(G) gear problem selecting.

Hi,i have a 07 panda never lacks for anything, ie parts if required..It has 118 thousand on the clock., at 112 thousand it had new full clutch LUK, slave cylinder LUK plus gear box oil changed. Just recently it has been a bit reluctant to select 1st or reverse, turn engine off no problem. When in engine bay and someone operates the clutch you can hear a type of slurping noise near gearbox. There is no loss of clutch fluid. My question is as anyone had a slave cylinder go after 6 thousand mile, plus if the garage put wrong spec oil in gear box would this be the problem? Any help most appreciated.. Ps 1.2 petrol (not a boy racer) Thank you.

lets see if we can diagnose this without guessing every part thats caused this in the past


with the car wheels stationary engine idling

of you select reverse is there a grinding noise then goes into gear

or

does it feel like its jammed but you can force it in


as to your question about gear oil. I flushed mine out engine oil. It ran just fine with no gear selection problems on the wrong oil. So doubt any selection problems is due to oil grade.

engine running

assistant pushing the clutch pedal down

twist the selector lever on top of the gearbox

is it smooth to engage 1st and 2nd

Please be careful. The fan can cut in at anytime even with the engine off.

if its fine here have the assistant try inside the car to make sure it still failing

hi, koaler thanks for reply, its like the last part of reply

do test two and move the lever red arrow. Engine running assistant pushing the clutch pedal down.

I suspect this will also be smooth


if thats the case the clutch, hydraulics and gearbox are fine.


and the problem will be adjustment or cables


we had a similar problem a month or so ago after a clutch change. Unfortunately the thread went dead before a solution was found although leaving the plate that holds the cables loose was a temp work around

Thanks again for reply will try this tomorrow and let you know

Mine's had a similar issue since I got it with 12k on it, now on 31k. 1st can be a bit stiff and reverse almost always has a bit of a crunch before it goes in, clutch also squeaks a bit sometimes. Was thinking of changing the gear oil but I'm not sure if this would help...

Always thought it might be cables myself, when I've got the time I'll have to check all the linkages, if I ever see a cheap set of cables I might swap em in and see if it helps.

The clutch operating fork often develops a squeak. It's annoying but not not really an issue. However noise when the pedal is down could be the release bearing having dried up. Noise in neutral with the pedal untouched that goes away with pedal down is the gearbox input bearing.

crunch in reverse is normal if you don't let the gearbox slow down.

wheels stopped

clutch pedal to the floor

wait a few couple of seconds. Engage reverse

if you don't wait or the wheels are still rolling forwards it will always give a clunk


Stiff 1st

same tests as start of the thread


what is the result of engine on and off

what is the result of moving lever (red arrow) with an assistant pushing the clutch down.

Crunch is present even at a standstill, e.g just after starting the car and going straight into it.

Same stiffness when it's off, had my grandad go through all the gears the other week while I had a look at the shifting mech and it looked normal, apart from being a bit stiff of course. When I was installing a short shifter (problem was present before this dw) too the lever felt normal and slotted into gear just fine moving it by hand, which makes me think it could be a cable issue. Pretty sure the gear oil is original to the car too, so once lockdown is lifted I'll be changing it as even if it isn't the issue, it is probably over 10 years old.

engine off

twist the lever with the red arrow

does it go into First and second easy from here

Yup, that's what I was doing while installing the short shifter.

the gearstick up and down is a bit of a funny mechanism

the opposite end of the lever is a counter weight

its the momentum that helps to pull the cable as well.

if the gear selector cable is dirty or rusty it work from the gearbox end but not from the stick

put I can't see the short shifter gearbox helping the situation. By reducing the distance your increasing the force required

does it improve if you revert back to standard

Nope, it was the same before with the old counterweight, just the gear change is much quicker, bear in mind the gear goes in fine 80% of the time, just that 20% of the time it gets quite stiff and hung up on something, which makes me think it's the cables. Also, I know it was always parked in gear by the previous owner and it was not driven much as it was just his shopping car, reckon this have damaged the insides of the cables?

Parking the car in gear will not damage the shifter cables. The cables only see a load when the lever is being moved. It's wise when parked on a hill and it avoids the hand brake seizing up.

I can't remember if there is a gate at the gear lever end or if its simply a ball movement. However a miss-match here with the gearbox will make shifting difficult.

When I replaced the gear shifter oil seal on top of the gearbox, I was shocked to find the roll pin broken. It fixes and internal lever to the shaft. I simply knocked it out and replace with new (supplied with the seal). Mine worked fine but it's possible that could affect the shifter operation.

If you have exhausted all options (short of replacing cables) I'd suggest checking the internal shifter on top of the gearbox. It's an easy job** and you can replace that oil seal and roll pin while in there. You will need some Loctite 518 for the gasket face.

Set the box in neutral before doing the job and it will all go back together no worries.

** Much easier than changing the cables which are probably ok.