5th doesn't engage any more
Discussion
Hi there,
Hope you guys have an easy and not so expensive solution to a problem that occurred suddenly yesterday.
After approx 1 hour of motorway driving (mostly in 5th gear, steady driving without strong acceleration, max. 80mph) I couldn't engage 5th gear anymore even when applying a bit of force. I tried everything, from third to firth, from neutral to fifth, stopped the car, engine off,... can't engage 5th gear. Same today when I tried again with the car having cooled down completely. All other gears are perfectly fine.
Before this happened I don't recall any abnormal noise and also when trying to engage 5th there is no mechanical noise/scratching, it just doesn't work.
Car is a 1997 Cerb 4.2, totally standard, never had any gearbox problems apart from the odd slave cylinder leakage.
Thanks upfront for your thoughts!
Leo
Hope you guys have an easy and not so expensive solution to a problem that occurred suddenly yesterday.
After approx 1 hour of motorway driving (mostly in 5th gear, steady driving without strong acceleration, max. 80mph) I couldn't engage 5th gear anymore even when applying a bit of force. I tried everything, from third to firth, from neutral to fifth, stopped the car, engine off,... can't engage 5th gear. Same today when I tried again with the car having cooled down completely. All other gears are perfectly fine.
Before this happened I don't recall any abnormal noise and also when trying to engage 5th there is no mechanical noise/scratching, it just doesn't work.
Car is a 1997 Cerb 4.2, totally standard, never had any gearbox problems apart from the odd slave cylinder leakage.
Thanks upfront for your thoughts!
Leo
Not the same car, i have the two seater rag-top Cerbera,
just the same gearbox.
When I first had my Chimaera I suddenly lost reverse on a long journey. The ball bearing and spring that works the mechanism and also switches the reversing light on had come out and dropped into the bottom of the box, a week before my warranty expired.
I saw the bill, admittedly at trade rates, from my TVR guy to the selling garage, and it was under £500 inc VAT. So if all you have lost is the circlip, the bill may not be too wallet-life-threatening if you act quickly.
Also, whilst UKkid has 10 times more TVR experience than I do, when I saw the thread title my immediate thought was that something in the gearbox mounting was loose, stopping the lever from moving far enough forwards to engage the gear. I will see if I can find where I read that.
just the same gearbox. When I first had my Chimaera I suddenly lost reverse on a long journey. The ball bearing and spring that works the mechanism and also switches the reversing light on had come out and dropped into the bottom of the box, a week before my warranty expired.
I saw the bill, admittedly at trade rates, from my TVR guy to the selling garage, and it was under £500 inc VAT. So if all you have lost is the circlip, the bill may not be too wallet-life-threatening if you act quickly.
Also, whilst UKkid has 10 times more TVR experience than I do, when I saw the thread title my immediate thought was that something in the gearbox mounting was loose, stopping the lever from moving far enough forwards to engage the gear. I will see if I can find where I read that.
Edited by QBee on Sunday 18th October 10:24
Englishman said:
These might help:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=3&a...
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
http://allautosinfo.com/discussion/10988690/fitfth...
All of these threads mention noises, ranging from whistle/clunk, to horrible graunch.http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=3&a...
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
http://allautosinfo.com/discussion/10988690/fitfth...
The OP's box was silent, he just cannot get 5th.
Hi Go Leo,
I hope all of this has nothing to do with your gearbox, and you will be back to driving soon and without any hassle.
So you can read the following just for entertainment:
I had a similar issue with the gearbox in my car.
Shifting into fifth did feel a bit awkward, as if not engaged, at the second attempt fifth felt completely "empty".
No sounds from the gearbox I was aware of at any time.
It turned out there were more or less no teeth on the gears of fifth after that.
In the following days I heard "That's just what they do" so often I tend to believe it now.
And after some more time I learned to be grateful the gearbox did not lock up completely.
I was probably close to twice as fast at the time -no nice thought.
Gearbox out and in is not too bad. That is after doing it twice as the first replacement was leaking.
I am not the hero mechanic it takes to do it alone and on axle stands, though.
You will find those on here and I have utmost respect for them.
I had somebody to show me first time, greatly recommended(!), a proper ramp and some time.
Worst parts were removing the bolts joining the bell housing to the engine.
Someone had ruined the ones from gearbox to bellhousing. And yes, the gearbox was replaced before.
