Stuck in 4 wheel drive in high range

I recently purchased a series 3 diesel. The problem i have is that its stuck in fourwheel drive in high range. When i drop it into neutral and try to select high range again i can't unless i press the yellow lever however this means i am in 4wd. Not good for tyre wear and winding the transmission up. Can anyone shed any light on my problem. The vehicle is curretly stripped to the chassis for renovation so every thing is accsesable.

Is the tunel fitted? you need the spring that gooes on the rod between the tunel and yellow knob to force the lever up, hope this helps.

Thanks for the advice loony larry. I have tried to select high range before the tunnel was removed with the spring in its correct place, so I think the problem may be a bit more than that!

My lightweight did a similar thing just the other night - and its mended! It could be the selector levers sticking at the front of the transfer case. Just above where the front propshaft joins the gearbox there is a little tin plate that covers the ends of the selctor shafts. There is no seal / gasket on the plate and water can get to the shafts and cause them to corrode and stick. This will make the high / low / four wheel drive selection hard / impossible / jump into neutral. Remove the cover and ensure the shafts are clean, lubricated and move in and out as you selct high / low range ( red gearstick) and four wheel drive ( yellow gearstick). The shafts sort of flip flop in and out depending on whether you are selcting high / low / four wheel drive and may take a bit of persuasion to get them going if they are stuck.


Good luck!

Thanks for the advice Buckle. The problem is now sorted. The top shaft had corroded and seized in position as you said it might. A bit of gentle persuasion with a copper drift and WD40 got it moving again, and a fresh dose of grease should keep it free. Thanks again.

Hi All

Apologies for dragging this out from the back of the cupboard, but I think I have the same problem, so....

Can the selectors be accessed by removing the centre seat bit and the tunnel cover? or is it a bigger dismantling job?

Ta in advance

Don't need to remove the seats at all, just the tunnel.

Ace! Ta Ed