help pls! gearbox v's handbrake battle

Hi all,

new to the forum and unfortunately have dramas on my first post!
(very) recently bought a 110. All seemed okay until this morning when i tried to drive it. Whichever gear i engaged (low or high diff), all i could hear was the gears trying to engage and the prop turning. This was with clutch depressed or not. The weird thing (to me anyway) is, that when i apply the handbrake, it bites everytime. It also bites everytime when the diff-lock is on (whether handbrake is applied or not).

This all seems very strange to me, and as i am relatively new to the mechanics of landy's, i'm baffled as to why it could be happening. To me, they dont seem at all related to each other!

Any help at all would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers.

what bites? can you be a bit clearer wiff yer descriptions

Trying to decode your question, it may be that you are not getting the diff lever fully into position and it is "jumping" out of gear in the transfer box?? If that is the case try putting it into 1st (with the engine running) and while gently pushing the high/low lever lift the clutch a little untill it drops into "locked" position. Don't dump the clutch!!!!!! This works just fine on my 90 LT77 box/transfer which is prone to sticking a bit if not used regular. I'm sure others have a different method but this one works for me! Also worth checking the shaft into the transfer box from the diff lever as mine was stuck there once as well.

I think I've got the gist of what you are saying....................It drives in diff lock but wont when out of diff lock and it drives when the handbrake is on but not when its off, is that right? If so, check your rear half shafts and drive flanges, they round off causing loss of drive to the rear wheels.

slob said:

what bites? can you be a bit clearer wiff yer descriptions

Click to expand...

the clutch is what is biting, but only under the following circumstances:

1. diff lock on (irrelevnt whether handbrake is on or not)
2. high/low raio (but only when handbrake is applied) - as soon as handbrake is taken off, prop spins but doesnt engage or move (however, speedo needle moves according to revs)

cheers

if the prop is spinning but no drive then its a diff or half shaft problem

Your clutch will bite when the handbrake is engaged due to the location of the hanbrake drum (transmition handbrake??) the handbrake is on the rear of the transfer box before the rear propshaft and not on the rear drums like on a car. not just sure why it would bite when in diff with no hadbrake though. Sounds to me like its not in high/low box properly. As suggested try letting the clutch up gently whilst pushing the lever to high box. although your props wouldn't normaly turn either?????

luggsey said:

Trying to decode your question, it may be that you are not getting the diff lever fully into position and it is "jumping" out of gear in the transfer box?? If that is the case try putting it into 1st (with the engine running) and while gently pushing the high/low lever lift the clutch a little untill it drops into "locked" position. Don't dump the clutch!!!!!! This works just fine on my 90 LT77 box/transfer which is prone to sticking a bit if not used regular. I'm sure others have a different method but this one works for me! Also worth checking the shaft into the transfer box from the diff lever as mine was stuck there once as well.

Click to expand...

thanks for the reply luggsey.
there is no problem in actually getting the diff lever fully into position, and there is no problem with the clutch biting while it is in high or low ratio, the problem comes about when the handbrake is released. if i could drive about with the handbrake on all the time then happy days, i could stay in high ratio all day long, the only thing is the handbrake wouldnt like it much!!
really baffled by this

clutchdust said:

if the prop is spinning but no drive then its a diff or half shaft problem

Click to expand...

thanks for that. will definately have a good look at those in the clearer light of day... unfortunately..not entirely sure what to be looking for!! oh, the joys of land rover ownership, the highs...the lows....!

will have a good go with a spare pair of eyes though to tell me whats going on underneath, and will report back!!

thanks for the help guys, much appreciated

cheers for the info there. was unaware of the differences between landy and car handbrakes, would certainly account for the relationship between drive and handbrake. Will have a good shot at easing the diff lever now, see if theres a way of tweaking it over that bit more into position perhaps.

I would now think about rear diff or rear half shafts as mentioned already.
If you can drive it with the handbrake on then there can't be any connection between the transfer box and the rear wheels giving you front wheel drive only through the transfer box diff.

I think from what your saying is happening is, your loosing all your drive to dodgey shafts in the back or front axles, the reason it bites (but not drive?) with the hand break on is that it is giving the transmission some resistance so seems like it is, or its locking the dodgey shaft and all the power is going to the front anyway!?!

When you then go into diff lock, by locking the diff you are forcing the power to go to the front as well as the back, thus giving you drive.

Until you can sort it I would put it into Diff lock, as at the moment you are not getting any drive to one of the axles so this wont be a problem.

discomania said:

I think from what your saying is happening is, your loosing all your drive to dodgey shafts in the back or front axles, the reason it bites (but not drive?) with the hand break on is that it is giving the transmission some resistance so seems like it is, or its locking the dodgey shaft and all the power is going to the front anyway!?!

When you then go into diff lock, by locking the diff you are forcing the power to go to the front as well as the back, thus giving you drive.

Until you can sort it I would put it into Diff lock, as at the moment you are not getting any drive to one of the axles so this wont be a problem.

Click to expand...

am starting to get my head round it now. by putting the diff lock on, it is (more or less) bypassing the need to use the half shaft(s) that aren't working. When the handbrake is applied when in hi/lo ratio it is doing the same thing, forcing the unnafected wheels to turn.
I'm reluctant to drive it on tarmac for any distance whilst the diff lock is on as i've heard this can cause damage to the transfer box. Is this right? Am also reluctant to drive while handbrake is applied, even though this seems to be helping the cause!
I'll be able to have a good look tomorrow when there is time and light and see whats going on underneath. At moment, am assuming from what people have said here that the problem lies with the rear half shaft, will have to try and figure out what needs changing.

thanks all

right, i get this cryptic thread now, its either your rear diff or your rear halfshafts,

yella disco said:

right, i get this cryptic thread now, its either your rear diff or your rear halfshafts,

Click to expand...

it would seem so, thanks yella

Dunno how much of this has been covered but here goes:-

You get drive when
1. Your difflock is engaged.
2. Your hand brake is on regardless if difflock is engaged or not.

You don't get drive when
1. Difflock is dis-engaged.
2. Your hand brake is off.

Have you dis-connected you rear propshaft? If not disconnect it, then try turning the input collar on the rear axle with both rear wheels on the ground. If it turns then the rear diff is knackered.

If you remove the rear prop engage difflock and the vehicle drives then the problem is definitely with the rear diff.

It is possible to drive the vehicle like this without damaging the transmission, but if there are broken bits of rear diff swimming around in the diff casing these could cause further damage to the diff

Some of this may have been covered already but what the hell, I'm having trouble understanding most of the posts.

Except Yellas last one.

well thats what i was thinking grunt, so i thought i would just give a straight answer that needed no explaiuning

would it be worth draining the rear axle to check what comes out? if its full of metal bits then maybe your diff has exploded.

good luck "george". maybe see you sunday and give you a hand if you havent sorted it

G

Or unbolting your hubs to see how much drive shaft comes out.