mine had fractured and so maybe that is why it jammed.

IRD has to come off to access the gearbox bolts.
Lower gearbox out with engine supported.
I had to drop the engine on the gearbox end slightly to allow the box to part company with engine. This gives just enough clearance to pull it off.
Crane fitted to gearbox with L shaped plates bolted to mount holes and a cable from these through the crane.
Are you doing the repair yourself ? If so, photos and description is needed !! Goes without saying!!

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Yes will be taking the box out myself but I'm waiting for a call back from Stephens Eng. in Ware (as suggested by @mbrokof) just to see what the cost would be if I take them the box. I'll happily take photos if I do the box repair myself ( I'm encouraged by what @jamesmartin said about the reverse band being the easiest job to do on the box).

OK thanks. Some places want the box in the car as they do tests so check first.

If there is a write up on the band change I would like to see it. I also have a spare auto box which could be used for a trial if it isn't too invasive

Well had a quote for re-con box £1295 or £500 just to do the reverse band (both + vat. Apparently the band is at the bottom of the box so everything has to come out. I'll be looking to do this myself what can possibly go wrong .

Andy Warren said:

Well had a quote for re-con box £1295 or £500 just to do the reverse band (both + vat. Apparently the band is at the bottom of the box so everything has to come out. I'll be looking to do this myself what can possibly go wrong .

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Yeh, I've seen pics of those boxes. Not many bits in them

Lots of pics I think dismantling it.

And hope you haven't got a box full of bits left over once its all reassembled

Worth a look

Andy Warren said:

Well had a quote for re-con box £1295 or £500 just to do the reverse band (both + vat. Apparently the band is at the bottom of the box so everything has to come out. I'll be looking to do this myself what can possibly go wrong .

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I'm thinking that £500 to take the ird and box off, fix and refit isn't a bad price tbh given the size of the task.

kernowsvenski said:

I'm thinking that £500 to take the ird and box off, fix and refit isn't a bad price tbh given the size of the task.

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Hi, that's if I take just the box to them otherwise you're right £500 isn't a bad price & I would probably take them up on it having said that I will call them again just in case I misheard.

Andy Warren said:

Hi, that's if I take just the box to them otherwise you're right £500 isn't a bad price & I would probably take them up on it having said that I will call them again just in case I misheard.

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I must admit, that if I was committed to replacing the reverse brake band myself, I'd replace the forward clutch packs and piston at the same time. This will effectively renew the box for another decade or so.

There is obviously the ubiquitos reverse band bolt that masquerades as a filler plug and has duped many a mechanic into making a hippo ireversable, however, there is a repair procedure which can be done with box on the vehicle. It ammounts to drilling and tapping that big reverse band bolt with a smaller thread, remove the piston at the top to gain access to band, with some tom foolery dicking around with bits of wire going through where the piston was and through the bolt it is sometimes possible to reseat that band. In your case, removing the piston, but leaving the bolt in there could maube let you inspect the band? The piston is held in with a snap ring (evil sibling of a circlip, without the holes) top of the gearbox, back left hand side, inder the coolant pipes for the tranny cooler and IRD cooler IIRC / heater matrix bulkhead fittings.

andyfreelandy said:

Worth a look

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Hi, I've watched this morning but not sure if the reverse band is accessable from the torque converter/bell housing side without have to strip the whole thing(which is the way I understood it from @jamesmartin's 'easiest job to do on the g/box' past post) but as @Nodge68 says it would be daft not to renew the bits he mentioned whilst I'm there.
I've got the FL in my Brother in laws farm barn which is a 10 mile round trip & have made a start & I'm hoping to get the IRD out today. Unfortunately what I thought was an eng. hoist (which belongs to my son is in fact an eng. stand ) so that adds a bit more aggro to my list as I'll have to think of another way to support the eng.

Andy Warren said:

as I'll have to think of another way to support the eng.

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A length of 4" X 2" timber cut to span the distance between the inner wing flange (where the outer wings bolt on) will act as a sound support, so you can use ratchet straps under the engine to support the weight.

The hard part is getting the Jatco box out because of all the stuff you need to remove. On a driveway it's definitely a young mechanic job !! There's also not much room between the box & chassis so awkward to wriggle around.to pull off the engine. Definitely make of buy a torque converter holding tool . . . . ask how I know !!

Once out doing the reverse band is quite easy. I did my sons 03 TD4 earlier this year. We replaced the filter at same time, but didn't do clutches & solenoids because they were all working ok.

Have a look at my torque convertor thread, as Nodge says, wood on top of inner wings, ratchet strap or chain. I used engine eyelet that is provided. I think I posted a photo.

You will need to adjust the engine height on the box end to allow box to slide off.
Transmission jack or crane for gearbox unless you have had plenty of shredded wheat for breakfast ! 80 or 90 Kg comes to mind as the box weight.
When you take TC off, tip up carefilly to catch a few litres of fluid or you end up wearing it!
Can't see the band in the photos above, will compare with my exploeed diagram.
If this site has the reverse clutch covered, which I did and the reverse band, that is the main 2 failure modes.

I used an engine support beam, but from front to back over the auto box. This works better than across the plastic wings !! Then transmission jack to lower the box from underneath, but was quite a challenge to get the box sitting right when re-installing, plus it's in the way.

Finally put the box on the floor under the car & used engine crane to lift it up. Better access lying underneath that way !!

How is this going @Andy Warren ???

More similar problems are appearing.