'Sticky' gearbox (4-cyl)

W

Willy Eckerslyke

Well-Known Member
The 2000TC I resurrected after it had been sitting unused for 15 years has a rather notchy gearchange. A few times it's been difficult to select any gear while cold, then fine for the rest of the day. Yesterday I tried to start the car to drive home from the Cropredy Festival where it had been parked for 3 days and the starter just went clunk as if it was in gear. Pressing the clutch down, reselecting neutral and generally waggling the gearlever around made no difference. It felt as if gears could be selected normally and that neutral really was neutral but the car felt as if it was stuck in gear.
So I left it for half an hour, tried again and everything it was fine.

Any thoughts?
I can't remember if I changed the gearbox oil, so I'll do that anyway. I did replace the clutch, and it seems to be working normally though I'll check if the setting's changed.
 
I think that you are not clear enough with the symptoms.
What you describe regarding the starter operation could well be a misbehaving solenoid, or a sticking pinion, especially with an inertia starter.
If you want to verify the neutral, you could try to push the car a little. Obviously, a car that remains in gear despite the fact that the gearlever says the opposite, would not want to move. Also, if you operate the starter with the car in gear, the starter would not just clunk, it would try to move the car.

Gearbox oil does make a difference on the gearchange feel, and as it has been suggested before, a good 20W50 that was designed to be shared between the engine and the gearbox is the best choice.
I use Mobil 1 for motorcycles and the gearchange quality is excellent even after 6 or more months of use.
 
Sorry, it's not an easy thing to describe clearly. Unfortunately the car was parked with the front wheels in a dip so I couldn't rock it back and forth and the starter couldn't move it, but it certainly sounded as if it was trying to. The sound was different from a starter with the pinion jammed in the flywheel though that does seem the most obvious explanation. I'd been staying with the stage crew (it was a music festival) so I asked one to bring a Manitou to give me a tow, but by the time he arrived the car had cured itself. Or the sight of a 6ft4 roadie driving 10tons of heavy metal persuaded it to give up the fight!

I'll drain the gearbox oil tonight and see if anything unpleasant comes out with it. Replacing it certainly won't do any harm.

Thanks.
 
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