pauldaf44
Active Member
Had this problem on my new to me 300tdi Discovery and thought I might as well document how I repaired it.
With my car I new it was going to be a selector lever problem rather than gearbox internals because I could still find all the gears and once found they engaged normally. It was a pain as you had to work out where the gear gates were but thankfully for anyone having the same problem its a reasonably easy and cheap fix. I had mine done in 20mins.
First step identify which box you have it will be R380 if reverse is down and right.
You Will Need.
PH2 Screwdriver
PH3 Screwdriver.
10mm Socket on a long extension
Drill with a suitable bit for drilling out rivets.
Riveter.
Step 1 (Remove Center Console)
1. Suitably chock the vehicle as you will need the handbrake off and disconect the battery as you will be disconnecting electrics.
2. Pry up the gear lever gators for both main box and transfer lever and unscrew the gear knobs.
3. Under the transfer lever gator are two cross head screws you might as well undo them now so you don't forget them later.
4. Pry off the plastic panel around the window switches and undo the screws around the edge of the panel you have just revealed.
5. Lift out the window switch panel and unplug the switches.
6. You should now have room to take out the clevis pin in the handbrake lever. Don't lose the retainer clip.
7. Open the center console stowage bin and remove the two screws inside.
8. Pull up the handbrake lever this will bring the console back abit and enable you to just lift it up and out of the way.
Step 2 (Gain access to the top of the gearbox)
1. With the center console now out of the way remove the insulation that was under it.
2. I removed the air ducts to the rear you probably don't need to but its one screw per side and they just lift out giving you space.
3. Now your going to be presented with a rubber sheet held down by a riveted ring of metal. This is between you and the box, don't just cut it you won't get enough access to do the job.
4. Drill out the rivets all the way around and lift out the retainer and rubber sheet. Now you can see the gearbox.
5. Around the bottom of the gear lever is a little metal cage that protects the bias plate and springs. This needs removing, it is held in place by two large cross headed screws undo these and lift the cage out of the way. On mine this was easier said than done and I had to resort to bending the edge of the transmission tunnel with a pair of pliers to get it out. :mad2: hopefully you may have more luck there.
Step 3 (Fixing the fault)
You will now be able to see whats wrong hopefully if you can't bad luck the faults with the selectors inside the box have fun
What your looking for is a broken spring or broken/heavily worn plate. Directly to the rear of the lever the plate has a small up turned tag on it this stops the springs pushing the lever too far and on mine it was broken off. If yours is the same follow my instructions to the end if its just a broken spring you may only need to undo one bolt and replace the offending article.
1. Slacken the 4 10mm headed setscrews that retain the plate, but don't fully remove them yet unless you like playing wheres that frigging bolt gone. Be worned they are tight and thread locked!
2.Select 1st gear, this takes as much pressure as possible of the right hand (viewing from the rear) spring. Now remove the bolt that holds the right hand spring in place, be careful the spring will still be under some tension.
3. Lift off right hand spring.
4. Select 5th gear to take as much tension out of the left hand spring as possible and undo the retaining bolt.
5. Remove left hand spring.
6. Undo remaining two retaining bolts and remove the broken plate.
7. Fit your new plate tang to the rear and upturned.
8. Loosely fit the front two bolts but don't do them up tight yet.
9. I decided to use new springs as I already had them but to be honest I didn't need to. It doesn't matter which you do first but im going to assume you do the left hand one first. Place the spring over the pivot post with the long arm at the top.
10. Fit the bias plate retaining bolt through the hooked end of the spring and loosely do it up only a few turns.
11. Select 5th gear as this will make it easier for you to put the long arm of the spring into place, by doing that its not too hard to get the spring located.
12. Now select 1st gear and do the same for the right hand spring.
13. Using the gear lever select 3rd or 4th and whilst in gear hold the lever to the right with it held so do up all the bolts home.
14. Now try your gears they should select nicely and the lever should snap back to center when released in neutral. If the lever is slightly to one side slack all 4 bolts centralize the lever and do them up again.
Step 4 (put it all back together again)
As the haynes book of lies would say refitting is the reverse sequence of removal, and in this case it is, only you might as well replace the rivets with self tappers this will make your life much easier if you need to do the job again.
