Richard Rose (Bridgeman Downs, QLD)

Hi Allan, I bought my 2002 Nissan Patrol ST 4.2TD wagon stock last year. Since then I’ve added 2in lift, 33in muddies, a winch in a custom made cradle behind the standard bulbar, rock sliders, hot water shower, dual batteries, spotties, and front auto locker.

I mainly go 4WDing around The Glasshouse Mountains area as it’s local, but I’ve also been to LandCruiser Park, Lavuka. I started 4WDing in ’96 when I bought a brand new Suzuki Sierra, and after a few weeks I went to Fraser Island in it for 2 weeks. I then bought a Mitsubishi Challenger in 2002, and upgraded to an 80 Series in 2006. I sold it recently and bought the GU.

I have difficulty selecting 1st gear sometimes and it’s getting to be a real pain. Usually, I have to roll it forwards to get it to go into gear. I thought syncros, but I would have thought it would happen all the time if they were to blame. Someone has suggested it’s the spigot bearing, but I am unsure. I know it can be a real pain to get the box out of a Patrol, so I’ve not done it yet. I would probably upgrade the clutch at the same time. What could be causing this issue?

Allan

Hi Richard, you’ve certainly had some vehicles! If you get to the stage where you can’t get it into gear, turn the motor off as you’re trying to select it first. If it drops straight in, either it’s the clutch dragging or that spigot bearing as someone has suggested could be the culprit. The spigot bearing may be a bit rusty and grabbing onto the input shaft. But for some reason or another that input shaft is not stopping when you throw your foot on the clutch.

Now there are also a couple of things in the gearbox that could be limiting the selector, not only the synchro, but there are blocking mechanisms. Unless that clutch plate completely stops, then it is not going to go into gear no matter what you do! If it drops into gear the moment you turn the ignition off, 2 or 3 times, then the problem is most definitely in the clutch or in that spigot bearing dragging. If it doesn’t make a difference, then you have a synchro problem.

So that’s the easy way to sort out whether it’s the gearbox or the clutch! Whatever happens, you’ve got to pull the gearbox out to fix the clutch anyway. So it looks like you’ve got to get a couple mates around, get under there with a few jacks and stands and put up with the pain!