recon gearbox

[selectsands]

some advise would be appreciated, last wednesday my Citroën relay 2.8 hdi (51 plate) decided that since christmas was coming up it would want its present early. driving along happily i pulled up to let a car go by and when i tried to select 1st gear no joy and the same with 2nd....luckily 3rd was still there and with some revs i pullled away, struggled home cursing everytime i had to stop and then start again slipping the clutch like mad in 3rd, tried reversing into my drive, found reverse no probs but even with the clutch down it wouldn't dis engage and i had to wrestle it out of gear and then it seemed stuck in some forward gear, not sure which but maybe 1st or 2nd.

after some dicussion some have said the selector on the gearbox is the problem others had said i need to recon the gearbox.

all thoughts welcome but please make sure they a relevent to my specific van as its has been confusing in the past, the 2.8 hdi is some what different to the others in the relay/boxer/ducato ranges and some suggestions have lead me on wild goose chases

thanks

[CitroJim]

I guess this vehicle will have an ML5 type gearbox or some variant of it.

In which case, it'll more than likely have a cable-operated gearchange.

The cables and the linkages external to the gearbox are therefore the very first and prime suspect. The symptoms point to that at face-value. One of the two cables is more than likely at fault, either popped off the ball-end or snapped.

Gearboxes themselves very rarely give selector problems like this so I would suggest it is innocent despite being pronounced initially the guilty party.

[BX]

Fiat Ducato??? Left to right to left movement often seizes due to corrosion on a shaft on top of the gearbox. Only 3rd & 4th can be got with ease. Have a helper waggle the gear lever left to right whilst the offending article is sprayed with WD40 or similar. If it frees up your problem is solved until you get time to do a proper clean & lube job. If thats not the problem, it may well be a remove the gearbox job as they ale known to fail internally as well.
PS. 2.8HDI is actually an Iveco (Sofim) engine available as a 2.8 & 2.3 in all 3 brands of Sevel Sud vans
EDIT. Not absolutely sure about gearbox on 2.8 but above problem is common on 2.3.

[selectsands]

have checked gearbox cables and they both seem complete and working, the shaft that the cables rotate is corroded a bit and apon removing the gear box have found that a seal must have gone as the oil is a milky white colour and very water like!

its abit beyond me to fix the gearbox, so will be sending it off to a chap....any idea what sort of cost reconditioning the gearbox will be

cheers