Stuck in gear

[Fulltimedad]

Sadly, yes... because with engine off everything is stationary....with the crank and clutch spinning the primary gear turns and turns the layshaft and>>>on through the box. And as soon as you've got one gear on the mainshaft it all spins....
Even more sadly it could still be either the selector adjustment or the clutch operation.
I've found it easier to bleed the clutch (old skool style) with a very long piece of pvc tube into a jar, and a cup of tea. The very long tube allows you to put the jar on the wing-top and see when you've created a bubble free system and the cup of tea makes you take your time and relax while you hold the pedal all the way down for a few moments as you do the job

Thanks freqmikey really helpful. Right that’s a plan . I’d relied on my easibleed but I’ll use that method and see if I get any more air out and if not its time to delve deeper with the other detailed advice I’ve had .

 

[mikeau]

I read a while back that someone recommended leaving it overnight with the clutch pedal fully depressed using a pole or bit of timber the right length.
Ive never needed to do that but could be worth a try...

 

[Fulltimedad]

Thats going to be the easiest/cheapest fault to find and cure, so defo start there!

Does the slave have the bleed nipple at the top or the bottom..? if its been fitted with the bleed nipple at the bottom then its going to be almost impossible to get all the air out!

Bleed nipple at the top - I made that mistake the first time I did one - Rookie error in my behalf

 

[freqmikey]

There's probably only 1/3 of a pint of fluid in the system, I usually allow about a gallon of fluid to get the job done successfully !
Y'always got to allow for the Mr Magoo moments of knocking the jar over or the pvc pipework jumping off and/or squirming around cheap zipties can often be your friend

 

[phoenixdave]

Even if the clutch was not releasing at all you should be able to change gear by just matching engine revs to road speed. You might get a bit of crunching but the lever should not feel solid. I have driven cars in this condition many times over the years, including Land Rovers, ( just to get me home after clutch cable etc. failure ) and the only major difficulty arises if you need to stop facing uphill. The fact that it goes into gear from stationary with the engine running suggests that the clutch is fine and the problem is with the selectors. Are you able to select all the gears when stationary, engine running, or just first and reverse? David

 

[Big Sandy]

@Fulltimedad You could try putting the transfer box in neutral, then trying the gears with the engine running. That way you can go through the gears without going anywhere!

Bleeding...I usually start by pumping the living daylights out of it, really stomp on the pedal. It breaks the bubbles up into more maneageable sizes, and makes it easier to squirt them out when you crack the bleed valve.

 

[erubus]

@Fulltimedad another thought. Try taking the back cover off of the transfer box and giving the back of the mainshaft a wiggle. Perhaps the mainshaft nut has worked loose or the bearings are shot. This could conceivably let you select gears with the engine off but lock everything up when all the gears are spinning.

 

[Fulltimedad]

@Fulltimedad another thought. Try taking the back cover off of the transfer box and giving the back of the mainshaft a wiggle. Perhaps the mainshaft nut has worked loose or the bearings are shot. This could conceivably let you select gears with the engine off but lock everything up when all the gears are spinning.

@Fulltimedad You could try putting the transfer box in neutral, then trying the gears with the engine running. That way you can go through the gears without going anywhere!

Bleeding...I usually start by pumping the living daylights out of it, really stomp on the pedal. It breaks the bubbles up into more maneageable sizes, and makes it easier to squirt them out when you crack the bleed valve.

Thanks big sandy . Haven’t tried your idea yet but i will thank you , so If I can select all the gears with transfer box in neutral but not when actually going I’m guessing that tells me clutch - am I right ?

 

[Guitar Mick]

Bleeding the clutch can be a pig, because the pipe is a larger bore that a brake pipe and because there are some very tight turns in the tube before it reaches the slave, air gets trapped very easily and is a bastard to move. Sometime the air bubles will make there own way back to the master reservoir. I had huge problems getting mine bled, left it over night after a day of pumping fluid through and next morning the clutch was working there was never a problem........bastard !!

 

[erubus]

Mine was the same, had a crap pedal, bled and bled and bled then gave up for the day. Next day it was perfect and has been since.

 

[Neil]

THE thing to remember with the series 3 clutch slave cylinder is that the bleed nipple is NOT at the highest point.
A friend tipped me off and told me how he did his. Bleed it as best you can then jack front end up as high as you possibly can. Wedge the clutch pedal down and leave it overnight

 

[Big Sandy]

we had one once where the bleed nipple was accesible behind the bung on the gearbox tunnel, it had a length of pipe from the cylinder port...looked as flimsy as a flimsy thing, second thing to go, after the bullbar.

