Problem selecting 5th and reverse

[betaveloce]

Hi people,

have been following this forum for quite some time now but I think this is my first post. When I have some more time, I will present my three cars (a Spider 1.6 '80, a Coupé 1.3 '83 and en HPE 2.0 i.e. '83).

Anyway, I have a problem with the coupé I only recently bought: I cannot select 5th gear or reverse. Could someone tell me where exactly the problem could be? I allready tried adjusting the the small rod at the front of the gearbox and all the bushes look ok at first sight. However, since I had a Betaboyz replacement bush left over from my other car, I started to change the bush from the rod which goes into the interior of the car, but due to lack of time I couldn't finish the job yesterday evening so I don't know the result yet.

Is the problem I'm having a result of a specific bush or rod being faulty or should I just replace everything (which in time, I will, but for now, I just want to get it on the road so that I can get it to the MOT).

Beta greetings,
kevin

[HFStuart]

Kevin,

Welcome,

Assuming the gearbox is OK and the gears are there to be selected:

The rod at the front of the gearbox can be of some use but the problem is probably due to the balljointed adjuster rod on the back of the subframe.

If you send me your e-mail I'll sent you a pdf of the workshop manual gearbox section - it has instructions for setting the neutral position correctly to give engagement of all gears and a decent diagram showing how it all fits together.

I'd recommend buying the betaboyz replacement adjustable link in anticipation of the origianl being worn.

Stuart

[betaveloce]

Hi Stuart,

thanks! My e-mail is ke@dikappa.be.

Is it this part yo recommend buying: http://betaboyz.myzen.co.uk/cart/index.php?main_page=popup_image&pID=30 ?

kevin

[HFStuart]

That's the one

Large e-mail on the way !

[lanciamad]

Interesting one this... when me and Mark test fitted the short shift in mine I couldn't find 5th or reverse, I later fitted a washer under one side of the console and it's been fine ever since, I put this down to a worn linkage even though it's only done 60k miles (I have new bushes to fit sometime ) but would be good to know the answer anyway.

[betaveloce]

I hope to find some time this weekend to continue working on the car and I will keep you guys informed!

Stuart, I don't seem to have received your e-mail  Maybe it got stuck under the Channel...? 

greetz from snowy Belgium!

[HFStuart]

it was 27Mb so perhaps it bounced.

I'll sent you a link instead

Regards,

[Grundo]

I'd love that link as well, just putting the engine back in so would like to see what adjustments need to be made to the linkage.

[HFStuart]

It should be availble to all from

http://rapidshare.com/files/437875256/03_Gearbox.pdf

It only stays on there for seven days though.

Regards.

[betaveloce]

it was 27Mb so perhaps it bounced.

I'll sent you a link instead

Regards,

Yep, my mailbox is limited to 10 Mb

[betaveloce]

It should be availble to all from

http://rapidshare.com/files/437875256/03_Gearbox.pdf

It only stays on there for seven days though.

Regards.

Oops, thanks for the link, but I tried it several times, and all I seem to get is the homepage of Rapidshare  

Sorry to be such a nuisance  

Anyway, I managed to get the new bush pressed in the rod yesterday (the one coming from the gear shifter), but I had to remove the rod to do it and I didn't have time yet to place everything back. I don't think I will be able to do it this weekend, because off course I have to keep peace with misses betaveloce (I'm sure that sounds familiar to many of you   )

Will keep you posted!

By the way, this is the car we're talking about:

[HFStuart]

Rapidshare is playing up at the moment so here'e the link again for those that asked for it.

http://www.mediafire.com/?nbgifybq5en27n7

Regards,

[betaveloce]

Put the whole thing back together again, but there is absolutely no difference  

I replaced the bush on the rear shaft with a brand new one and I also replaced the small rod on the back of the subframe by another one I had lying around from a car I broke for parts (and which had no gearselecting problems). I am still going to order a new one, but thought this might help temporaily, but that clearly isn't the case...

It's just as if it only has four gears  
Could it be that there is a problem inside the gearbox itself...?

[HFStuart]

Kevin,

If you disconnect the lever can you get the gears manually by moving the selector on the gearbox ? That will tell you if there's an issue with gear selection internally. 5th & reverse are either pul up and back / forward or push down and back / forward.

Stuart

[betaveloce]

Kevin,

If you disconnect the lever can you get the gears manually by moving the selector on the gearbox ? That will tell you if there's an issue with gear selection internally. 5th & reverse are either pul up and back / forward or push down and back / forward.

Stuart

Good news! I have 5 gears and reverse  
Followed your advice and found the missing gears by moving the selector. This gave me hope (I wasn't that excited about the idea to have to remove the whole gearbox...) and started me thinking a bit, after which I found out that for some reason the front shaft was hitting the gearbox housing when you tried selecting 5th or reverse (it's push down and back/forward for reverse/5th). Although everything seemed allright, I now changed the complete front shaft + selector rod on the back of the subframe + the rod at the front of the gearbox from the gearbox which came out of my black HPE, and now all is well!

Thanks again for the advice Stuart!