No 1st,2nd or reverse! in my 90

Hi, would anyone out there have any idea of the top of their heads of where I need to start looking for the following problem.
I've got a 1988 landy 90 with a 200tdi in it and have been really clever and managed to get it stuck in a big wet muddy ditch, after a lot of stressing and reving (whilst in reverse) I managed to get some movement and almost got it out but whilst reving like a lunatic it jumped out of gear and I now can't get reverse, first or second. I did manage to get it out the ditch by SIMPLY driving forwards in 3rd whilst in 4WD mode (why didn't I just do that to start with?) Anyway as I say I now can't get the above gears, it mostly won't go in to start with but when it occasionaly does it jumps straight back out of them. As I say third, forth and fith are fine. If anyone has any idea of what could be the problem and where to start looking then that would be great. To top it all this has happened in the middle of rural France and I somehow need to try and get it back home to UK by christmas. Thanks in anticipation, Mark

you could have mud/water ingress into the clutch housing or it could just be coincidence and yr gearbox is fooked

could be that youve pulled selector pin on shaft out of the jaws of selector forks ,you can by removing interlock on top in the middle of main case 2 x bolt under gear lever extension housing get it back in with alot of fiddling otherwise you need to strip box to replace,check yoke under gear stick turret first ,reverse idlers can easily loose teeth giving similar symptoms but shouldnt effect 1st and 2nd ,but you may have more than one fault

Thanks for replies. Jamesmartin would you mind explaining in a bit more detail about how I go about trying to get selector pin back into selector folk as don't really understand how to go about attempting it? Yolk under gear stick turret seems OK. Thanks again, Mark

if it is ,and not more serious ,selector forks x 3 sit together with a slot in pin on selector shaft sits in this slot side ways movement of gear stick moves pin to each selector fork to go forward or back wards ,you need to get all selector forks in line and then move one to get pin in ,removing interlock helps you see and do it as forks are held with a collar on shaft with a slot in it that is held by it

Thanks again and will have a go at this. Sorry to sound thick but what/where exactly is this interlock with two 6mm bolts in? Once I've found it will get it off and have a good go at the procedure you suggest. Thanks yet again

once aluminum gear stick extension housing removed ((linkage for hi/low diff lock plus 4 x bolts to gear box ,it is plain to see bolted to top of main case

Right, try in the morning! THANKS

Hi, been away but back now to try and get this sorted. By the way I can get it into reverse but does jump out when you try to move in reverse! Still no chance of even getting it into 1st or 2nd though. I got the gear lever extension housing off and was looking at the spool retainer (is that what you call the interlock jamesmartin?) Once gear lever ext housing off I could get rev, 3rd, 4th and 5th into gear still by moving the selector shaft directly by hand, still no 1st/2nd though. I took the spool retainer/interlock? out the top of gearcase (2x small bolts) and then found I could get into 1st and 2nd gear as well now by moving selector shaft by hand so all gears now obtainable. Problem is when I put spool retainer back in and tighten up bolts I can't get 1st/2nd again, loosen bolts a little and with a BIT of effort can get them again although harder to get. When I took spool retainer out and looked in the u shaped slot you can see that the spool is just about scratching either side at the top of the retainer slot, obviously the spool is hitting/stopping/rubbing on retainer which when in and tweaked right down stops me getting 1st/2nd. Can I pressume from this that there is not a problem with selector forks not being on selector pin as I can get all gears with interlock out. If I filed a fraction off the inside of the slot at the top of spool retainer I think I could bolt it down tight and then get my 1st and 2nd with retainer in, or is this just wishfull thinking. Sorry long winded but I'd be really grateful of a little further advise on this. Thanks Mark

you have 3 forks with from the top 3rd/4th/then 1st/2nd and rev at bottom with 1 slot each,spool has a raised center disc with a slot in it for selector pin ,this disc runs through all 3 fork slots and if you remove yoke off the back of selector shaft (roll pin)you can turn selector shaft right round ,disc has two raised lugs that sit either side of interlock pin when its fitted ,if all that seems right then something isnt right in box

Where exactly in rural france are you ? which region ? theres a lot of brit land rover owners here who could help you ...

Thanks for replys. I have almost got gearbox out, another hour in the morning and it will be free and on a bench in a garage, then I'll open her up and have a good look inside. I drained the main box oil and plenty drained out and no bits in the oil tray at all like broken washers, teeth etc so I was quite pleased although a lot of metal filings clinging to top of drain plug??. I then drained the transfer box oil and next to nothing came out, but what tiny bit did come out had quite a lot of small metal fragments (about 7 or 8 about 1mm in size) in the fluid, also pulled a small cylindrical mesh filter through transfer drain plug hole, obviously not good! This is why I realised I now HAVE to get the whole transmission assem out. It was getting dark and so havn't studied the metal bits to try and see what they are, but will have a good look in morning. Could they be teeth? I'm surprised as I thought any fragments of metal would come out of main box drain hole due to the initial seeming to be first/second gearing.

I may well need to try and contact someone local to me if even possible, I'm in the Limousin region in France about 45 mins from the region capital Limoges. So thanks for that advice doodle bug, but I will do everything I can first to see if I can detect/sort the problem myself, fingers crossed when I look inside it's staring at me and I can order whatever part/s I need! Thanks and look forward to any further ideas, Mark

have you pictures of fragments i could probably tell you ,synchro springs are common which are 1-2 mm wire in 3-4 inch diameter c shape,they will if missing broken inhibit gear change

jamesmartin said:

have you pictures of fragments i could probably tell you ,synchro springs are common which are 1-2 mm wire in 3-4 inch diameter c shape,they will if missing broken inhibit gear change

Click to expand...

Thanks, I'll take some pictures in the morning and put a couple up on here then if you don't mind having a look at them, appreciate it. It'll be handy to have a head start for when I open up the gearcase. By the way why would they come out of transfer box drain hole though. Mark

they wouldnt come out of t/box i misread your post ,fillings is normal on drain bung

jamesmartin said:

they wouldnt come out of t/box i misread your post ,fillings is normal on drain bung

Click to expand...

Any idea of what the fragments could be in the t/box then? Do you think by the sounds of it I need to have a look in g/box (engaging 1st/2nd gear problem) AND t/box (metal fragments). Filings not a worry then, good. A teacup of oil coming out of t/box must be a worry though. Thanks, Mark

no not good check teeth should look polished ,if they have scratches there shot and another t box needed,the bits are mostly like from center diff

jamesmartin said:

no not good check teeth should look polished ,if they have scratches there shot and another t box needed,the bits are mostly like from center diff

Click to expand...

OK thanks. So main box problem is seperate to t/box problem by the sounds of it. Into both boxes it is then. Cheers