Technical quite a bad night....car stuck in 4th, help?

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Technical quite a bad night....car stuck in 4th, help?

Hi all,

had a pretty bad night, coming back home my car decides it only has 4th gear, clutch up or down makes no difference, i can get 4th and kind of neutral (almost the middle, but still disengaged)....no idea what it could be am going to have a look when i get in from work (once i figure out how im getting there :( , no more DOC ) tomorrow.

any suggestions as to what could be causing it, or any way to be certain the problem is inside the box, would be greatly appreciated.

but after pushing my car half way up my road, im knackered, so its the hey for me.

btw its a 2002 1.8 dynamic with 58k , had previous problem being "stiff" in and out of 4th, but nothing like what it is now, felt completely different, this feels like there is a hard barrier, before was like "thick oil", and it went away after an oil change & flush....

thanks all
 
Hey mzhussein

I am sorry to hear your troubles, are you able to engage any other gears with the cars ignition switched off?
If so it could be a clutch related problem, I am only suggesting this because I have had a clutch fail on me before, bad times, 30 miles away from home and second gear all the way back lol Damm did I upset a lot of drivers :D
 
car on/off clutch up/down makes no difference at all, its almost as if something very "solid" is blocking the path of the gear stick...ive had clutches go as-well, doesn't feel at all like that. it releases fine and no slipping at all.

checked the cables and linkages as first port of call, all free and lubed up....

question, are 4th and 3rd linked?? because previous to this the synchro on 3rd was degrading quite quickly...so could be linked?

thanks for the suggestions
 
thanks for the help.

update:
I rolled it to garage this morning before work, they've spent the day "messing" with it, very reluctant to take the box out (understandably). just been called back and they said that "they dropped the linkages and everything attached, moved it about and jiggled it and it "popped" back into life" they then test drove it "hard", in the mechanics words, on the north circ and no sign of the problem returning...my dads picking it up, im going to give it a run when i get in from work. they only charged £20.

question is, do i proceed and take it to gearbox specialist and get it rebuilt for ~£450 or do i leave it and drive on it and "wait" for it to happen again.....

input...i need iiiin put (sorry for the dodgy johnny 5 ref. :eek: )
 
Depends on if you can spare the cash id wait and see if it was me thats awesum they only charged £20 :p

Not sure what engine you got though if its a 1.6 id prob get it checked due to there history.
 
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thanks for the help.

update:
I rolled it to garage this morning before work, they've spent the day "messing" with it, very reluctant to take the box out (understandably). just been called back and they said that "they dropped the linkages and everything attached, moved it about and jiggled it and it "popped" back into life" they then test drove it "hard", in the mechanics words, on the north circ and no sign of the problem returning...my dads picking it up, im going to give it a run when i get in from work. they only charged £20.

question is, do i proceed and take it to gearbox specialist and get it rebuilt for ~£450 or do i leave it and drive on it and "wait" for it to happen again.....

input...i need iiiin put (sorry for the dodgy johnny 5 ref. :eek: )

No probs and WOW 20 quid :eek: for London that is an absolutely cracking price, they usually down here will still want to charge you that little bit extra because their a bunch of tight gits and they will also try and fool you in to thinking they have done a super job :yuck:

With regards to the gear box, give it some time first and see how it goes, once you have had it back see how it behaves and handles over different levels of pressure between high and low rev gear changing, if the problems begin to reoccur then you will have to consider some different options as you have mentioned (y)
 
well I send allot of work his way (and he curbed one of my silver chrome 18" OZ's when it was in for MOT) so he kinda ows me a few favours! (he is getting the wheel repaired ATM). were also on first name terms and he asks questions like "hows the new job and the niece?" so i assume i could call him a friend....

I've decided to give it a bit of time.... what's worrying is when i got it back it felt OK, 4th felt a little ropey...but right now it feels ace, all gears (including 4th) are silky smooth...i cant understand what could be causing this weird problem...but if it happens again its going to A&M gearboxes, cant be having the "will it fail??" worries when im making a 400mile trip :S
 
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