Well after getting a down light from screwfix £2:02 and following the above instructions all fixed in 10 min

Thanks guys amazing info

I've just fitted a replacement gear knob to my F/L2 automatic. The link to the pictorial instruction suggested by contributor ad210358 was useful. Here's a couple of tips. Tying a cable tie/zip tie round the boot/gaiter prevents the lock ring from falling down the shaft out of reach. The hole in the top of the boot/gaiter is too small for the lock ring to come out above it. When fitting the new knob, depress the button, otherwise, when fully located on the shaft, the button will not depress and the selector shaft will still be able to operate through all four positions, risking 'Reverse' selection from 'Drive' when trying to select 'Neutral'. When re-fitting the lock ring, apply a small amount of upward pressure to it through the boot/gaiter to raise it as far as possible. This will allow the four 'legs' at the bottom of the knob to pass inside the boot/gaiter, allowing the lock ring to be refitted whilst at the same time trapping, or 'pinching' the top edge of the boot/gaiter between the lock ring and the underside of the exposed part of the knob, thus ensuring a tidy, finished appearance.

I used a small (3/4 inch) binder clip, and that did the trick in providing the spring needed. You can get them anywhere.

https://www.amazon.com/ACC72100-Large-Bind...B002VD6BLG
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I've just got a new spring from aliexpress. Perfect fit.

You'll find it here: Link to spring

Price: 11$

/The Dane

You could cheat...

I cut a chunk off of a green foam garden kneeling pad thing, trimmed it to fit in the knob, then clipped the button back on.

More than enough squishy spring to make it all work happily

https://www.homebase.co.uk/gardening-knee-pad_p374076

Click image to enlarge

Thank you to everyone on this thread. Just fixed my selector button. Knew I saved that box of downlighter spares for a reason... was going to throw them out the other day!

Top three tips:

1. Tie a cable tie or elastic band around the boot before starting, my locking collar dropped straight to bottom of the shaft leaving the boot stuck at the top.

2. The forceful pull upwards might take the boot with it if it was caught in the knob’s clip, and if so upon lifting can take the entire facia panel out with it! This happened to me but luckily no harm done.

3. Take care to tension the replacement spring just right else you will do untoward strain on the weak plastic hinge lugs of the button. At first mine was too strongly set and would have worked the lugs out of place after a few uses. I carefully filed the lugs to remove any old swarf to ensure a good fit in the holes.

Thanks. Couple of photos of the job:





 Freelander 2 HST

The button on the drive stick is a known problem by LR. They tried to fix mine without telling me, but they broke something else in the process so I became aware of the issue. I had to wait weeks few the new secondary part to then get both things fixed. Procrastination, mankind's greatest labour saving device!

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Wow, what a doddle when you know what to look for! Took me all of 30 secs.

I couldn't remove the knob as per instructions; clipping the gaiter, turning the hidden lock nut etc. so I left the knob in Drive position. Levered of the press button and revealed the broken spring. Could see how the new spring was supposed to operate but couldn't figure out how to hold it all in position whilst refixing the press button, and was using a mirror and torch for better observation. But after re-reading this thread and instructions discovered that there are two tiny holes in the recessed crown of the knob for the two sharp ends of the spring to fit into. BINGO, job done.

Hi all,

I've just done the replacement of the spring and one tip I may give is that the two "ends" of the spring have to be slided in the two small holes located inside the knob.

I didn't know how to maintain the spring in place while replacing the knob onto the inner shaft.

Also, I've ordered a new spring at Aliexpress for less than 3£...Just be patient with the delivery

Hope this helps. Freelander 2 XS 2.2 SD4 automatic MY2012

I have the dreaded spring problem and this thread has been a great help in sorting this.

However, I have a different issue in that the lever gaiter has parted company with the clip that attaches to the knob itself. For the life of me I cannot figure out how it is attached. A tie wrap is involved as this came off, but how does the gaiter material wrap over the clip and where is tie wrap fixed?

Can anyone shed any light?

Thanks. Andy
Freelander2 HSE (59 Plate, MY10 spec)

Found somebody on ebay who sells the spring...


https://www.ebay.com/itm/154018606102?_trk...EsQAvD_BwE

andyk159 wrote:

However, I have a different issue in that the lever gaiter has parted company with the clip that attaches to the knob itself. For the life of me I cannot figure out how it is attached. A tie wrap is involved as this came off, but how does the gaiter material wrap over the clip and where is tie wrap fixed?

Can anyone shed any light?

Thanks.

Fixed my gear knob today, thanks for the fantastic write up!

Just had a new knob fitted by my local garage as I have had a problem with the button not pressing in intermittently, which was remedied by pressing it a few times and it worked. I then noticed that I could feel part of what I presume is the spring protruding through the gap at the bottom end of the button so it must have been a part of the broken spring.

When I collected the car after the garage fitted the new knob and shifted the knob from park to drive the button pressed in far, far less than it did when I dropped it off for the job to be done. The button feels like it's moving just a few millimetres now when before it went in (what felt like) nearly 2 centimetres.


I'm not sure whether this is because this is a brand new knob and that's the way it should operate and I was used to the broken one which had much move travel in the button. Could any automatic owners please advise on how much travel is in their buttons so that I can compare?

Also, I have just tested it while stationary and the knob is also shifting between PRN & D with the brake pedal depressed but without the need to depress the knob button

When my knob was replaced by the dealer, it worked and felt the same as the original.