Transmission/gear issue, 62 Series iia 109...w/200TDI Defender Engine

Hello, long time reader, first time post.

My LR seems to be stuck in neutral, as if you were to set the hi/lo lever in neutral, but it is engaged properly. Was simply pulling out of driveway, went to shift, and nothing. No strange noises, wasn't pulling a load, etc. Here are some items to mention...
-Clutch seems the same as before, same resistance, no change or overly stiff suddenly.
-Still seems as though I'm able to shift in to gear, based on the gear shift, and the sounds from underneath the transmission, all feels the same.
-Fairey overdrive seems fine, pulled the cap plate off the top and all is moving properly.
-The driveshafts are not moving, and the gears inside of the overdrive are not spinning, with or without the parking brake engaged.
-Did the checks with the rear wheels off the ground, spun one wheel, then the other, and the driveshaft, all good to go there.

Thoughts?

Also, noticed when I looked down and forward inside the top of the transmission tunnel towards the engine, there is a wire coming out of the section the gearshift goes in to. Anyone know what that is, and what it's for?

Thanks for the information, help, and consideration.

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Originally Posted by frmass

Hello, long time reader, first time post.

My LR seems to be stuck in neutral, as if you were to set the hi/lo lever in neutral, but it is engaged properly. Was simply pulling out of driveway, went to shift, and nothing. No strange noises, wasn't pulling a load, etc. Here are some items to mention...
-Clutch seems the same as before, same resistance, no change or overly stiff suddenly.
-Still seems as though I'm able to shift in to gear, based on the gear shift, and the sounds from underneath the transmission, all feels the same.
-Fairey overdrive seems fine, pulled the cap plate off the top and all is moving properly.
-The driveshafts are not moving, and the gears inside of the overdrive are not spinning, with or without the parking brake engaged.
-Did the checks with the rear wheels off the ground, spun one wheel, then the other, and the driveshaft, all good to go there.

Thoughts?

Also, noticed when I looked down and forward inside the top of the transmission tunnel towards the engine, there is a wire coming out of the section the gearshift goes in to. Anyone know what that is, and what it's for?

Thanks for the information, help, and consideration.

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As far as the wire, on a series there is a two wire switch that turns on the reverse light Should be green or green with a stripe. As far as your "no drive" dilemma you have no gear, even when the gear selector is in 1st, 2nd? Perhaps a major fail of a shifting fork, or two?

Thanks for the reply. Correct, no gear in any gear including revers. But I can feel it, from the gearshift, going in to gear. Or at least it feels exactly the same as before. Also, pulled the inspection(?) plates from the top of the overdrive and the transfer case, and all is moving and grooving as it should be. All visible linkage is working properly, and everything seems 5x5. Completely lost on this one. Ugh.

Is there any trick to getting the transfer case back in to hi/low that I’m unaware of? Pulled the dust cover, barely any grime but cleaned it. Still, no love.

Another question- There is a spring loaded bolt on top of the transfer case. What is this for?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by frmass

Another question- There is a spring loaded bolt on top of the transfer case. What is this for?

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That spring loaded brass plug holds a detent in place for the 4-Lo/2-Hi shift rod.

First thing you need to do is to see what is working and what isn't. If there was no loud noise, it's hopefully not something major. Can you shift into 4-Lo (red lever all the way back)? If yes, see if that gets you spinning. If no, or if you can't move the lever, you have other issues.

Next, with both cover plates off of the top of the t-case see if the main overdrive gear is turning with the engine running and in 1st gear (or any gear). If yes, is the intermediate gear turning? If yes, is the high-lo gear turning? If yes, make sure that the smaller gear is engaged inside the high-lo gear.

Sounds like maybe just a linkage problem.

Photo below of my 66 T-case before rebuilding. Gear on the left is where your overdrive now goes. Middle gear, obviously intermediate. Right gear is two sets and shown in 4-Hi position. But if this moves out of position just 1/4 of an inch, nothing will work (stuck in neutral).

Attachment 13212

Hi JP, thanks for the reply. Here’s what I’ve sorted so far since my last post...
-Took off the overdrive unit, no obvious failures, all turned smoothly, but inside the main (big) gear that connects to the output shaft of the gearbox was pretty gunked up, and the small teeth inside were warn but again, nothing obviously broken or chipped.

-With engine running, in neutral, output shaft from gearbox doesn’t spin. Same no spin in all gears except 4th gear. 4th gear, release clutch, spins like a top.

-Obviously with the overdrive removed the transfer case was sitting idle.

Thoughts?

Since there was no "bang" or other loud noise, I'm still thinking it may be something simple. Obviously, you have narrowed the problem to the gearbox and not the transfer case. The first thing I would check is to make sure that the shifter is actually doing it's job. Pull the top cover and shift knob off. Make sure that there is no excessive wear (some of the S3 shifters are very prone to wear at the shift ball). With the shifter out of the way, try to manually engage another gear other than 4th and see what happens.

It's very unusual that 4th would work and nothing else unless the problem is simple.

Attachment 13218