New Tuscan - gear box clunky

[campbrc]

Hi I've just got a Tuscan Mk1 last weekend. Brought it from a specialist car dealer, but he didn't know much about TVR's mainly specialised on Cobras. The gear box seems very clunky and it's impossible to put it in reverse with out it dropping in and doing the usual grinding of gears. 1st and 2nd are difficult. once you're0 moving, and have the revs up, then the gears up/down to 2nd is fine.

Should I be concerned?

Car is brilliant, haven't stopped smiling.

[billynomates]

campbrc said:

Hi I've just got a Tuscan Mk1 last weekend. Brought it from a specialist car dealer, but he didn't know much about TVR's mainly specialised on Cobras. The gear box seems very clunky and it's impossible to put it in reverse with out it dropping in and doing the usual grinding of gears. 1st and 2nd are difficult. once you're0 moving, and have the revs up, then the gears up/down to 2nd is fine. Should I be concerned? Car is brilliant, haven't stopped smiling.

I think you should be concerned....IMO you have one knackered clutch there.

Had the same symtoms myself as others on here have ....take it back to the dealers.

[NCE 61]

You should go into 5th gear before selecting reverse to avoid the clunk. When warmed up the gearbox should be quiet smooth, might be worth checking the clutch fluid level as slave cylinder seal leakage is a known problem.

[Tuska]

The clutch may well be bad, they go at around 20000 miles IMHO.

HOWEVER, the reverse thing is quite normal. You must press the clutch and move the lever to 5th gear before taking it down to reverse. This works every time.

Have fun

[yzf1070]

If the mileage is approaching or higher than the 20K mark its possible that the clutch pressure plate is starting to fail. The fingers break off and gear selection becomes increasingly more difficult as time/miles pass by. This leads on to.... has the car got a TVR FSH ? If so it should say if the clutch has been replaced or not. If the car does not have a FSH then in my opinion you could be taking a big cost risk in buying the car.

Do a search on "clutch" within the forum and you can read for yourself. However don't be put off and test drive a few cars coz there are a few knackers out there. Get a good one and they are so so so rewarding to drive.

Regards
G

[campbrc]

Thanks for the feedback. I'll try the 5th gear trick to see if this helps. As I brought the car up from Hampshire taking it back to the dealer may not be an option. But good news is they did give me 1 years warrentee, so will take it into the local TVR dealer and get them to check it.

thanks.

[campbrc]

yzf1070 said:

If the mileage is approaching or higher than the 20K mark its possible that the clutch pressure plate is starting to fail. The fingers break off and gear selection becomes increasingly more difficult as time/miles pass by. This leads on to.... has the car got a TVR FSH ? If so it should say if the clutch has been replaced or not. If the car does not have a FSH then in my opinion you could be taking a big cost risk in buying the car. Do a search on "clutch" within the forum and you can read for yourself. However don't be put off and test drive a few cars coz there are a few knackers out there. Get a good one and they are so so so rewarding to drive. Regards G

Thanks. Yes has FSH. And the milage is 23,500. Just check the paperwork and the clust pressure plate is not listed as replaced so looks likely. The odd thing is apart from the reverse problem (whic I guess was a TVR quirk), the gear box was ok during my test drive. I notice it mostly as I drove it up to Glasgow.

Thanks for all the replies, impressed with this forum and glad to be part of it.

[billynomates]

I have no need to select 5th before engaging reverse or any other gear...

But I have a new clutch

Its not only the fingers that break either the springs on the outer edge of the clutch have a habit of going tits up.
Also you will not get the cluth pressure plate replaced only.. its the whole assembly..about £1200.

As a note of warning.. others on here whether under a WC or not have had a pretty hard time of it once their car has been seen by a third party and not gone back to the point of sale for a check over.
As you have only had the car for such a short time I would suggest you speak to your dealer first.

[basil brush]

billynomates said:

I have no need to select 5th before engaging reverse or any other gear... But I have a new clutch

The 5th before reverse thing is a feature of the gearbox itself, nothing to do with the state of the clutch.

It sounds very like the early symptoms I had recently when my clutch was on the way out. When cold, 1st and 2nd were a real pain but would improve as the car warmed up.

[billynomates]

basil brush said:

billynomates said: I have no need to select 5th before engaging reverse or any other gear... But I have a new clutch The 5th before reverse thing is a feature of the gearbox itself, nothing to do with the state of the clutch. It sounds very like the early symptoms I had recently when my clutch was on the way out. When cold, 1st and 2nd were a real pain but would improve as the car warmed up.

