Land Rover Repair: 1998 Discovery LSE- Transmission, speed transfer case, speed shifter

Question
Hi John,
I recently purchased a 98 Discovery LSE, when driving it home I noticed that it had a hard time shifting into third gear (automatic)the truck actually shook at 50 mph and then I could feel it move into the next gear. I spoke to the person that sold it to me and he told me that he had no problems with the transmission and that possibly the car was in low gear on the two-speed transfer case. First, it looks like it is locked into high from where it is positioned but for the life of me I cant get it to move. I have tried putting the car in neutral, park nothing seems to work.
I guess I have two questions here. The first is how do I get the two-speed shifter to move and the second question is what do you think about the tranny having problems shifting into a higher gear.


Answer
I think the low range shifter is probably stuck with rust - that's very common.  It could take several hours and a lot of penetrating oil for a mechanic to work it free.  If the vehicle has a hard time shifting into top gear there is something wrong inside the transmission.  Did you check the fluid?  Is it full, and not burnt smelling?  Therre are no electronics involved in the transmission on that truck; it's all mechanical.