General Reverse Gear crunch?

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General Reverse Gear crunch?

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Apr 2, 2011
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Whilst reading the other thread regarding gearboxes does anyone elses panda crunch everytime it goes in reverse? I cant remember if mine done this when I got it but after reading the other thread this has got me thinking?!
 
Whilst reading the other thread regarding gearboxes does anyone elses panda crunch everytime it goes in reverse? I cant remember if mine done this when I got it but after reading the other thread this has got me thinking?!

Yes mine does occasionally and always has done (slightly, its never been a worry or problem) but in my experience quite a lot of cars do too. I just take it slowly when engaging reverse
 
Revers engages an extra gear into the geartrain, in order to reverse the drive direction. This has to be a straight cut gear, and all three gears need to align. As you select reverse, the pointed ends to the gear teeth push each other to align themselves. There will always be a small crunch.

If it is a big crunch, or a lurch, the clutch may not be freeing properly. Or you are trying to engage reverse before the gearbox has stopped rotating.

When you stop, depress the clutch and count to 3 before engaging reverse. Also ensure the car is not moving, forwards or backwards as this will rotate the gearbox internals.
 
It's really just common sense with some mechanical empathy thrown in for good measure. It makes me cringe when my daughter starts the Panda and immediately crunches it into reverse. I can hear it in the house FFS. You can try explaining or lecturing, but nothing will take the place of enjoying an engine and gearbox. Hearing it labour uphill makes me want to scream 'change down' , but, if wife or daughter are driving, then I'm pissed and I'd better shut up.
 
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It's really just common sense with some mechanical empathy thrown in for good measure. It makes me cringe when my daughter starts the Panda and immediately crunches it into reverse. I can hear it in the house FFS. You can try explaining or lecturing, but nothing will take the place of enjoying an engine and gearbox. Hearing it labour uphill makes me want to scream 'change down' , but, if wife or daughter are driving, then I'm pissed and I'd better shut up.

I spent last weekend in Yorkshire on a classic car rally experience day. Of the cars driven, most were automatics (Jensen Interceptor, Corvette Stingway, Jag XJS, Triumph Stag and Bentley Turbo R) but there were manuals in a Morris Traveller, Triumph TR6 and MGB.

Although I've been driving for more than a decade and prefer manuals to autos, I must admit it took a good ten miles to adapt to the TR6. The clutch weighed a tonne (so everyone inevitably stalled it at the beginning of their stage) and downshifts were much more difficult to master than upshifts.

You might like to send your wife and daughter on one, as there really is nothing like it to remind you how pampered we have become with modern gearboxes ;)

PS: that company is adding a Fiat X1/9 in 2014 - their first Fiat in the fleet :)
 
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Inside any modern manual gearbox, all forward gears are synchronized, whereas reverse gears are not.

As someone already pointed out, engaging reverse gear might result in some slight noise and the gear selector might not move as easily to reverse position compared to forward gear selection.
 
Inside any modern manual gearbox, all forward gears are synchronized, whereas reverse gears are not.

As someone already pointed out, engaging reverse gear might result in some slight noise and the gear selector might not move as easily to reverse position compared to forward gear selection.

This reminds me how I learned to drive in my mum's 1965 Mini 850, which
had no synchromesh on 1st (or reverse, as modern cars) back in 1969 :)

Also, a very abrupt clutch action! After a while, I learned how to double-
declutch to avoid crunching when downchanging into first (not really much
needed, but a fun driving skill to have :rolleyes: )

Not sure if I could still do it. Maybe I should get a classic car :cool:



Chris
 
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