Rockwatt transfer box FUBAR

OK not quite the full FUBAR, but when I went out in the Jim the other day, I got to the end of the track where I live (muddy, potholed and none too gentle on the suspension/butt), I was in 5th gear already and it was revving around 3000rpm; I was doing less than 20mph. I pootled up the lane and the same thing was happening, so I pulled over, fiddled with the transfer stick a couple of times (put it into 4WD, then back into 2WD), but the same happened on the way back home.

This evening, I went out again and the same thing was happening, so I switched to 4WD and it seemed to drive like normal. So I did a 65 mile round trip, keeping it steady and not going over 50mph. No strange noises to speak of, except a squeal when I nudged over 50mph.

So a couple of questions:

1. Could the transfer box have become confused as to what mode it's in? It felt like it was in low ratio 4WD when the stick was in the 2WD position.

2. What about transmission windup? I drove on dry tramac for most of the 65 miles.

Cheers
Pete

PS: I did move the driver's seat back a couple of inches recently and maybe it's now getting in the way of putting the transfer stick back into 2WD properly?

The issue with it sounds like it could the selectors are mis-aligned in the t-box.
Not that hard to sort (it happened on the oldham to holmfirth trip to Brett's green one).

Dave (S200KYS) is your man for how to actually fix it. I think you take the rubber surround off, stick out and fiddle about with a screwdriver to re-align the selectors. Took them about half an hour to sort (but they knew what they were doing!). Watch out for springs and small bushes which are easy to loose. The stick is held in with a bayonet cap (like a light bulb). push down on the metal ring and turn to release the stick.

Not sure about the windup, suspect it wasnt ideal. did you have the hubs locked or unlocked? manual hubs mean you could have unlocked the front wheels and it wouldnt have damaged anything because drive would be disconnected to those wheels.

Yup, sounds like what Riccy says...

It's a minor annoyance with the Samurai box fitted (incidental that it's a Redacted Rocklobster, this can happen with any Samurai transfer box)...

What's probably happened is indeed that the end of the transfer stick has popped out of the selector rods, and as you say, the box is confused as to what ratio it is...

To fix this...

Take the transfer box selector stick's knob off
Take the transfer box selector stick's boot off
From underneath the Jimny then -
Take the spring off from around the boot where the transfer box selector stick enters the top of the box, then
Slide the rubber boot up the stick out of the way (or off if you can, gives you a better view later)
Pop a couple of fingers off each hand into the top of the opening where the stick enters the box and press down and twist, as Riccy says it's like the reverse of a bayonet bulb, so the cap you're trying to get out has two 'sock' shapes in the edges of it, and there are two pins sticking out of the recess of the box...
What's you've got that out (plenty of swearing helps I always find!) the stick will come out...
With the stick out, get back into the inside of your Jimny...
Shine a torch down and you'll see the two selector rods down in the recess of the transfer box
(one does two/four wheel drive and the other does high/low ratio - so as it jumps out it gets stuck inbetween the options)
Usually, the rod furthest away from you (i.e. the one on the passenger side) is two far back, you need to get them lined up so that the square slot in each are aligned... So get a big fat long screwdriver and a torch, slide the screwdriver into the recess and twist the handle clockwise to bring the furthest away rod inline with the closest rod...
Once that chunks into place, pop the stick back in loose and check you can get around the shift pattern now...
When that's done, as it says in the old Haynes manual "assembly is the reverse of dis-assembly" !

Any problems... Shout!

Dave

"Bayonet cap" shown here for reference, bottom left -



So you can see from that that it needs to go anti-clockwise to get it out

The photo is of a refurb kit if you need any spares, from the well known Jimny 'bits' supplier...

I now change ratio quite gingerly at the beginning / end of a greenlane to make sure I don't lift the stick / force it too much to make the selector stick pop out of the rods...

A new spring or bush may be needed?

Thanks chaps, will try that later (maybe tomorrow).

I had the front wheel hubs locked when I went out yesterday (was trying this for the first time too). I did go over a couple of bumps a bit enthusiastically, so hopefully that helped it unwind.

Not the best video, But gives you an idea of what you have to do.

Not had time to investigate this yet, but as a workaround, if I just ensure the front wheels are left to freewheel, that should avoid any chance of transmission wind-up shouldn't it?

Yep, will turn the front prop, but if hubs are off then no problems to be had

Took it out for a spin today and discovered that yep, the transfer box appears to have done an about-turn! The low range and 2WD positions have swapped over. Not had the nerve to have a look inside the box yet, as I fear I will render the vehicle immobile if I start messing about with it...