Sticky second gear on R380 300Tdi

This site contains affiliate links for which LandyZone may be compensated if you make a purchase.

Beached

Member
Posts
15
Location
Linlithgow
Folks - I've got a strange problem wth a "sticky" second gear. I say sticky cause the change from 1-2 is fine (usually) but the change from 3-2 is arkward like the gears won't mesh. Everything else is perfect:mad:. So far I have changed the main gearbox oil, checked the clutch fluid (but not drained it) and lubed all the drive shafts in case its some kind of feedback into the gear box from further down the system. All this has made the gearbox smoother except for the sticky second gear.

Any help would be appreciated as I'm running out of ideas and so is Meester Haynes
 
had the opposite problem from 1-2 was hard and grated but from 3-2 was fine ...sorry to say but we ended up changing the gearbox to solve the problem . i have the old box to repair but never opened it up to see whats wrong with it. i know i havent helped you sorry
 
i had the same problem had the car 3 years, problem was there from when i bought the car and it never worsened (or got better!) and i done a lot of off roading and trailoring i sometimes had to double clutch or just take it gently into that gear, if its no fooked i generally dont fix it lol
 
Tig - used Castrol SMX-s 75w-85. Baulk rings :rolleyes: - presumably they're called that cause you just baulk at the idea of changing them. Given where I expect these are located this would not be one of meester haynes 1-3 spanner jobbies. Although I'd argue that trying to inject 3.5 litres of gearbox oil into a horizontal hole in a very small hole while on ones back being showered by 16 years of crud is truthfully a one spanner job either. Thank you all I go forward looking for the baulking rings
 
Having now located the baulk ring :eek: I have decided that it is beyond my current spanner competency but this article has given me some hope. Off to learn the lost art of the double de-clutch.
 
...the change from 3-2 is awkward like the gears won't mesh.

When changing UP the gears the road speed and engine speed almost match themselves during careful driving, that is to say, normal acceleration up through the gears, not throwing the box into gear as fast as you can. However, on downshifting, especially with either high engine revs or high road speed low engine revs (like a long pause in neutral where the engine falls back to idle) the baulkrings will struggle to match the speed of the shaft and if they are worn they sometimes make a mess of it.

Syncromesh was put there to stop - how do I put this diplomatically - certain people on this earth trashing gearboxes, the ones who are oblivious to all around them! However as a result most people have stopped using the gears properly and it's an easy habit to fall into, and some people just don't care, after all most people will drive a car using the syncros to it's full extent and it will work fine all the time they own the vehicle. But, if you drive matching the road/engine speeds at all gear changes throughout ALL gears you will significantly increase the life of your gearbox and you will NOT get the crunching anymore.

This is very exact, when driving it's much easier and theory and practise are a bit different here because it depends how much the vehicle is slowing, what you want the vehicle to do etc etc... At 40mph in 4th, you are doing about 2000rpm, to drop into 3rd, dip clutch, push gear into neutral while lifting the engine revs to 2500 (blimp the throttle a fraction of a second before pushing into 3rd), let the road speed fall back to about 37mph, dip clutch and then gently push the gear stick into 3rd. You have matched all speeds, and the syncromesh needs to do nothing. Perform this with the clutch, however, if you get good at it, you could technically drive without the clutch.

As a variation to the above version, you can also, hit the clutch, raise the engine revs a bit, push into gear and then come off the clutch, the engine will soon lift the speed of the gearbox internals so you don't actually need to let off the clutch in the middle to get everything spinning the same.
 
Its not so much the oil you choose to use, but HOW OFTEN oil changes are done. You're right, its awkward to get the oil in. I have a 1 litre bottle which is squeezable and has a flexible spout on it, but since I can only get about half a litre in at a time, it still needs 5-6 refills of the little bottle to get it all changed. Obviously, cleaning underneath the car before the service is a sensible thing to do.
 
Its not so much the oil you choose to use, but HOW OFTEN oil changes are done. You're right, its awkward to get the oil in. I have a 1 litre bottle which is squeezable and has a flexible spout on it, but since I can only get about half a litre in at a time, it still needs 5-6 refills of the little bottle to get it all changed. Obviously, cleaning underneath the car before the service is a sensible thing to do.

Oil syringe
 
Its not so much the oil you choose to use, but HOW OFTEN oil changes are done. You're right, its awkward to get the oil in. I have a 1 litre bottle which is squeezable and has a flexible spout on it, but since I can only get about half a litre in at a time, it still needs 5-6 refills of the little bottle to get it all changed. Obviously, cleaning underneath the car before the service is a sensible thing to do.

I have been tempted in the past to make an access hatch in the transmission tunnel. Nealty cut out a little section to allow access to the filler plug, and then make up little flaps on the plate so it can be screwed back into position with a foam seal.
 
Now I'm baffled. Yesterday I changed the oil in the front and rear differential. Was kind of surprised as the rear diffs oil was very odd. More like grey clay than oil, front looked dirty but "normal", and it was very
viscous. Anyway refilling the diffs with about 2 litres of 80w I don't appear to have a problem with the second to third gear change. Anyone ever heard anything like this????
 
rear diff water contamination probably condensation ,i usually find one axle with water in oil when doing services,front oil had cv grease from swivel housings ,put a bit more in both
 
Back
Top