Notes on Disco 2 CDL Linkage Installation

[awatkins]

I just finished the installation of a 2004 Disco transfer case linkage into my 99 D2 to enable the CDL. What follows are some notes that may be useful to others. Most of this had to do with the console removal and reinstallation and so is applicable regardless of which shifter (D1 or 2004 D2) you are installing.

There are two execellent documents related to this subject:

David Warren's "Disco I CDL install into a Disco II CDL" at http://dpwarren.com/disco/cdl/doc/DI..._2008-8-24.pdf
and a description of what I did at http://www.discovery2.co.uk/diff_lock.html.

1. USA/Japan D2 Linkage Interlock solenoid -- The American version of the 2004 D2 t-case linkage includes a shift interlock solenoid inside the large cylindrical casting at the foot of the shifter. This is redundant with the one built internally to the t-case in earlier discos, and must be removed (or wired in parallel). Removing it is accomplished by cutting away the clear RTV that seals it in, removing the underlying large circlip, and pulling out the solenoid by its shaft. This leaves its two-conductor cable running through a hole in the casting. You can either cut off the connector to pull the wire through, or remove the connector shell by lifting, from the front of the shell, the small (~ 1mm) plastic latches that hold the connector pins in place. While lifting up on the tabs, pull the wires out from the rear. BTW, the service manual indicates the reason for these interlocks is to prevent someone's shifting the t-case without having the key, rather than it's being a matter of speed.
2. Cable Adjustment Nuts: the second writeup above identifies these as 22 mm. hex. Mine are 24 mm.
3. Tunnel Closing Plate On Top: when putting the console back together, it is easier to install the tunnel closing plate on top. I suspect the factory installed it on the bottom because they did so from "underneath" the body shell. Doing this raises it about 1/8" of course but that doesn't matter.
4. Tinnerman Nuts on the Closing Plate -- It's also easier and more "service friendly" to fasten the closing plate back down with threaded fasteners rather than 5 mm rivets. I did this with tinnerman u-nuts and #8 pan-head screws.
5. Closing Plate gasket -- The "seal" or foam rubber gasket that seals the closing plate is part number awr5525 and costs $9.58. I used adhesive-back foam weatherstripping tape which I had on hand.
6. Homemade Lever w/ washer, or buy from Ashcroft -- You might think from the parts book that the infamous short actuating lever for the CDL that mounts to the t-case comes with part number FRC8041. It doesn't. That lever is "off" by 90 degrees. Apparently FRC8041 is really for a D1-style mechanical linkage which pulls from side to side. The 2004 cable linkage pulls for and aft. Since I was installing a 2004-D2 cable linkage, I made my own from 1/8" by 1" steel, but the CDL actuator shaft is designed for a 5 mm thick lever. In my case that required adding a 1/2" id washer to remove the couple mm of vertical play. That vertical play introduced lost motion via rocking of the short lever. Feb 09 David Ashcroft of Ashcroft Transmissions told me he can supply them for 18 GBP.
7. D1 sticker -- The D1 sticker is part number BTR9547 "warning label" and cost about $5.
8. cdl switch wiring -- On my D2 the CDL switch wiring was disconnected and tangled up in wiring above the T-case. I untangled it and plugged it in. You can recognize it by the fact that it is two separate wires, each with a Lucar connector, one wire black with blue stripe, the other black. It doesn't matter which wire goes on which connector.
9. Care in removing handbrake boot -- In unclipping the handbrake boot from the console it's easy to break the tab just to the inside of it, which holds a tinnerman nut to retain the electric window switch panel.
10. Disconnecting Transmission Cable-- Working with the closing panel (eg cutting larger the shifter opening) is much easier if you can remove it completely which requires disconnecting one end of the transmission cable or another. As is pointed out in the first writeup, doing so at the transmission is far easier than dealing with the internal star retainer at the top. Specifically, all it takes is loosening a half turn or so the 13 mm hex nut that clamps the inner cable and unclipping the outer cable with your fingers. The mechanism is "right there" to the right of the transmission under the car.
11. Cupholders -- As mentioned in the threads, it may not be necessary to remove the cupholders. Mine were installed just forward of the transmission shifter and caused no problems being left in place.
12. Square nuts at front of console -- the four points at which the console is retained to the body work use square spring-clip-retained nuts. The two at the front are easily "unclipped" accidentally when you slide the console fully forwards. If this happens, you don't need to removed the console again. Retrieve the nut, hold it underneath it's intended location, and partially thread its screw through the console hole and into the nut. You can then hold the nut by the screw in one hand and manipulate it into position and snap it in with the other through the t-case shifter hole. The front nuts clip in "front-to-rear" so that they cans slide right and left.
13. CDL Cable Bracket -- the bracket on the tcase that terminates the CDL cable is part number igu000030 and costs $6.38.
14. Handbrake Pin -- it can be tricky to install the handbrake lever pin because the cable is under tension. I resolved this by lifting the cable up with a screwdriver through its clevis, and then lightly clamped a narrow-nose vice grip pliers around the cable underneath the clevis. This left both hands free to hold the lever and install the pin.
15. T-case Shifter bolts -- the four 6mm bolts that retain the t-case shifter to the closing plate were loctited in. In one case I used a little too much force in unscrewing the bolt and the head broke off. So, work relatively slowly and steadily when unscrewing those bolts.

Hope this helps.
Alan Watkins