L series 5 speed box wont go into gear

Proton mouse · Post by **Proton mouse** » Sun Nov 22, 2015 5:25 pm

Scratching my head as to why I cant select any gear, either in 2wd, or 4wd hi or low range.
The scenario is....
Bought a complete 88 L series touring wagon a couple of years ago, just for the box, for use in the upgrade of my Brumby (EJ22 with L 5 speed)
I drove the L car before buying it and all gears worked well.
Pulled out box where it sat on garage floor until I fitted it to Brumby last year (but still not attempted to be driven till now)
Finally last week I finished rest of mods to wiring, dash, brakes etc etc and had front custom shafts made, only to find it wont drive at all, either in 2 or 4wd.

It is an EJ motor, with modded EA flywheel and EA clutch and a BYB EA-EJ gearbox spacer/adaptor.
Motor starts, clutch pedal seems to have nice normal feel, main gear selector feels like gears are being selected and same as hi/lo lever, BUT, it just wont go!!!

Anyone with knowledge of L 5 speed boxes have any idea what might be going on??

Thanks in advance
John

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Mon Nov 23, 2015 9:24 pm

that engine stay bracket to firewall - did you use one ? Tried adjusting it if you did ? Screw that up and I got no gear selections as well ..

Macca · Post by **Macca** » Tue Nov 24, 2015 10:13 am

I got caught with my EJ converted brumby when I first drove it. I didn't hook up the L H range lever as it hits the gear lever, and it was in Low. I clicked it into high with a screwdriver but didn,t secure it there. First set of lights it disengaged and stayed in between the two ranges so I couldn,t get any gear.

Lever is on top of box up front (Mine is a forester gearbox)

I just secured it in high and all is O.K.

Proton mouse · Post by **Proton mouse** » Mon Dec 21, 2015 10:00 pm

Thanks for the lines of thought from you both Steptoe and Macca.
Alas it was not as easy as either of those thoughts.

After all attempts failed at in situ repairs, I finally bit the bullet and removed the gearbox.
It turned out to be a lack of clamping pressure of the pressure plate on the clutch, all due to the combination mismatch of the Brumby (4sp) flywheel and the L series (5sp) clutch assy.
I had read yours and other writings Steptoe, about 23mm step needing 2mm of metal machined off, but at the time of engine and box mating (18months ago) it all seemed to clamp and feel good when assembled on the garage floor.
F.Fwd to Nov 2015 and first attempt at drive with new engine/box configuration and I find there is NO clutch clamping pressure with that setup.
So I took the flywheel and clutch assy to a dedicated clutch repair/machine shop. Their fix was to machine the 2mm off the pressure plate casting (as opposed to the step of the flywheel, even though I had notioned it to be done that way)
Good news is it seems to have worked, as I now have a driveable car!!

Albeit with other issues to sort out, but at least it moves!!
Cheers, JB

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Tue Dec 22, 2015 7:20 am

thanks for the update JB - looks like I was lucky when I did similar - used an L pressure plate between my EA81 and 4 speed. Could drive and shift both ways OK until things got a little warmer. Thought I was perfect until discovered what I had done

I do like the machine the pressure plate trick !! Only one surface to be machined and easier to replace than a flywheel in many cases ....

also comforting to see I am not the only one slow on projects - still 10 years off a turbo Brumby ...and that Brumby at somewhere near a million km on it is beyond worth doing it to - hence B3

a swansong ....

The ALL NEW AUSubaru.com.au Forums

L series 5 speed box wont go into gear

L series 5 speed box wont go into gear

Low high range selector