it's possible that something is stuck in your shifter detentes or in the mechanism. there was a ton of crap in mine.....There is no detent divider between drive and 3rd...... doubt it's a bad shifter cable, but worth checking....

The detente dividers are only little plastic boxes, maybe one is damaged??

 

well I found it! A freaking dime! You couldn't hardly see it but it was wedged out of sight! Funny I started out checking fusses and cables, looking for a genuine problem.. I'm so used to weird Rover problems.. I started with series diagnosis.. Never thought of a dime being the problem. That explains the tension I felt. It was the dime being wedged into place..

 

Too funny, in a weird sort of way! Glad it's fixed.

 

yeah me too..thanks for all the help

 

Nice! Mine had toothpicks.....

Don't get too excited, your Disco will want that dime back plus interest in the next few months.....