What ever ....... I'm just stating I do not need to engage another gear before reverse so its not a feature with mine

[justinp1]

billynomates said:

basil brush said: billynomates said: I have no need to select 5th before engaging reverse or any other gear... But I have a new clutch The 5th before reverse thing is a feature of the gearbox itself, nothing to do with the state of the clutch. It sounds very like the early symptoms I had recently when my clutch was on the way out. When cold, 1st and 2nd were a real pain but would improve as the car warmed up. What ever ....... I'm just stating I do not need to engage another gear before reverse so its not a feature with mine

Depends on the age of the car, and thus the gearbox. I think it was the 2000 and 2001 cars which had the older gearbox which needs 5th (or 1st as well I think) to get reverse to synch properly.

[billynomates]

justinp1 said:

billynomates said: basil brush said: billynomates said: I have no need to select 5th before engaging reverse or any other gear... But I have a new clutch The 5th before reverse thing is a feature of the gearbox itself, nothing to do with the state of the clutch. It sounds very like the early symptoms I had recently when my clutch was on the way out. When cold, 1st and 2nd were a real pain but would improve as the car warmed up. What ever ....... I'm just stating I do not need to engage another gear before reverse so its not a feature with mine Depends on the age of the car, and thus the gearbox. I think it was the 2000 and 2001 cars which had the older gearbox which needs 5th (or 1st as well I think) to get reverse to synch properly.

Good point .... but BB's Tuscan is the same year as mine so I stand by my previous post..no need to select a forward gear before reverse.... in my case anyway

[basil brush]

billynomates said:

justinp1 said: billynomates said: basil brush said: billynomates said: I have no need to select 5th before engaging reverse or any other gear... But I have a new clutch The 5th before reverse thing is a feature of the gearbox itself, nothing to do with the state of the clutch. It sounds very like the early symptoms I had recently when my clutch was on the way out. When cold, 1st and 2nd were a real pain but would improve as the car warmed up. What ever ....... I'm just stating I do not need to engage another gear before reverse so its not a feature with mine Depends on the age of the car, and thus the gearbox. I think it was the 2000 and 2001 cars which had the older gearbox which needs 5th (or 1st as well I think) to get reverse to synch properly. Good point .... but BB's Tuscan is the same year as mine so I stand by my previous post..no need to select a forward gear before reverse.... in my case anyway

Whatever mate. You've obviously got a good box. All I was pointing out was that having to select 5th before reverse is not a sign of a clutch on it's way out as it's usually a feature of the box.

[tonytusc]

hi i also have a 2004 tuscan and got to select 5gear before selecting reverse
thanks tony

[aaandy]

With every TVR I have ever known, you have to select a forward gear (1st 3rd or 5th, your choice) before selecting reverse from neutral. It is just a feature of the T5 gear box.

Seems like there is one exception on here (have you got a close ratio gear box?) but as far as I know you need to do this with every normal box on TVRs. So this particular point is certainly not a fault. They all do that sir!

[sideways mostly]

Close ratio box on my 2003 Tuscan was exactly the same-dealer told me on both that one and my T350 that you need to select 5th and then reverse.

[bjwoods]

T5 box. Any forward gear, then reverse.. (not a clutch problem)

Thought it was me being useless for about 6 years, and 2 griffs.....

B

[mcspreader]

My 2000 tusc has on off probs with reverse gear selection. Its caused by the selector being out of adjustment. Your TVR dealer can sort this very easily. If it were the clutch the forwards gears would present similar although lesser probs.

[campbrc]

So I can see that this post has continued around the reversing feature of a T gear box. For my problem it was the clutch that had gone. Two days after asking for help the clutch went completely. This was on the day I was going to take it to the garage to get it checked.

So after a pointless discussion with the AA about how far they will do a recovery under 'home start' seems my garage was 60 mils and AA homestart only do a recovery within 30 miles.

Any way, end result was the warentee was good and covered the clutch replacement. Cost was £600 for a clutch plus labour and VAT end result £1000 to get it back on the road. I'm collecting it tomorrow so will see if the reversing feature is still there, but the mechanic has told me like so many of these posts that this is a feature of a Tuscan.

[simon t]

Hi it's not a Tuscan specific feature it's T5 gearbox feature, same box in the Griff, Chimeara and Sierra cosworth

Simon

BTW Went to drive my Tuscan today and cant get it in any gear as cluch is not working...bugger!