One of my gearboxes is broken, but which one?!

[oli]

I'm having trouble with the gears on my 1996 discovery TDI (r380 box and lt230 transfer case) which is perplexing me.

All gears working quite happily in high ratios and changing quite smoothly, including reverse. The centre difflock (through the transfer box) is also working fine.

If I select low ratios, it will select easily enough, but then seems to block reverse - on the main gearbox - then after a bit more lever waggling the main gear box seems to jam in the 3/4th plane. You can easily move back into high ratios, but it makes no difference to the main gearbox, unless you drive forwards. Last time I had to slip the clutch and pull away in 3rd. After a few hundred metres it cleared and normal function in high ratios came back and has worked fine since.

Clearly there's a problem, but which box is at fault? They should be completely seperate - it's effectively just a two speed + diff box (the transfer box) bolted onto the back of a fairly simple five speed box. I can't understand how one can influence the other.

Anyone seen this before of got any bright ideas?

Oli

[natedog]

Does the selector linkage for the transfer box run inside the main box?

sent from my HTC using proboards android app

[oli]

I didn't think so, the defender uses a remote gearbox linkage, hence the long main lever and the two levers being the other way around, but i think it's direct on the disco.