Enjoy gears that select nicely again and the satisfaction that you didn't have to pay someone else to fix it.
With my car I new it was going to be a selector lever problem rather than gearbox internals because I could still find all the gears and once found they engaged normally. It was a pain as you had to work out where the gear gates were but thankfully for anyone having the same problem its a reasonably easy and cheap fix. I had mine done in 20mins.
First step identify which box you have it will be R380 if reverse is down and right.
You Will Need.
PH2 Screwdriver
PH3 Screwdriver.
10mm Socket on a long extension
Drill with a suitable bit for drilling out rivets.
Riveter.
Step 1 (Remove Center Console)
1. Suitably chock the vehicle as you will need the handbrake off and disconect the battery as you will be disconnecting electrics.
2. Pry up the gear lever gators for both main box and transfer lever and unscrew the gear knobs.
3. Under the transfer lever gator are two cross head screws you might as well undo them now so you don't forget them later.
4. Pry off the plastic panel around the window switches and undo the screws around the edge of the panel you have just revealed.
5. Lift out the window switch panel and unplug the switches.
6. You should now have room to take out the clevis pin in the handbrake lever. Don't lose the retainer clip.
7. Open the center console stowage bin and remove the two screws inside.
8. Pull up the handbrake lever this will bring the console back abit and enable you to just lift it up and out of the way.
Step 2 (Gain access to the top of the gearbox)
1. With the center console now out of the way remove the insulation that was under it.
2. I removed the air ducts to the rear you probably don't need to but its one screw per side and they just lift out giving you space.
3. Now your going to be presented with a rubber sheet held down by a riveted ring of metal. This is between you and the box, don't just cut it you won't get enough access to do the job.
4. Drill out the rivets all the way around and lift out the retainer and rubber sheet. Now you can see the gearbox.
5. Around the bottom of the gear lever is a little metal cage that protects the bias plate and springs. This needs removing, it is held in place by two large cross headed screws undo these and lift the cage out of the way. On mine this was easier said than done and I had to resort to bending the edge of the transmission tunnel with a pair of pliers to get it out. :mad2: hopefully you may have more luck there.
Step 3 (Fixing the fault)
You will now be able to see whats wrong hopefully if you can't bad luck the faults with the selectors inside the box have fun
What your looking for is a broken spring or broken/heavily worn plate. Directly to the rear of the lever the plate has a small up turned tag on it this stops the springs pushing the lever too far and on mine it was broken off. If yours is the same follow my instructions to the end if its just a broken spring you may only need to undo one bolt and replace the offending article. 1. Slacken the 4 10mm headed setscrews that retain the plate, but don't fully remove them yet unless you like playing wheres that frigging bolt gone. Be worned they are tight and thread locked!
2.Select 1st gear, this takes as much pressure as possible of the right hand (viewing from the rear) spring. Now remove the bolt that holds the right hand spring in place, be careful the spring will still be under some tension.
3. Lift off right hand spring.
4. Select 5th gear to take as much tension out of the left hand spring as possible and undo the retaining bolt.
5. Remove left hand spring.
6. Undo remaining two retaining bolts and remove the broken plate.
7. Fit your new plate tang to the rear and upturned.
8. Loosely fit the front two bolts but don't do them up tight yet.
9. I decided to use new springs as I already had them but to be honest I didn't need to. It doesn't matter which you do first but im going to assume you do the left hand one first. Place the spring over the pivot post with the long arm at the top.
10. Fit the bias plate retaining bolt through the hooked end of the spring and loosely do it up only a few turns.
11. Select 5th gear as this will make it easier for you to put the long arm of the spring into place, by doing that its not too hard to get the spring located.
12. Now select 1st gear and do the same for the right hand spring.
13. Using the gear lever select 3rd or 4th and whilst in gear hold the lever to the right with it held so do up all the bolts home.
14. Now try your gears they should select nicely and the lever should snap back to center when released in neutral. If the lever is slightly to one side slack all 4 bolts centralize the lever and do them up again.
Step 4 (put it all back together again)
As the haynes book of lies would say refitting is the reverse sequence of removal, and in this case it is, only you might as well replace the rivets with self tappers this will make your life much easier if you need to do the job again.
Enjoy gears that select nicely again and the satisfaction that you didn't have to pay someone else to fix it.
