1950 Land Rover issues

[Mike K]

Been driving my little 1950 Land Rover around . The locals stare at it or me , not sure why ! It has a 1954 engine and 56 transmission.

A strange ongoing mechanical issue came up , go for a drive and from the start the gearbox and clutch behaved normally , after 10 mins on a bitumen road strange things , gear selection not easy , very crunchy and sometimes gears refused to mesh. First gear impossible to select. Whats going on, behaves with no problems when cold but after a drive it all jams up . Checked oil levels , adjusted the clutch linkages , still have the problem.

Then a hammer hit me, after a drive on a dirt road , the problem goes away . I discovered the answer.

Anybody have the answer ? Quiz time .

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

Originally Posted by Mike Kelly

Been driving my little 1950 Land Rover around . The locals stare at it or me , not sure why ! It has a 1954 engine and 56 transmission.

A strange ongoing mechanical issue came up , go for a drive and from the start the gearbox and clutch behaved normally , after 10 mins on a bitumen road strange things , gear selection not easy , very crunchy and sometimes gears refused to mesh. First gear impossible to select. Whats going on, behaves with no problems when cold but after a drive it all jams up . Checked oil levels , adjusted the clutch linkages , still have the problem.

Then a hammer hit me, after a drive on a dirt road , the problem goes away . I discovered the answer.

Anybody have the answer ? Quiz time .

Not knowing anything at all about Land Rovers, but what you describe sounds like driving in 4WD on a hard surface when you aught to have been in 2.

[rob love]

As Bruce mentions, my money says 4 wheel drive on a hard surface along with incorrect tire pressures. It causes driveline wrap up, and will overheat the gearboxes, making the oil have different properties.

On the old 5/4 ton, if you drove in hi-lok at high speed, the front diff (which seemed to be the weakest link in the drivetrain with it's puny dana44 diff) would boil the hypoid, causing it to spray out the vent tube into the engine compartment.

[Jonathan Moore]

my guess would be that it is stuck in high ratio 4x4, either the yellow knob is depressed or the internal mechanism is stuck.

jon

[Tony Smith]

Early Series 1 are constant 4wd (not solid, and not differentiated, but with a ratchet-type front axle drive), but the front diff ratio is higher than the rear diff ratio, only by a few decimals, not noticeable on loose surfaces, but enough to cause wind-up on long drives on sealed road surfaces.

Oh, and the neighbors think that anyone driving a Series 1 must be a little odd.

[Jonathan Moore]

But this has a 1956 gearbox, so not constant 4x4.

[Richard Farrant]

I will go for the yellow knob being down. Once had a call from a guy who bought a Series 2 on Ebay, it was delivered while he was out, he then drove it up his lane and was shocked at the transmission noise. I went over to look at it and before he appeared I noticed the yellow knob was down. When he arrived I jacked up one front wheel and said to tell me when it turns freely, I discreetly moved the transfer box lever and he said it now turns. Then said to him to drive it up the lane. He thought I was a magician as he had no idea what I did! When it had been loaded on to the transporter I guess the driver put it in 4wd.