3CX stuck in gear

[Rob-b]

Hi guys

Our 3 CX is stuck in gear and can't budge it. We had the same problem last year and put it to a mechanic who said it winds up when in 4 wheel drive and he freed it by stripping the gear box, ££££'s. it has done it again. We are conscious of this and is always put back into two drive and loked down until we need the 4 wheels again.

any ideas?

[Muz]

Hi Rob .. I take it this is one with a Fwd/reverse shuttle ?

[ianoz]

Yes Rob , Bit more info required .Fitters pull the gearbox apart story does not sound right .Case580E ,you had to reverse to relieve the binding on the gears to get it out of 4WD .
Old Cat crawlers had locks via clutch linkage to stop it jumping out of gear ,maybe JCB has something the same ?

[Wazza]

We have a Massey 4x4 which has a slightly lower ratio to the front wheels ,it suffers from wind up on hard surfaces but usually after reversing a fraction to relieve the pressure on the gears it pops out of 4x4 ok ....
What if you jack up the front or back wheels and rock them back and forth to release the gearbox lockup ??? just a thought as opening it up sounds drastic.....

[Stock]

May be a worn selector or selector shaft which is allowing two gears to be selected at once.......

[Wazza]

Sort of what I was thinking ,or along the lines of shims or endplay or something ...

[Rob-b]

Had the mechanic out and he confirmed it was stuck in forth and couldn't budge it. He recons when they opened it last time they needed to replace bearings and stuff on the 4x4 side and that this could be a sheared pin or something stopping it from coming out of gear. He says he will need to brake it open again ££££££'s.

Forward and reverse on a lever Muz yep.

I have just had all of the folk lifting gear renew or refurbed and am currently going through the machine replacing small but eye pleasing parts of the machine, but think it is time to sell her on and get something a little younger and less hassle .

What do we buy? jeez, we don't do too much digging with this but more scraping the car park, using the forks and grab to shift logs around. Anything out there that would suit us better?

[d4c24a]

replacment

it may pay to source a good second hand box for a straight swap rather than pulling the old one to bits , labour and parts may well come to more
plenty of reputable jcb spares people about