Gearbox Fault

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jlach993

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hey everyone,
I have a MY2011 lr4 and recently within the past few days i noticed the gear shift lever is more stiffer than usual. Also it doesn’t “lock” into place when shifting into drive. I would select Drive and it would show D in the cluster, but after driving for a few blocks the D would disappear and the car would rev in neutral as i’m driving. A quick brake to complete stop and shift from Park to Drive would remedy the issue until another few blocks. Any ideas? Also the gearbox fault message came up on my cluster. Please any ideas?! Its really dangerous. I’m scared to take it on the highway because of this issue. I don’t want it switching to neutral in a situation where i need the acceleration!
 

Pfunk951

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I'd start by looking under the truck for leaks coming from the center of the truck, and inspect the linkage to the transmission.

Does the shift handle feel loose? Try giving it a rap with the palm of your hand, straight down like you are trying to push it into the floor of the truck (these come off by simply pulling up on them)

If any of this seems Greek let me know..

Report back, and good luck..

Mike
 

jlach993

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Hey mike,
I didn’t notice any leaks under the truck. The gear shift lever feels more stiffer than usual when selecting gears. One thing i did notice is that there is a lot of play between neutral and drive. It doesn’t “lock” sort of speak into drive. It feels as if neutral and drive is one gear selection. If it drops into neutral by itself i can just wiggle the shifter a bit with my index finger and thumb with a slight touch and it pops back into drive on the cluster. It seems to be an issue with the gear lever in my opinion and not the transmission. Do you have an idea what it could be?

-Justin
 

Land Cruiser

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Justin - I had the exact same issue, year. I took it to my local shop, and they replaced the "shifter bushings kit". I don't have the part number, but the invoice lists $90.00 + $200 labor. Not too bad, so you should get it fixed, asap.

In my case, I drove it around for a number of weeks, since it was an intermittent problem. Whenever it slipped out of D (usually at a stop light), I could jam it into P, then back to D and it would stay put. Clearly, not a real solution, but it might buy you some time before you take it in.
 

catman

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I replaced my entire gear selector cable on my LR3, but I did not have to replace the bushings on the shifter linkage attached to the transmission itelf. Having been down there, it seemed like a fairly simple piece and thus, a farily simple repair. The only shot I got was blurry, but my finger is on the pieces you linked to on ebay and AB. The shifter cable goes straight through it - thus when you move the gear selector in the truck, the cable retracts and moves the linkage piece attached to the transmission.

It is possible something is just binding up the shifter cable as well - so crawling underneath and looking for mud or debris would be the first step. If someone else can be in the LR4 moving the cable while you look you may be better able to see where the issues is stemming from.

upload_2018-7-20_10-58-21.jpeg
 

jlach993

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Hey everyone thanks for all of the input. You all hit it on the nail and special thanks for the link to the parts. I ended up purchasing the gear bush kit from atlantic and installed them on the truck today. The old one was corroded like crazy. I’m guessing from the road salt. The cable appears to be in good shape. Everything is silky smooth now and the gear stays in place. Not bad for a $40 fix to a major problem!!!
 

Pfunk951

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Most excellent, glad to hear it worked out..

Chalk another one up to the list..

Mike
 

PaulLR3

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Our lower mileage LR4 is oddly "notchy" between neutral and drive. I suspect it needs the bushing kit as well. How hard is the installation?
 

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