Weighty gearchange ?

[Corin Denton]

Hi , just a short post my gearchange on my 96 400 seems a lot more weighty almost to the point of being very very slightly stiff compared to my mates 95 400 which is ultra smooth , I have no problems with the box and didn't even notice the difference until I drove his , my car has covered 41k and his 48k , do they differ or is there something I can do ? The gear oil was changed at Peninsula at 37k so it shouldn't be that ?

[dannyboyo]

Can't remember when they changed (late 95/early 96 i think) but maybe you've got a Borg Warner T5 box and your mates got an older Rover box.

Saying that though, I've a late '95 Chimaera with a Borg Warner box and my gears are pretty smooth. Last year I test drove a X reg Chimaera 4.5 and the gears on that were well stiff.

I guess they're all different!

[Corin Denton]

Sorry ,forgot to mention , they are both T5 gearboxes.

[pistol]

Same here my 98, seems to be really stiff as well.

>> Edited by pistol on Tuesday 11th March 20:15

[Vmax500]

Hmmm, I've posted about this before. Having compared my own '00 500 with several other similar cars there would seem to be a huge difference in shift weight/ gearbox feel between them. Indeed, at times my car can be positively obstructive when attempting to select 1st or 2nd (a real mechanical feel to the change) but seems Ok in all other gears ....

Has anyone experienced anything similar?

[tantivy]

Surely this is down to differences in the cableless clutch condition, gents? I mean - it's more likely that than how frequently you've changed the oil, IMHO. T.

[Corin Denton]

P.P.S. I also fitted an R.P.I. heavy duty clutch last year but that shouldn't affect it ?

[mongoose]

my previous chimaera(44k miles) was much worse than my current griff(10k miles) both same t5 box and only 1 year different in age,the griff is featherlight by comparison.i got the usual "there all like that sir" when i bought the chimaera,but know obviously i know different!i put it down to lubrication of the selector mechanism drying out from all the heat there subject too(hot gearstick etc),so id try lubricating it it if happened to me again.

[xain]

I found that my gearbox stiffened up considerably when cold following a major service. Thinking about it, I was going to say it was odd because it had been serviced at the same place before. But in fact, it had never had a 12K service there, so the gearbox oil had never been changed. I think I preferred the old stuff... Never had a problem with the box though.

[GreenV8S]

You can use different types of oil, this can affect the gear change significantly.

[duncan hermer]

Hi , just a short post my gearchange on my 96 400 seems a lot more weighty almost to the point of being very very slightly stiff compared to my mates 95 400 which is ultra smooth , I have no problems with the box and didn't even notice the difference until I drove his , my car has covered 41k and his 48k , do they differ or is there something I can do ? The gear oil was changed at Peninsula at 37k so it shouldn't be that ?[/quote

As i said at the time mate, try depressing the clutch. I know it slows you down to some degree, but if you want that ultra smooth change......