Problems selecting reverse !!

[Brooksie]

interesting one this, since the day i bought the car i had problems selecting reverse .. well when i say problems i mean it grinds like a grindy thing. 10 days after purchasing the monster the clutch went west, fine i thought .. probably explains why selecting reverse was a problem. However even after a couple of weeks of bedding in the new clutch i still have problems selecting reverse gear !! ..

anyone else have a problem going backwards so to speak ?

[arebrec]

select 5th gear then reverse

HTH

[NHyde]

Don't select 5th then reverse..............unless you want 5th to eventually fail on you.

Just be patient and very slowly engage fifth , or if you are really impatient , use first to align everything.

[Extra 300 Driver]

Use 1st or 3rd, never 5th as it is weak.

[amazon]

Is it me - don't understand. So you're saying DON'T select fifth before reverse. But DO select fifth to align for reverse?

I have always selected fifth before reverse without any side effects.....

Apologies if I'm being slow - it's late!

[trackcar]

Tis ok Nicky, just personal preference .. some people believe that selecting 5th before pulling back into reverse contributes to the premature failure of 5th gear (a T5 gearbox weakness) .. so they prefer using one of the other forward gears instead. 5th is normally used because it's then easy to pull straight back into reverse, but any forward synchromesh gear will achieve the same result of stopping the spinning whirly bits in the gearbox

Edited by trackcar on Tuesday 13th March 22:24

[simonkd]

I change to 1, 3 or 5 before selecting reverse to avoid your problem

Regards
Simon

Edited by simonkd on Tuesday 13th March 22:35

Edited by simonkd on Tuesday 13th March 22:36

[amazon]

trackcar said:

Tis ok Nicky, just personal preference .. some people believe that selecting 5th before pulling back into reverse contributes to the premature failure of 5th gear (a T5 gearbox weakness) .. so they prefer using one of the other forward gears instead. 5th is normally used because it's then easy to pull straight back into reverse, but any forward synchromesh gear will achieve the same result of stopping the spinning whirly bits in the gearbox

Edited by trackcar on Tuesday 13th March 22:24

Phew! Thanks for putting my mind at rest J! Might try another forward gear though. If I can adapt 10 years of doing fifth first, then it sounds like it might be good if I can perfect another forward gear as an aid!

Btw, Cerb is amazing since you worked on it - thank you! Can't wait to get the front done now though!

[NHyde]

I think mine was probably the first of the recent gearbox failures that have been reported on here, and I would be interested to see if there is any correlation with the mileage at all .Fifth gear failed , but looking at the ring , it had obviously had fatigue issues for some time before the catastrophic event. This was evidenced by the discolouration of the crack which showed a clear graduation in the stress lines in the gear. Mine went at @35k , on a 97 4.2 .

They do seem to be occurring more frequently .Would be interested in any feedback from other failures.

Edited by NHyde on Tuesday 13th March 22:39

[jensena]

My 3rd gear just failed at 20k miles, when he (andy at APM) strips the box he might cme up with some explanation, but until then, I have no idea why a gearbox should fail at 20k miles. You wouldnt expect a bleedn cheap Daewoo to have gearbox failure at 20k muiles would you??

[Scrooloose]

I've just had the gearbox on my GSXR750 rebuilt at 32k miles.....

Welcome to performance engines!

[Brooksie]

wow !!! .. so i select any forward gear then slowly back into reverse ?! .. can't wait to try it tomorrow morning, wednesday is a good day coz its one of my 3 days a week i take the car into work .. monday/wednesday and friday .. best working days of the week

thanks as usual guys ... gotta love this forum

Steve

[RUSSELLM]

My old 96 owners handbook suggests using 5th to engage reverse, and the gearbox has lasted 11 years so far.

The rest of the car's a different matter.

I think it's a "load bearing" gearbox that's holding it all together

[trooperiziz]

NHyde said:

I think mine was probably the first of the recent gearbox failures that have been reported on here, and I would be interested to see if there is any correlation with the mileage at all .Fifth gear failed , but looking at the ring , it had obviously had fatigue issues for some time before the catastrophic event. This was evidenced by the discolouration of the crack which showed a clear graduation in the stress lines in the gear. Mine went at @35k , on a 97 4.2 .

They do seem to be occurring more frequently .Would be interested in any feedback from other failures.

Edited by NHyde on Tuesday 13th March 22:39

My 5th gear died (and subsequently the gearbox) at 45k on a 96 4.2.

[southendpier]

Weird i don't seem to hardly use 5th at all. Town driving the 2 or 3rd. Motorways 4th unless I have a run where of course 5 is in order. Very rarely do i get on A road or Motorway that's clear but that's the souh east for you.

Read in the Cerb handbook that you should not use engine at low revs - is this becaseu of oil pressure? So am always a bit careful about pulling away in a very high gear.

[copilot]

NHyde said:

I think mine was probably the first of the recent gearbox failures that have been reported on here, and I would be interested to see if there is any correlation with the mileage at all .Fifth gear failed , but looking at the ring , it had obviously had fatigue issues for some time before the catastrophic event. This was evidenced by the discolouration of the crack which showed a clear graduation in the stress lines in the gear. Mine went at @35k , on a 97 4.2 .

They do seem to be occurring more frequently .Would be interested in any feedback from other failures.

Edited by NHyde on Tuesday 13th March 22:39

My fifth gear went @ 32,500. Apparently it was a mexican manufactured part in the Borg Warner T5 box. An upgraded 5th gear is now available and manufactured in the USA. Now fitted, runs fine...but it is still a weaker gear. You can tell as the teeth are a fine eliptical shape made for quieter running...so weaker. (I select 4th before reverse by the way)

[mad mark]

V.B.H. commented on the selecting 5th before reverse, on one of her Cerb reviews on Top Gear.