Stiff gear shift

[Rottbott]

I was driving along the other day, shifted to 4th and noticed the stick was unusually stiff to move into gear. Coming to a roundabout I went through third and second, by which time it was really really stiff and I had to force it into second. At that point I didn't dare shift any more in case it locked up entirely so I drove home in second (those long gear ratios have their uses) and turned it off.

Forced it into neutral and it turns out that it goes ok into 1/3/5, but is really stiff to get into 2/4 and doesn't feel like it has 'locked in' to the slot properly.

I'm hoping it's just a linkage thing, not the synchro or something in the box itself. If it's relevant I did have the pivot bolt in the linkage snap a while ago leaving me with only third, but replacing it sorted that and actually made it feel much nicer and more precise than it did before.

Help!

[stunned_monkey]

Not met that one before..... how's reverse?

It could be pivot bolt related. Definitely worth getting under there for a look

[Rottbott]

Didn't dare try reverse. I'll have a fiddle with the pivot bolt (I really hope that's it). I've also been advised to try changing gears directly at the box to see if the problem is on the linkage side or the inside-gearbox side, so I'll try that tomorrow and post what I find out.

[Guinney1971]

Hi Rob,

just a thought, but after Flopsy had her new clutch fitted (and a 200 mile drive back to Derbyshire), I was finding gears really hard to engage.

Next day, we pressure bled the clutch system, topped up with fresh clutch fluid, and its been fine ever since.

Have you got a stainless clutch line fitted?

[stunned_monkey]

I caught myself thinking "clutch" too but it's only 2nd and 4th. But Claire's right mate, check the clutch reservoir and also the pedal box where the m/c goes through the floor - and for drips under the gearbox.

Rob has a stainless clutch line

[Guinney1971]

Rob,

if you need one, I have got a brand new clutch slave cylinder, I bought it for Flopsy but it turned out I didnt need it in the end.

You can have it for what it owes me. PM me if you do need it.

Cheers,

[Rottbott]

Thanks for the offer, but the slave cylinder already got replaced when Martin did the clutch. All the more reason it shouldn't be that (the master cylinder also got ths seals done as I recall). Also it's much, much stiffer than it should be even if I didn't use the clutch at all.

I had a brief look under there today (as far as I dared without axle stands, must buy some) on a suggestion from Martin, and it seems like a line from the accumulator may have slipped its moorings and dropped down, gumming up the works. There's at least one tube hanging down past the water pipes which I'm sure is not meant to be there, so it seems a likely explanation. If it's that simple I'll be quite relieved.

So the current plan is to get it up on axle stands as best as I can on the drive, and try to zip tie the lines out of the way. I wish I had a hoist!

[Rottbott]

Right! I got under there properly today, and the hanging down line doesn't seem to be in the way of anything critical. I don't really know what it's doing there, but it's not the cause of my present problem.

I disconnected the shift tube from the gearbox end of the linkage, and tried changing gears just with that section, and it worked perfectly -- so the problem is somewhere on the tube side! I felt around for obstructions near the pivot and found nothing, it moved freely. I also looked down the hole where the actual lever is and found nothing but some old dry pieces of sweetcorn, presumably Canadian. Next I took the pivot bolt out, gave it lots of WD40, and put it back in, reconnected everything, and suddenly it worked just fine. Strange!

I suspect that some time when I go over a bump it's going to come back, but at least I know it's just the linkage and I won't break anything by forcing it. My guess is that something has got wedged next to the tube between the lever and pivot, which unfortunately seems very difficult indeed to even have a look at, let alone fiddle with. At least it's not an expensive gearbox problem. :)

[Paul O'Malley]

I have seen two cars that the pivots of the gear stick itself had partly seized . You have to take the whole lot out and drive the pivots out to clean it all up.