Taking both manifolds off makes removal of the box a lot easier. Taking only one off worked for removal but not refitting.
It seems to be agreed on there is a way to do it with manifolds I place, just I could not see it.
The unpleasant part of resealing the manifolds is gone as there are proper gaskets for the manifolds. They are way easier to fit and did not leak. Not as quickly as the first replacement gearbox, anyway.
After I gave up hoping to drive the car in it's first season in my ownership I almost enjoyed the spannering.
Good luck.
Henning
I hope all of this has nothing to do with your gearbox, and you will be back to driving soon and without any hassle.
So you can read the following just for entertainment:
I had a similar issue with the gearbox in my car.
Shifting into fifth did feel a bit awkward, as if not engaged, at the second attempt fifth felt completely "empty".
No sounds from the gearbox I was aware of at any time.
It turned out there were more or less no teeth on the gears of fifth after that.
In the following days I heard "That's just what they do" so often I tend to believe it now.
And after some more time I learned to be grateful the gearbox did not lock up completely.
I was probably close to twice as fast at the time -no nice thought.
Gearbox out and in is not too bad. That is after doing it twice as the first replacement was leaking.
I am not the hero mechanic it takes to do it alone and on axle stands, though.
You will find those on here and I have utmost respect for them.
I had somebody to show me first time, greatly recommended(!), a proper ramp and some time.
Worst parts were removing the bolts joining the bell housing to the engine.
Someone had ruined the ones from gearbox to bellhousing. And yes, the gearbox was replaced before.
Taking both manifolds off makes removal of the box a lot easier. Taking only one off worked for removal but not refitting.
It seems to be agreed on there is a way to do it with manifolds I place, just I could not see it.
The unpleasant part of resealing the manifolds is gone as there are proper gaskets for the manifolds. They are way easier to fit and did not leak. Not as quickly as the first replacement gearbox, anyway.
After I gave up hoping to drive the car in it's first season in my ownership I almost enjoyed the spannering.
Good luck.
Henning
Removing bell to engine bolts is eased greatly with a very long 3/8" extension and ball ended Allen sockets. You feed it from right beyond the tailshaft of the box and an assistant guides the allen end into the bolts, note ball ended ones as they allow a bit more of a working angle and drop in easier.
Had no trouble doing the whole job several times with the manifolds on. If anything having them to sit the box on helped a little, not the whole weight of course. You need them in place when you fit and tighten the gearbox mount or they will not end up centered between the chassis rails and will likely rattle. Getting the bolts out that hold the gearlever to the box took me longer than the bell housing bolts. Once the box was out I dropped the bell with the starter still in place, saves the pain of bolting it back on later.
So far I've been lucky with boxes but maybe I shouldn't have said that..
Had no trouble doing the whole job several times with the manifolds on. If anything having them to sit the box on helped a little, not the whole weight of course. You need them in place when you fit and tighten the gearbox mount or they will not end up centered between the chassis rails and will likely rattle. Getting the bolts out that hold the gearlever to the box took me longer than the bell housing bolts. Once the box was out I dropped the bell with the starter still in place, saves the pain of bolting it back on later.
So far I've been lucky with boxes but maybe I shouldn't have said that..
fatjon said:
Removing bell to engine bolts is eased greatly with a very long 3/8" extension and ball ended Allen sockets. You feed it from right beyond the tailshaft of the box and an assistant guides the allen end into the bolts, note ball ended ones as they allow a bit more of a working angle and drop in easier.
fatjon said:
softtop said:
QBee said:
All I can find are discussions about losing 5th due to the clutch release fork bending. Sorry, hope I have not started a red herring running.
I had this. New clutch please. I have exactly the same problem. 5th gear isn't there. I have no noise from the box that would suggest anything has shattered. It will occasionally go into 5th and will behave normally while there. It won't go in with the engine off either. I have driven mine for a about a thousand miles I think with no further issues.
I wonder if Qbee you are referring to the selector forks in the gearbox. These do wear and you can replace the pads.
I have a spare box but haven't had a chance to get the old one off and apart yet. I will report back when I am in the mood for grovelling on the floor for a few hours.
I wonder if Qbee you are referring to the selector forks in the gearbox. These do wear and you can replace the pads.
I have a spare box but haven't had a chance to get the old one off and apart yet. I will report back when I am in the mood for grovelling on the floor for a few hours.
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