In attempting to change XYZ range switch on 2004 Disco 2. The front bolt was corroded and head snapped off. The bolt is still in transmission. Question is does that bolt really do anything withe overall xyz switch alignment since it does on through spline and back bolt is intact.?? Also should be held in place by linkage... Or do I have to take bolt out?? Can this be done on vehicle or do I have to drop tranny??

 

Being that it's a close quarter to work in I would likely install the switch with the remaining bolt then check switche's security. With a fairly short span between bolts one should hold it. Dropping the trans to just extract the bolt sounds like too much work.

 

Sorry to hear about your problem.

I think there may be some things you can do to try to extract the bolt but unfortunately, I think it will not be easy.

1st you can apply some heat with a torch to the bolt to make it looser. You can find videos in youtube. Be careful if you use oxyacetylene because you can melt the aluminum.

after this, the other method you could try to use is to use a sharp chisel in order to rotate the bolt.

The third method is to find a nut of the proper size, put on top of the broken bolt and weld it. Be careful not to overheat the aluminum of the gearbox.

Another option would be to drill a hole in the center of the bolt and use a bolt extractor, but I think this may be difficult because there is not a lot of room to use a drill. If you can use an angle drill attachment, you can make the hole using small drill bits and increasing the size of the bit until you get a proper size hole to use the bolt extractor.

You can search videos in youtube for all the methods I have described.

 

See this thread. Guy had the same problem.

https://landroverforums.com/forum/di...co-rant-82105/

 

Did it break off flush with the transmission or is some of it exposed with the XYZ switch out of the way?

You could try spraying it literally with penetrating lube, then using a good pair of vise grips and gently try to break it loose. You could use a heat gun to get the surrounding aluminum a bit warmer to help with the removal as well.

If it's broken off 100% flush with the transmission it's going to be much harder to remove. Since it has the rear bolt, and the actual shaft I'd try installing it with just one and see how it works before going crazy with cutting holes in the floor or dropping the transmission.

 

IMHO, faced with the dilemma of the broken XYZ switch broken bolt, as The Deputy states, cur a hole in the transmission tunnel either square or using at least a 3" to 4" rotary tank cutter and drill out the bolt and re-tap the thread in the autobox casting and then fix a steel or alu plate over the hole and mastic it into place and drill and screw or pop rivet it. A relatively simple job to do but ensure to centre pop and centre drill the broken bolt first. The hardest part will be removing the carpet first but all up it's a couple of hours work, job done. Don't forget to re-direct and extend the A/C drain tube otherwise it will all be deja vue

This is a copy from another parallel post called "Disco Rant".