clutch or gearbox? advice needed pls.p

HI all new to the whole landy experiece. Recently got a 300tdi on a p plate, mainly to suit family needs and also want to take them touring across the uk and europe before the kids get too old but not sure if im getting ripped off. Gonna have loads of quries in the future and would really appreciate advice, (good at fixing but not too good at solving).

So far the driver door rusted away from the top hinge,fixed it for now with plates either side of the door, seems to have aligned the door back up, will weld it next time round,there's a loud "knocking" coming from the passenger frontside footwell, thought it might have been the loose foot plate but not sure now, the gf drove it the other day and it feels like it might be going across towards the centre consol?.The place i got it from said it hadent been of road??? yeh right mate!(all the damadge seems to be along the left side), back frame at left bottom had been welded but sound job im told.

Now for the biggy!! Been having trouble getting the gearstick to-engage which is what i need most help with pls,started just catching in first, and a little click in and out of third,had to reverse out of mum's drive today and it would'nt go in reverse tried it a few times gently but would'nt shift, was in a rush to pick the kids up so had to give it some and it finally connected but then on drive home had trouble in every gear,later had to take nipper to cubs and the gears had cleared themselves but im getting a shuddering through the pedals at about 2000-2500 rpm. the cluth was "clunking"when engaging but noise has also stopped with it?? is it gearbox or clutch?.

Sorry for the essay (something to keep the kogs turning though!), many thanks and a happy new year to all. peter

Firstly thx for the quick response. For some reason the last time i drove it yesterday the gears had freed just using the clutch normally, but started vibrating through the pedals (very subtle vibe though), have'nt been out today yet so dont know if anythings changed but will put a post on here later with update.pete

i'm a bit confused...u are speaking about a 300tdi in the beginning of your post but the thread's title is about Disco 3... i'm not familiar with the plate numbers used in UK so if it's about a 300tdi tell me which year to see what kind of R380 gearbox is on it...cos IMO the problem is with the gear selector/BIAS plate/springs...bush or yoke (here are some differences)

Indeed... What Disco is it??
First thing first: How is your Clutch? Does it feel like the gears are not meshing and thus are not (hard to engage) engaging, while engine is running are you getting some gear grind while trying to engage a gear?

Test: When engine is running how far up does your pedal (Clutch) have to travel before clutch engages? Try this too, while driving (use 2nd or 3rd Gear at slower speeds 20-40 Km/h) have a steady Accelerator (just enough for slight acceleration) and feather the Clutch pedal. Does it disengage the Clutch at all?

If all the above are true (or some) then your Clutch is failing on you. (After a drive you can probably smell the clutch too if it is the clutch at all).

Or, are the gears just "not" engaging at all WHILE the gear lever is in "gear" itself?

Cheers!

check fluid level in clutch reservoir ,and oil in gear box, sounds like clutch isnt clearing fully ,but you may well need gear box looking at as well

"Slight Vibe" could well be the Propshaft UJ as well??

The stick feels like its hitting a brick wall and had to take some force to get it in reverse, no grinding just wont go from neutral in to gears without jamming.

Just got back from mot and its fu*@in rotten all joints of body to chassis are rotten and a whole load of other bits, might be able to get help with welding but is it gonna be worth the hassle?,paid £2300 for it six months ago stitch up tw@.

paid £2300 for it

Click to expand...

That's a good price for a Disco 3 though

as sierra said check bias plate ,remove center consol ruber gaiter and tin cover on gear box top,should have vertical retangular plate between the two springs

sorry its a 300tdi got the title wrong.