1st gear not engaging when selecting manually

[Stevo_d40_05]

Does anyone know why I can't manually select 1st gear in either 2wd or 4L/4H?
It used to work. I generally change down through the gears manually when going down steep hills in 2wd while towing.

Yet, when in drive it seems to go through all the gears as normal.
It's doing my head in.
Can't even take it off-road at the minute because of this.
Any help would be great.

 

[Old.Tony]

You have the same gearbox as I do.

I noticed that if my revs are too high it won't shift into first, but otherwise mine is quite happy to go into first gear.

I'd guess that there's something amiss in that specific area - where it looks at engine speed & vehicle speed and decides it's unable to shift down. Can you do it when stopped?

 

[Stevo_d40_05]

G'day Tony,
No mate,I can't.
It's been like it for a few months now.

 

[Old.Tony]

If it's using first gear to get going when the selector is in 'D'rive, it may just be a cable adjustment that's needed.

 

[matmce]

On a recent trip to the high country, I had a stick jamb up under the car and wedge the auto selector bracket stopping me from getting out of low 2. After removing the offending stick, I was having trouble selecting all gears. After inspecting possible damage I found that the selector cable had moved in the elongated hole and the T-bar was out of alignment. A quick loosen of the nut on the bracket and I moved it back to where it should have been and all was fixed.
Hope all goes well.

 

[Stevo_d40_05]

1st gear issues

Firstly, Thanks Matmce and Old.Tony for your support and suggestions.
I'll definitely be looking into it once I get my ute from the smash repair joint.
It's coming into the 4th week now that they've had it and I'm nearly ready to explode!
Minor front end repairs my ass!
Once again, thanks you blokes.
I'll let you know what the outcome is if I ever see my ute again.

 

[Stevo_d40_05]

Back to the 1st gear issue I have, I've played with the linkage on the transmission end to only get it in either nuetral or drive. Ect.
Is there something I'm missing fellas cause I just don't know now.
I will say though, this I found only after I fitted 35mm spacers to the front struts.
I have since removed them and the 50mm blocks at the back.
Any ideas?
I'm baffled.

 

[Old.Tony]

The manual shows that there's a switch on the gear lever itself for 1st gear. Moving the lever from 2nd to 1st doesn't do move the cable, it activates that switch by the sideways movement of the lever. Have you checked yours?

 

[Stevo_d40_05]

No Tony, I havent.
I'm guessing that I could get to it by pulling apart the centre console from the inside..
Let me know if I'm wrong.
Thanks

 

[Old.Tony]

That's how to do it. Switch is supposed to be on the side of the carriage at the rear.