Trouble engaging gears on 110 defender

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Daryl Ellis

Member
Posts
11
Location
Grantham,lincs
Good Morning, first post from me, Daryl Ellis ; I would be very grateful for some input /advise please ; I own a 2009 110 Defender and recently had intermittent difficulty engaging gear (from stationary position). The problem last occurred during the weekend and the car was recovered and taken to a local garage. The garage (by their own admission they are not LR specialists) cannot find any obvious faults and typically no issue happened when they road tested the car.
I have only owned the car for 2 years and the previous service history is a little lacking but under my ownership any faults that have arisen have been dealt (mainly electrical/worn suspension/bushes etc). Mileage reading is approaching 100k.
My next step will be to take to LR specialists ( I live 5 miles from Grantham Lincs and need to locate garage) but any guidance beforehand from this forum would be really helpful for me . Many thanks
 
Welcome Daryl to Loonyzoo. As for the gear not engaging properly does the gate feel slack or are you able to double clutch to engage. On automatics they suffer from poor service with the oil turning burnt oaker colour. Manuals can suffer with the engager being worn, gate worn causing slack Bias springs making for a floppy gearstick. Make sure also oil level is okay first as starting cold mean the oil has to be reaching the cogs before gear selecting.
 
saxavordian said:
Welcome Daryl to Loonyzoo. As for the gear not engaging properly does the gate feel slack or are you able to double clutch to engage. On automatics they suffer from poor service with the oil turning burnt oaker colour. Manuals can suffer with the engager being worn, gate worn causing slack Bias springs making for a floppy gearstick. Make sure also oil level is okay first as starting cold mean the oil has to be reaching the cogs before gear selecting.
Click to expand...
Thanks very much and thanks for the prompt reply. When its working it engages without any issue through all the gears ie engages are smooth /tight/no noises etc. Local garage checked oil levels/leakages etc and all ok. The failure has happened 3 times over a period of one week . Each time it was from a stationary start - once was a cold start (having been parked overnight) and the other times the car was warm - after an hour or so use. I'll try to book it into a independent specialist (in Horncastle Lincs) and let you know how I get on.
 
Daryl Ellis said:
Good Morning, first post from me, Daryl Ellis ; I would be very grateful for some input /advise please ; I own a 2009 110 Defender and recently had intermittent difficulty engaging gear (from stationary position). The problem last occurred during the weekend and the car was recovered and taken to a local garage. The garage (by their own admission they are not LR specialists) cannot find any obvious faults and typically no issue happened when they road tested the car.
I have only owned the car for 2 years and the previous service history is a little lacking but under my ownership any faults that have arisen have been dealt (mainly electrical/worn suspension/bushes etc). Mileage reading is approaching 100k.
My next step will be to take to LR specialists ( I live 5 miles from Grantham Lincs and need to locate garage) but any guidance beforehand from this forum would be really helpful for me . Many thanks
Click to expand...
Hmm a bit vague... What does difficulty engaging gear mean ?
Its hard to get into gear ?
Physically hard ?
Crunching/grinding or just difficult ?
Is your clutch fully down ? how does the clutch feel ?
is it always the same gear? Which gear? Are other gears ok ?

I assume it may be the clutch, if the slave cylinder is working ok.

Has It always been used regularly ?
 
Thanks for your input. When I say difficulty I should really say it simply refuses to engage any gear. Clutch fully depressed. The gear lever just doesnt budge.
The last time if happened (2 days ago) I gave up attempting to enageg gear after about 10 minutes. The AA arrived and similarly couldnt get any gear to engage so they recovered it to local garage. The next day,yesterday, the mechanic started the car up,drove around for 30 mins;started/stopped/started without issue which is of course typical.
 
Update - specialist Land Rover garage has identified /solved the issue with a new clutch unit. Meantime have been quoted £1000 to make good minor paint bubbling/rust spots around window frame and two areas on roof (near safari windows). Seems a lot although appreciate windscreen will need removing. Would you suggest shopping around or does that amount sound about right?
 
Bulkhead rust can be extensive and hidden by the dash, lots of labour time involved.
Got any pictures?
The roof is alloy the gutter is steel for info.
 
thanks reply. I'll upload some when I get the car back end of this week. At the moment the two spots look like blisters ie the paint hasnt actually broken down yet. I know I should get rust addressed without delay but I have just spent a small fortune on other vitals (new clutch/fuel pump/door rubbers/door wiring/anti theft door+bonnet brackets ...i could go on) .If I now get the paint done (plus underseal) the Bill will coem to over £2k! Some hard thinking required.
 
The roof can wait it's cosmetic to a certain extent.
Bulkhead is more important.
There may be hardly any rot, stripping out, prepping and painting is expensive for a pro job.
 
Thanks again. I think (know!) I need to bite the bullet and get on with it. I guess the only comfort is the values still seem to be firming - though I have no plans to sell but in that respect its worth doing as plan to keep long term. Part and parcel of Landy ownership I guess. Thanks again for your input . (are you available to talk/convince my wife?...) Cheers
 
Hello again , my (09 110) defender has now had various mechanical issues sorted and now at the Body shop for some paint. As usual the expected/estimated work has escalated . Originally a repair and make good to two or three rust bubbles around windscreen is seemingly not going to be sufficient to address the fairly extensive corrosion all around the frame that has now been found.
It can be extensively sandblasted etc but I am now wondering if better (long term) to simply replace with new frame and start from scratch. Can anyone here guide from their own experience please. Any idea /ballpark what a new windscreen frame costs? I have done some googling but so far without success. Bottom line I wish to keep the car long term so definitely don't want a cheap/quick fix as would be false economy however I also dont have a unlimited budget . Thanks very much for any input. Below one of a few photos the Body shop has sent to me.

upload_2017-11-17_17-9-58.jpeg


upload_2017-11-17_17-9-58.jpeg
 
Its been pointed out to me the windscreen surround is aluminium so I am quite confused ie how rust ? what is actually showing in the above photos? simply paint deterioration combined with glue residue etc? Sorry if I am coming across as nieve but I simply have no experience in this respect. Thanks
 
So it is the frame and not the steel bulkhead, that's good news.
It's cosmetic.
I don't know how much a new frame is or how much to sandblast yours but suspect blasting is the cheaper option.
Scrape all the sealent off or the blaster will moan.
 
Thanks . Its with the paint shop now and they are saying the deterioration is to such a degree a new frame may be more cost effective. Im inclined to agree but no idea on costs yet.
 
Daryl Ellis said:
Its been pointed out to me the windscreen surround is aluminium so I am quite confused ie how rust ? what is actually showing in the above photos? simply paint deterioration combined with glue residue etc? Sorry if I am coming across as nieve but I simply have no experience in this respect. Thanks
Click to expand...
^^^ yes basically.
(You posted whilst I typed).
 
Daryl Ellis said:
Thanks . Its with the paint shop now and they are saying the deterioration is to such a degree a new frame may be more cost effective. Im inclined to agree but no idea on costs yet.
Click to expand...
It's hard to tell from the pictures how bad the corrosion is, it's heavy pitting/ craters that will 'blow through' during blasting, yours 'looks ok' just peely paint /screen sealent making it look worse than it maybe is.
 
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