Series III Broke Down.. Now on the side of the road

[Expedition.Report]

Hey guys!

My series 3 broke down on me just 1024km's into our trip and I think we lost either the clutch or the gear box.... It clunked out just as the sun was settling and we had a hard time sourcing the problem with our head lamps, we'll take a closer look in the morning....

The symptoms:
It will "go into gear", motor is running tip top btw, won't drive forward in any gears from R to 4th in 2x4 or 4x4... Leading me to believe the old clutch just cratered and therefore we are not getting any power transferred from the engine to the gear box... The clutch petal moves just as it should.... Is it possible that our O/D unit failed on us?

Extra details:
Original 2.25L petrol engine with 4 speed gear box with over drive, it's a 1979

Any help from you Rover vets would be amazing, would love to get this fixed ASAP and on with our trip without getting a tow!

Thank!
Mike

 

[tacr2man]

Can you select gears without pressing clutch without crunching ? if yes then clutch has failed, if no then clutch is driving , and O/D would seem good place to look HTSH
p.s. If there was drive in 4th only then would be layshaft .

ps ps if o/d then just retrofit old t/o parts and not have o/d

 

[rijosho]

Might want to tell people where you're stranded, too.

 

[I Leak Oil]

It's quite possible that your OD has bit the dust. I assume you've looked under and observed the drive shafts not rotating? Remove the inspection cover on top of the transfer case just in front of where the OD bolts in. When in gear, does anything rotate? You can remove the OD and check to see if the tranny output gear is rotating. If so, it's likely the OD and of course you can replace it with the stock output gear and bearing support that was removed when the OD was installed and be on your way. You did bring those right?

 

[Expedition.Report]

Might want to tell people where you're stranded, too.

That's prob a great idea!

We are now just in Lakes Entrance, Victoria, Australia.

We never installed the O/D se unfortunately we are unable too replace the parts.

Luckly for us there is a major land rover supplier in Melbourne which is only 300km's away from us.

I'll head out now and inspect as you guys noted above and see!

Thanks for the help thus far!!

 

[Expedition.Report]

Well got it running again for now, the O/D lever is what was actually causing our problems, got that sorted, but now we have some new sounds that we never had before.

The weird part about the new sounds is that it only happens in 3rd & 4th... So I guess I need to get that sorted, however we are moving under our own power and I just hope we can make it to Melbourne!

Thanks for all the imput guys!

 

[MattScott]

Maybe you'll get lucky and the rover will fix itself... scary how that happens.

 

[Snagger]

The overdrive's input speed and thus internal rpms are governed by engine rpm and main gear selection - with 3rd and 4th, the overdrive is spinning fast, though the torque loading is much less than with 1st and 2nd.

Check the overdrive has plenty of oil. If it's running, it will probably get you home. Can you describe the noise and the conditions which produce them with much more detail? I have a rebuild guide on my blog, but more information now might help with a diagnosis.

 

[awebbfire]

Pull the "e" brake and push the truck... if it moves, you broke your rear axle. Happened to me this past summer. Got axles from www.dap-inc.com kit was 130.00 or so. Easy fix, pull driveshaft, pull both axles, remove diff, pop out the broken nub and put it all back together. Get gaskets too. A

PS, I put it in 4WD & drove home in FWD....Hope it's this easy for ya.

 

[Snagger]

Pull the "e" brake and push the truck... if it moves, you broke your rear axle. Happened to me this past summer. Got axles from www.dap-inc.com kit was 130.00 or so. Easy fix, pull driveshaft, pull both axles, remove diff, pop out the broken nub and put it all back together. Get gaskets too. A

PS, I put it in 4WD & drove home in FWD....Hope it's this easy for ya.

He says he tried driving in 4wd in the first post, so unless he has FWH and doesn't know about them, then it's not the rear axle. It's probably the clutch or the small splines on the overdrives "clutch sleeve" (the bit that replaces the standard transfer box input gear) and the corresponding splines inside the o/d's main shaft.

My 109 had a similar problem once when I was returning home form the US and my wife wanted to pick me up from the airport, before she knew how to drive the 109. The overdrive was just in neutral, but the AA (like the US' AAA) mechanic diagnosed clutch failure, so Helena thought she was stuck at home! So check the overdrive lever linkage is working correctly and that the overdrive is not stuck in neutral. That means lifting the inspection plate under the middle seat to see that the selector shaft that enters the back of the overdrive casing is sliding fore and aft with lever movement, and removing the overdrive's top cover (4x 1/2" bolts) to make sure the selector fork is still attached to the selector shaft (1/2" pinch bolt) and hasn't snapped its arms off. If there is any problem in the there, remove any damaged parts and select the disengaged position by sliding the synchro sleeve forwards to cover the brass baulk ring and output shaft teeth. You might need to pry it into that position with a screw driver on each side, but that won't do any harm. It can be left in this state until a full repair is possible, just disconnect the lever linkage to prevent accidental selection changes.