LT77 reverse detent issues

Over the weekend my 110 passed it's MOT and then promptly got gearbox issues.

Basically there's no difference in resistance between moving the lever left for the 1-2 plane, and then further to the left for the reverse plane. Gaiter off, the big springs external to the lever assembly looked fine, so I took the reverse detent housing off.

Can someone in the know sanity check this for me? Basically, on the bench, if I push the plunger in, the ball drops into the groove and the while thing stays locked with the plunger in (which I assume gives me the sloppy gate action). This is bad, right? I've ordered both springs and a new ball bearing, and I'm hoping that should sort it. What should actually happen?

Dunno but following as I have the same issue

Is the spring broken and a piece has slipped out, if the spring shortens it would give the issue of not enough length to give enough "spring" as the BB drops into the groove. I found bits of my detent spring in the top of the remote!

if you squeeze the plunger in a vice it should spring out when released ,they get seized with rust and muck

Thanks James. I think by virtue of the fact that I can do it between finger and thumb rather than using a vice speaks volumes!

it does,and opposite to the usual failure

Out of interest, when I push the plunger in, obviously the BB engages in the groove and that is the detent. Is that it in terms of movement? Or when I select reverse am I going on past that detent if that makes sense?

yes it pushes into the groove but still would spring out but not with as much force as is needed to get the bb to the groove,so your not having to apply as much sideways force as is first needed to select rev

James...thanks as always for your sage words.

Flat...I've sorted it, easy job sir. Parts available from Britcar are:

571146
571439
FRC6318

That's your two springs and ball bearing. First, disconnect the battery (joke) . Lever gaiter off, 4 bolts for the stick to come out, 2 bolts on the right hand side to get the detent assembly out. An Aldi special 13mm ratchet ring spanner with the swivelly head was perfect here to do it from the comfort of the driver's seat. Don't drop the shims between the detent and the box if any are fitted. Strip the detent assembly/plunger, new balls and springs in, grease, re-assemble, job done in 30 mins. Lever feels soooooooooooo much better now!!!

Hard-Drive said:

James...thanks as always for your sage words.

Flat...I've sorted it, easy job sir. Parts available from Britcar are:

571146
571439
FRC6318

That's your two springs and ball bearing. First, disconnect the battery (joke) . Lever gaiter off, 4 bolts for the stick to come out, 2 bolts on the right hand side to get the detent assembly out. An Aldi special 13mm ratchet ring spanner with the swivelly head was perfect here to do it from the comfort of the driver's seat. Don't drop the shims between the detent and the box if any are fitted. Strip the detent assembly/plunger, new balls and springs in, grease, re-assemble, job done in 30 mins. Lever feels soooooooooooo much better now!!!

Click to expand...

Coolio.

Just one of each right?

Yep. Just be aware on my order all the bits came in one bag...so you might want to not actually strip the old detent unit until you have the new bits in your hand and can see which spring goes where. In fairness my new springs were idiot proof..i.e you could not get them the wrong way around, but the old ones weren't (could have been part of the issue?)

Part numbers and cost:
1 x 571146, DETENT BALL BEARING LT230T
1 x 571439, REVERSE PLUNGER DETENT SPRING LT77
1 x FRC6318, SPRING COIL GEARCHANGE LT77
Order Total: £12.67

Thanks bud, they are cheap so ordered genuine

Arrived today, will try have a look at this over this weekend

Just did this, easy enough except one of the lugs on the mechanism snapped off

Have JB welded it, but will keep an eye out for another one.....