I bought my 1985 90 one year ago in the UK and drove it to eastern Poland.
Although the g/box(es?) are prone to whines and internal rattles, esp. in 4 wheel drive, I have had no real problems till today.
Whilst accelerating steadily in 3rd gear the whole transmission system locked and the engine stalled. I had absolutely no control as the car slid and skidded to a halt.
After some moments I restarted the engine - no problem- and was able to proceed in 1st untill it happened again after a few metres. Several times this happened and my limited confidence in proceeding forward increased until about the 5th time after which I was able to proceed without repetition in 2nd and/or 3rd until I reached home (about 5km). I am able to engage all gears - incl reverse, without problem.
Understandably I was/am extremely reluctant to try to drive normally.
In this region of Poland (Podlasie) I know of no LR dealers, however, my Polish colleague has fornd a guy who 'knows about' 4x4 transmission systems. I will meet this guy next Monday (27.12.2010).
Can anyone possibly advise me as to what might have caused the problem(s?) I have so that I might be able to point the guy in the right direction ? All and any advice or comment will be extremely welcome. Thank you :-)

 

What exactly do you mean when you say "the whole transmission system locked"?

I have had a clutch release bearing go bad and the clutch would not disengage and I was stuck in one gear.
If I stopped the engine stalled because the transmission was still in gear.
This was not on a Rover, but a manual transmission is a manual transmission.