Reverse gear "crunch".

[SFTWend]

Hi all

I've read that slipping into 5th before dropping into reverse helps the smooth selection of reverse gear with the 500's gearbox. However, is a crunch when selecting reverse in a pre-cat 4.3 quite normal or a sign of an impending big bill?

Thanks in advance to those in the know.

[MikeE]

You’ll have the Rover SD1 LT77 gearbox in a precat, so pretty normal. If you put it in 5th then reverse does it complain, if not it’s fine I reckon

[wuckfitracing]

Yep mines done it for about 8 years now.

[MikeE]

MikeE said:

You’ll have the Rover SD1 LT77 gearbox in a precat, so pretty normal. If you put it in 5th then reverse does it complain, if not it’s fine I reckon

Actually you’d be putting it in 2nd then reverse, I should know that I have a precat too lol

[2gins]

1/3/5 lift clutch, creep slightly forward then goes straight in. Serp Chim.

[blitzracing]

You really need the clutch disengaged as far as it will go to help stop this happening, as it will stop the gears from spinning if you can reduce the clutch drag. Its always worth bleeding the clutch first off, and if you have a spacer between the slave cylinder and bell housing remove it to maximise the slave cylinders full travel. Have a look at the clutch pedal, and see what stops it on full depression- if its not the master cylinder travel, the see of you can adjust the clutch pedal higher to get as much movement as you can for the piston (I dont know the how the Griff is put together in this area however).

[Zener]

2gins said:

1/3/5 lift clutch, creep slightly forward then goes straight in. Serp Chim.

just select 5th on the T5 and reverse will go straight in clunk/grate free , no need for all that shenanigans 1/3/5 etc

[2gins]

Zener said:

just select 5th on the T5 and reverse will go straight in clunk/grate free , no need for all that shenanigans 1/3/5 etc

I meant any of them will do. Based on tales that continually shifting into 5th first then back to reverse isn't good for 5th. If it won't go in to R esily then any of those fwd gears and a tiny creep is good enough.

[blueg33]

MikeE said:

You’ll have the Rover SD1 LT77 gearbox in a precat, so pretty normal. If you put it in 5th then reverse does it complain, if not it’s fine I reckon

This. I always used first before reverse. The G33 had the same box

[Jobster]

2gins said:

Zener said:

just select 5th on the T5 and reverse will go straight in clunk/grate free , no need for all that shenanigans 1/3/5 etc

I meant any of them will do. Based on tales that continually shifting into 5th first then back to reverse isn't good for 5th. If it won't go in to R esily then any of those fwd gears and a tiny creep is good enough.

So you either ruin the 5th or your clutch plates. 5th gear first does it for me few times the R doesn't go straight in

[2gins]

The amount of wear on the clutch is trivial. I'd rather do the clutch very slightly earlier than otherwise, than have the box out for a rebuild (and do the clutch as well while its all apart).

[Zener]

Jobster said:

So you either ruin the 5th or your clutch plates. 5th gear first does it for me few times the R doesn't go straight in

Dont be silly your stalling the spinning input shaft you have synchromesh on the 5 forward gears (not on reverse) if your clutch is laying/dragging that badly you have bigger issues maybe you should of tried that come back with someone who dont know what they are talking about

Edited by Zener on Tuesday 11th February 21:01

[SFTWend]

Thanks for all the helpful replies. Quite normal appears to be consensus.

[Oldred_V8S]

blueg33 said:

This. I always used first before reverse. The G33 had the same box

Same here, no crunch then.