Freelander 2.0 diesel manual reverse gear problem

Freelander was a none runner as the keys had been lost, finally got that sorted, happy days or so i thought till i put it in reverse, goes in ok but when i start to release clutch it wants to throw it out of reverse gear if you force it to stay in reverse it will grind really bad, if i slightly release clutch i can get it to go backwards without grinding all be it very slow, but if i try to reverse over as much as a little stone it wont have it, as soon as i release clutch to the biting point the grinding starts very bad !!!!!!!!!!!
Any body any ideas other than replacement gear box, here's hoping.

You may have uncovered the reason the keys were "lost", to make it a non-runner I'm afraid....

Doesn't sound to good mate but I'm no expert or mechanic, I'm sure someone with more knowledge than me would give you better advice.

Personally i would start by draining gearbox oil and flush, check for metal debris coming out. If nothing major is found then some fresh oil and see what it's like then.

Hope you get it sorted without to many £££s

Have you had a look at cost secondhand gearboxes?

DastardlyDan said:

You may have uncovered the reason the keys were "lost", to make it a non-runner I'm afraid....

Click to expand...

It was a family members who sadly passed away unexpectedly, no one other than him would have know about the gear box problem.

timster66 said:

Doesn't sound to good mate but I'm no expert or mechanic, I'm sure someone with more knowledge than me would give you better advice.

Personally i would start by draining gearbox oil and flush, check for metal debris coming out. If nothing major is found then some fresh oil and see what it's like then.

Hope you get it sorted without to many £££s

Have you had a look at cost secondhand gearboxes?

Click to expand...

Thanks for that it sounds like a good idea and may tell a tale,would you know how much and what type of oil the the gear box would take ? just in case there is nothing major found when i drop the oil.

I believe it's MTF-94 transmission oil, not sure on quantity though, not done it on my freelander though, I'm sure someone else will know. Have you tried a search on this site, im sure there must be info on gearbox oil changes etc

Try http://www.carlube.co.uk/ you can put vehicle registration in and should come up with oil specs etc (used it years ago, not recently but should still work)

Tim

timster66 said:

I believe it's MTF-94 transmission oil, not sure on quantity though, not done it on my freelander though, I'm sure someone else will know. Have you tried a search on this site, im sure there must be info on gearbox oil changes etc

Try Home you can put vehicle registration in and should come up with oil specs etc (used it years ago, not recently but should still work)

Tim

Click to expand...

Thanks for that. Will have a read up on the oil type and amount.

It's not the rear brakes locking up in reverse , perhaps through standing a long time ?

No defiantly clutch/gear box problem, like i say drives fine going forward in all gears.

Would be great if anyone could tell me in there opinion if the symptoms suggest it is terminal or a gear box oil change may help.
Or even if someone could suggest a fix that does not mean replacing full box.
I am thinking if it runs and changes gear fine in forward gears it is not the clutch but i may be wrong ? any suggestions would be very much appreciated.

sounds like one (or more) bearings have died I'm afraid. Oil change would only help prove this, if shards of metal come out when you change it.

But an oil change won't do much to improve it.


Potentially the previous owner just lived with this fault, by not reversing?

Dropped the oil and it is like somebody as sprinkled glitter in the oil !!!!!!!!!!!!
As opposed to actual pieces of metal, does this still point to gear box being terminal ?

that sounds like the gears have indeed ground themselves into oblivion - new gearbox time

+1
Yep sorry mate, sounds like you need to change gearbox, should quite easily get a serviceable one from a breakers though

Does that mean the forward gears will start to fail now.

well, instead of lovely smooth, clean oil - they've been running in (essentially) grinding paste. They may well continue to run for many more years, and then get worse and worse... or it may catastrophically seize up when you next try to move it.

Without opening it up, and inspecting, nobody could say

I know what you mean, thanks a lot for that.

My L Series box has behaved in a similar way to yours. The forward gears are all fine. Reverse is normally fine but quite regularly (occasionally) when I put it into reverse I get that horrible crunching sound. I push the clutch, let go of the stick and wait for the engine revs to go back to idle - then I push it into reverse past a last 'notch' and its fine. I believe the PG1s are prone to this - possibly part of its 'character'!

I changed the gearbox oil a while ago and the old stuff came out in reasonable condition. After the oil change there was little difference as to whether it engages first time or not. I know what you mean about the grey - metalicy looking oil though - that's what my trashed IRD oil looked like, so your box is probably doomed.

The oil isn't 'cheap' (at least not here) and it will be money down the drain if you replace it and there's no difference - but its probably worth a go, if it does improve at least you haven't had to rip the gearbox off etc.

I'd also have a look at the linkage. Its the very end of the gearstick travel that finally knocks the box into reverse on mine - it the linkage were loose, maybe its just not quite moving the necessary bits far enough. Might also be a problem for any replacement box as well.

The PG1 in the L Series are the toughest Rover made - tougher than the one put in the K Series Freelanders, but they can go. I looked at a L Series last month where the guy was gradually losing gears and wanted rid. He 'lost' 4th ages ago and if I remember rightly 2nd & 5th were now jamming and well past their sell by date.