I have already read through all the articles passed in reply to muppets question on how a range change works, and have driven one two occasions, the first being my training vehicle, a volvo, but last night I found a problem, in a Scania.
As i was driving up a hill I would need to drop a cog, as I put the power back down I found I was freewheeling, not good when gravity wants to take 15 tonne back down the hill.
This was not always happening through the range gate, occasionly 5th-4th or 4th-3rd
Is there a reason why this is happening, other than me having to put the L plates back on!
Mat…
The Range Change is a lot slower to select than a split… it sounds like you are trying to get into the lower gear too quickly, and the range change is left in limbo
Try making the down shift gear lever movement slightly slower and see if it still leaves you in neutral… if iot still does the Range Change might have a worn selector and need to be seen by workshops
hmmm i wonder if its due to you flicking the range change switch as you pass through neutral, instead of pre-selecting it a split secound earlier then doing the stick movement.
As Rikki says the range change is a lot slower than a splitter.
It could be that you are trying to change down into low range to soon.
What I do in my truck is, when going up a steep hill hang on to fifth gear for a little bit longer and then block change down to third instead of fourth.
A lot of range changers will NOT let you select a low range gear above 15 mph. That is probably the problem you are hitting. Atki is right, hold onto the high range gears for longer before going down. Some boxes are harder to range shift (iveco slapover is a prime example), and I spent quite a few miles in queues praying I could stay in high range and not have to shift down.
Mat…
Whenever I have to go into low range I always listen for the loud “click” as I,m putting the gearshift through neutral. That lets me know the change has worked correctly, same applies to changing up.
