General How can you tell if your gearbox is on the way out?

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General How can you tell if your gearbox is on the way out?

panda type thingy

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:eek: It seems I've finally got most of Speedys little issues sorted (power loss was due to vacuum advance pipe, but he needed a full retune as well), but I'm getting a little worried about the gearbox/clutch.

I can't put into words whats causing these worries except that something just doesn't feel quite right or the same as it did. All the gears can be selected although sometimes I do have to really slam them home as for some reason it feels like they don't want to select (the rest of the time the gearbox feels looser then a whores knickers), main exception to these is reverse gear which always has had to be slammed home or it tries to slip out of gear (I've got a rover 214 thats done exactly the same since I bought it about 6yrs ago). Seems driving seems a little more noisey in kind of a rattley whirring kind of way as well.

Also sometimes if I have the clutch down and I'm coasting it I change down to a lower gear the engine noise changes and it sounds like 'engine braking' but it doesn't feel like it.


Maybe things with speedy just seem to be going too good to be true and so I'm getting paranoid, but I know when he visited the garage recently I had to get them to top up the gear box oil, and it took a whole litre to do it :eek:



So anyway I'm guessing the above probably won't be hugely useful to anyone wanting help and make suggestions, but are there any idiot friendly tests I can do to make sure everything is as it should be and that I havn't got an immenient huge repair bill coming up?
 
All sounds a bit normal to me really.

When you put the foot on the clutch pedal does everything get quiet no rattles etc? if so it's the thrust bearing that's worn and needs replaced but there is no point till you need to fit a clutch so leave it.

As for the gearstick being loose well there is lots of info already on changing the selector bushes etc so look in the guide section and search for other posts in the advanced search bit.

When was the last time the gearbox oil was checked? if last week I would worry if you don't know I wouldn't and would just keep an eye out for leaks.

If it won't go into gear take your foot off the clutch then try again
 
From what I've read you can't check the gearbox oil without being under the car and I don't have any kind of ramp so when I took it to the garage last week I got them to check it and top it up but until then it seems it was running low, no sign of any leaks though (no sign of any leaks anywhere shockingly).

Generally nothing changes noise wise when the clutch is in, unless as I said before i'm coasting and change change to a lower gear.

With the changing gear when it doesn't want to select it does go in I just have to use more 'shoulder' then arm as it almost feels like I'm having to push past or through something. I know what you mean about the releasing the clutch though, that does seem to help but isn't normally the fix for when the syncromesh gets out of sync? When I was a learner the corsa I was learning in sometimes wouldn't go into gear, that was apparently due to the syncromesh being out of sync but no matter how much shoulder I used that wouldn't go into wouldn't go into gear (and it would make horrible grinding sounds) until I re clutched, whereas this does go into gear I just have to slam it in and theres no grinding sound so I'm inclined to think it's not the syncromesh on Speedy causing the problem, although as long as it's not a portent of impending doom I'm not too worried.
 
Well I think based on what you've said I'm a bit happier now.

I think as soon as anything goes in the gearbox regardless or what it is I might just get a whole new/recon one though. At least then I know it will last a while...

(To think I bought this car as a £50 thrash it kill it, if it lasts a year great, now I'm trying to make it last forever. What is about these cars?)
 
I had a spare box so to get running not much, but he is a bit of a pampered Panda, and have changed most of the mechanical parts so ?? never counted it all.

it's best arriving at ownership of any working vehicle with the mentality it's going to cost you twice as much as you thought...

I also have a spare gearbox which fills the lonely evenings... just me and it, a flat bladed screw driver and a can of wd40. I got this one in a swap for 2 good doors... not sure which was worth more really... but we needed what each other had so it seemed a good deal.

It's off to be reconditioned sometime soonish...
 

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Well I think based on what you've said I'm a bit happier now.

I think as soon as anything goes in the gearbox regardless or what it is I might just get a whole new/recon one though. At least then I know it will last a while...

(To think I bought this car as a £50 thrash it kill it, if it lasts a year great, now I'm trying to make it last forever. What is about these cars?)

THey do acyually have the ability to last forever! YOu just have to love them!
AS soon as you realise there is no better car out there - you don't mind spending the money!!!!!:)
 
Hmm didn't realise the gearbox was that small! Although having said that last gearbox I saw was off a Jag XJ6 Auto!!!

How much does the reconditioning cost?
 
That looks nice & clean but I wouldn't have bothered they do all that when they recondition it ;)

right-o then, it was more therapy... but if i know it's going to be done anyway, i think i can use that time elsewhere.

like sorting out the carb manifold.
 
Oh! Pic please (y)

hasn't arrived yet, bought a compact filter housing to go with it... that's my spending done for a month or so... I only bought it to stop it bothering me... honest.
 
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