406 diesel HDI gear linkages

L

luthier

Well-known member
1000+ Posts
Fellow Frogger
Joined
Oct 31, 2004
Messages
1,268
Location
Northern NSW
It's only got 450,000K's on it.
I don't understand.
Tonight the gearstick went awol in a carpark a long way from home. [$120 Cab fare home].
When it happened I jacked it up hoping to find a linkage popped off, as once was fairly common.
Instead I found I could just see a cracked alloy casting which is in a very inacessible place, not even easy to see, let alone to work on.
I am almost certain this is going to be engine and box out to fix.
Can anyone confirm my suspicions?
 
This is a silly question, but is it an auto or manual?
 
Yeah it's a gearstick. Manual. It is stuck in 3rd I think.
I got my wife to wiggle the stick while I was under there. Sounds tasty doesn't it.
Anyway there are two linkages that run back into a fixture. This seems to have a fairly fragile looking casting and it has let go.
Looking at it I wonder why it never did before as it's quite thin.
 
I had hear selector problems with my D9 petro 406 but it sounds as though your problems have a different cause. Mine was due to a worn out (at about 105km mind you) selector cable. I replaced both which necessitated removing the exhaust sytem and heat shield. Was easier and quicker than you'd think.
 
My story is same as Peter's - D9 V6, one cable needed replacing, nothing broken.

Just trying to make sense of your problem - is the casting part of the gearbox?
 
Yeah there's some broken alloy just below where the two linkages end at the gearbox. I was seeing that move while the stick was being moved from above, a quite small piece of alloy that was cracked away from itself.
I am wondering if that belongs to anything that's movable that can be transposed from one to another, or whether it is in fact part of the gearbox casing.
I'll be delving into the spare car for an answer this morning before I organise to have the car towed either here or to the repairer in Lismore.
I can see how it could be possible to get at from above with all the air cleaner etc. out of the way, but if it's part of the box I'll be doing a total motor and gearbox transfer.
Of course this morning it's raining and there's no cover for either car right now.
 
Keep us posted. I would think you'd have to be very unlucky for for part of the gear box housing to be cracked.
 
So it stopped raining and I went out to the spare car with torch and tools.
There is a light alloy plate which holds the gear linkage cables using clips similar to brake lines. These I removed using multigrips and leverage with a screwdriver. Refitting will be a challenge.
The plate is held on with three 13mm nuts and though quite awkward I had it off in about 10 minutes.
Now to take it to the car sitting in Dan Murphy's carpark. No towing involved and no enginerectomy.
The plate is quite lightweight. I spose it did well to last 450,000K's.
 
I know that plate, and those clips were "challenging" to remove in my case. Sounds as though it will be fixable at no cost.
 
Yep job's right. Car's back home. Sweet. Getting the clips off with that plate when broken was the worst part. Gripped with multigrips, then levered up with a 9inch screwdriver.
I refitted one just by hand, the other required a bit of gentle hammerly pursuasion.
When it was done there was still no gearstick action.
Under the gearstick is a little plastic box with manifold screws round the edge.
That came off to expose the ball ends of the stick , one of which had popped off during the other thing being broken.
That's the entirety of the job.
Much relieved.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top