@Fulltimedad you'll still need the clutch, but it means you can observe what the main box is doing without having to watch where youre going as well..

 

[Mr Stein]

Thanks mikeau . When it’s in a gear and I depress clutch and try and change gear the gear-lever is solid . If I try by force it whirrs as if it’s still under pressure .

This is just a long-shot...
Years ago I had a similar problem on my series 3 box.
I changed the master cylinder and the slave, and bled it again and again.
I was pulling my hair out......

Then I had an idea.
I took the slave cylinder off again and then took some measurements.
I determined the pushrod from the servo slave to the clutch release mechanism must be too short for some reason.

Sure enough I bought a new one, it was 10mm longer! Which fixed the issue.

My landy guru confirmed that once the case-hardening is worn from the thin end it can wear down rapidly!
It's difficult to spot without the dimensions because the end stays "rounded" as it wears out!

This is specific to the series 3 box as the 2/2A has an adjustable pushrod.

But it took 3 days to find!

 

[Fulltimedad]

Try taking the little cover off of the top of the transfer box and put the transfer box in neutral. With the engine off, put it in gear and put your foot on the clutch then start the engine.

The output shaft of the gearbox shouldn't move and if it does should be stoppable by the slightest pressure on the gear. Try going through the gears with the transfer box in neutral. I'm wondering if the driven plate isn't fully disengaging from the flywheel or pressure plate.

Hi Erubus. I’ve taken the little cover off - hopefully the right one .

and ran through the sequence as you described. Thank you . The shaft stops moving when I depress the clutch in all gears so I guess no dragging clutch .

I’ve bled it all through again but this time with a long tube and jar of fluid but didn’t get any air out .

Tried driving it but still sticks in gear . If I stop but keep engine running, raise the clutch to biting point it clonks a deep metallic sound then I can change gear but only once .

Thank you for your suggestion and I’ve learned a bit more about the transmission in the process .

 

[erubus]

It's changing gear ok with the t-box in neutral? The deep clonk doesn't sound great though.

My other suggestion of taking the back cover off it is complicated by the fact you have an overdrive rather than a back cover.

Try engaging the overdrive and gently drive off in first and see if you can change gear then. The clonk is suggesting to me that either the mainshaft nut has come loose or something has broken inside the gearbox. If it's the mainshaft nut (which would let the mainshaft move backwards and forwards, possibly enough to get everything out of alignment and jam it in first) then engaging the overdrive might put enough pressure on it to keep it all together. Try to change gear as gently as possible and watch the of lever as you do it.

 

[Fulltimedad]

we had one once where the bleed nipple was accesible behind the bung on the gearbox tunnel, it had a length of pipe from the cylinder port...looked as flimsy as a flimsy thing, second thing to go, after the bullbar.

@Fulltimedad you'll still need the clutch, but it means you can observe what the main box is doing without having to watch where youre going as well..

Thanks . Yes tried that now. With transfer box in neutral , engine running I can select all gears in the normal way and deselect and go to the next gear ok so I think ? that tells me problem is after main gearbox . Not sure if having an overdrive fitted makes any difference here .

 

[robwlondon]

My money is still on clutch drag. Occam's Razor.

 

[erubus]

There's nothing after the main gearbox that would give you trouble changing gear. What that test is telling you is that it's working fine with no load on it and something is becoming mis-aligned when there is a load applied. There are a few components in the gearbox that could affect the alignment.

 

[Rustee nutz]

The od means there's no access to the main shaft nut my previous Landy had what sounds to be the same problem turned out to be the circlip on the rear of the main shaft wasn't engaged right so was allowing the shaft to move forwards locking the gears under power out was a realativley easy in situ fix but had damaged the plastic bearing guide in the box which later needed replacing

 

[erubus]

My money is still on clutch drag. Occam's Razor.

But the output gear of the gearbox is stopping while engaging the clutch with the t-box in neutral.

@Fulltimedad are you able to get the Landy moving in third gear? If you are able to change between third and fourth then your problem probably lies in the 1st/2nd synchro hub. One of the little square blocks may have come adrift jamming the synchro hub squint and half engaged until you stop and take all the torque out of it. Also try starting off in first with the od engaged as above.