Range Rover gearbox gone a bit spongey

[AshleyO]

Rover 3.9 V8 gearbox
Suddenly 4th to 5th is almost impossible, and access to other gears is now a bit hit and miss, with the gearbox feeling less gate, and more sponge
Getting to the gearbox itself, or even the base of the gear lever is a whopper of a job that will in itself take a weekend, the way my car is set up
I have had advice it could just be gearbox fluid, and others to say that it is the plate at the base of the gear lever
Anyone any ideas before I start down a very labour-intensive waste of time??
RSVP ASAP

[Dick]

Sounds like the plate to me

[AshleyO]

so it was a large grubscrew half way along the gear lever selector shaft, it had loosened off sufficiently for there to be no real linkage
Whilst there, given that the area is almost inaccessible, I replaced the gear lever selector cap, which is renowned for breaking away from the single bolt tab that holds it down, replaced the anti-rattle spring and nylon tip in the gear selector ball, and have a plan to change the 8 rubber bushes too, since these have a reputation for wearing away on the R380 gearbox
Job's a goodun!
Ashley