General problem selecting gears

[clubber337]

i just changed gearbox on my brava1.2 80sx xreg, the old one was knocking, the gearbox i got off ebay, i believe is a punto mk 1 or 2, its year says 99. i had to change over the gear selection linkage as mine is a cable, but i am having trouble selecting gears, not smooth, there is play in the gearstick, and am not sure if am getting 5th, am able to select reverse, i have blead the clutch, not sure if it is enough, does it matter how much travel there is as long as it disengages from flywheel? because i was having trouble with the selector, ihave removed the selector off the old gearbox and fitted it, the selction is better but not smooth. i have not driven it yet, just trying to make sure all the gears work with engine off first, have i done soomething wrong, or is there any way to ajust cables to get better selection, ihave filled the gearbox with castrol syntax, imight need some more, i put a litre in book says 1.7l but the shop ran out, would that cause me a lot of trouble if the engine is not running and am just changing gears? please help!

 

[jug]

firstly, get more gearbox oil in before you drive it. fill it till it flows out the filler hole (get as much as possible in the gearbox).

as long as the clutch is disengaging you should be able to select all gears fine, so we can assume the clutch is not the problem.

since all gears are difficult to engage it definately sounds like a linkage problem rather than a gearbox problem.

however selecting gears with the engine switched off is often difficult. you really should try it with the engine running before assuming there is something wrong.

if you have the same difficulty with the engine running you will need to manually inspect the performance of the linkages.

to do that you need 2 people, one to operate the gearstick and another to inspect the linkages on the gearbox checking that they move into the correct position. we'll cross this bridge when we come to it, firstly try starting the engine and see if its any better.

 

[Andy_sx]

you shouldnt have had to change the linkages to drop a punto box in, mine has had 7 now and not once had to change the linkages

the selection fault will possibly be where the engines not on and you have no real hydraulic pressure. get the front end in the air and start it up and go through the box just using the idle to keep the wheels / hubs turning, work up and down the box repeatedly, its should free up as you go, if not there is an underlying problem

also, as Jug said the oill should just be filled until it overflows, rather than the 1.7 litres recomended, it may only take a little more, but its better to be safe than sorry

as for the rest of it, go through what Jug has suggested

 

[clubber337]

thank you all for reply, i filled the box up with oil tilled it flowed, out, but still having trouble, the reason i had to change the connection rods is because my car used two cables, the box i bought had a rod attached, i did think it might be a selector problem, so i changed the selector for the one on my old box, after some ajustment to the link cable ajuster bolt i was able to select gears a bit better but still getting jammed, its worse after i select 5th gear then go back into neutral, i am then unable to select 1st unless i first select 4th, if i do not go into 5th then i can change up and down 1 to 4 with soem success. also some times when am in neutral and i wiggle the gearstick side to side it feels like it is jamming,the gears just dont feel smooth at all, allso something i noticed is that i can only get into 5th if i operate the lift ring for reverse, i looked up the various types of gear stick linkrods in haynes, and it seems that the gearstick box is different with the different types of selectors, could it be that i need to change that also, to enable everthing to line up correctly, i guess that would eexplain why i have to lift the ring to get 5th, any help appreciated, if i cant get it working then i will have to find the correct box, must admit its quicker with this box though

 

[jug]

since the gearbox came with a rod linkage we know it is not a 6 speed box, so that cant be the problem.

all i can think is you need to adjust the cable linkages where they join the gearbox. you've already noticed an improvment by doing this so i assume you will be able to get it perfect.

the best way to adjust the linkages is to select 4th gear, then loosen off the bolts and give it a wiggle with your hand before tightening them up in the position that is the middle of the wiggle's range, if that makes sense.

 

[clubber337]

well i have decided its the gearbox after much ajustment to no avail, i suppose thats what you get for 50 quid off ebay, i have replaced the gearbox with another this one cost me £180 all in, tested and now working fine

 

[Gazza AK47]

well i have decided its the gearbox after much ajustment to no avail, i suppose thats what you get for 50 quid off ebay, i have replaced the gearbox with another this one cost me £180 all in, tested and now working fine

Hoorah!!!