Gearbox issues

[JohnG]

All

Good evening

Just collected the car from the bodyshop (great job!), but now have a gear selection problem.

Selecting 1st & 2nd was very, very stiff, 3rd worst, 4th almost impossible and reverse not available.

I was nursing her home, when after about 4 miles, suddenly, all forward gears were available and a lot, lot easier, not perfect but, easier. Reverse is there, but selection is tricky.

My knee jerk is that I have a selector issue, but, this is 1970's British Leyland engineering, I know that it could be almost anything.

 

Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

Many thanks in advance

 

John

[AlanT]

Has the box been recently rebuilt?

 

Selection problems are often the clutch.

[RogerH]

Hi John,

How does the clutch feel - could be the taper pin on the clutch cross shaft

 

Roger

[JohnG]

Both

I have no record of the box being recently (15 yrs or so) rebuilt

I have to be honest and say that the cluch has not felt 'proper' since day 1 of my ownership.

I put this down to BL / age / my lack of TR knowledge.

So;

How easy is it to check the clutch taper pin?

Is this a 'good garage' job or a Triumph Specialist job?

 

Thanks

[AlanT]

Anybody who can undo a few dozen bolts and lift 50kg can check a clutch fork pin.

[JohnG]

Thanks

If I could get under the car, I can handle the bolts. At my age, not so sure about the 50kg

I will get my trusted, good garage to take a look

I will let you know

 

John

[AlanT]

Google:

 

site:www.tr-register.co.uk remove gearbox

 

Will tell the garage all they need if they get stuck.

[John Morrison]

Bit quick to be pulling the box.

 

Run the car a while it might improve, you can aways look at the box over the winter.

 

John.

[stuart]

Any oil in the box?

Stuart.

[Stanpartmanpartwolf]

Maybe one of the unlucky ones that got a TR7 clutch cover when LUK "rationalised" their range some years ago?

The only way to get full disengagement with these is to bend the clutch pedal stop sideways 90°.

If the 'box does come out, post a couple of pics of the pressure plate & consider fitting a fresh one anyway.

Taper pin failure is detectable in most cases before you remove the gearbox BTW.

[JohnG]

All

Yep . . .oil in the box, I had the oil changed in the gearbox and topped up in the diff within 2 weeks of buying the car . . .that way I knew for sure that the oil was in there. There is a small leak from the box, but, it only just shows on the garage carpet under the car, so there is no way the box has drained dry

TR7 cluch cover? . . . .This I would have no knowledge of; hope not!

I like the idea of waiting . . .however; I have spoken to Carlow Eng in Benfleet, who say that the car had 2 clutches 'recently' (for the previous owner) and that they would be surprised if it was a problem with the taper bolt!

They suggest it may be the spring in the master cylinder.

What do you; the real world people think?

 

John

[Chilp3]

John,

Sorry to hear that you're having problems with your TR6. One of they symptoms of the cross-shaft taper bolt having failed is that the clutch pedal can feel extremely heavy. I speak from experience. You mention the garage suggested that you car had had two 'recent' clutches which is worrying as perhaps the route cause of the problem has not been identified. You may wish to confirm with the garage if they changed the cross shaft and cross-shaft taper bolt when they replaced the clutch? It is considered wise to also double up the cross-shaft bushes and add a roll-pin but that is down to personal choice. I replaced everything when I did mine with parts supplied from TRGB including an uprated cross-shaft taper bolt. When I removed the old clutch it also displayed irregular wear across the friction surfaces which is another symptom. Interestingly upon initial inspection my cross-shaft taper bolt appeared visually fine and was correctly wired. However when I tried to remove the bolt it had in fact sheared.

 

This of course may not be your problem but I thought I would share my experiences which are hopefully helpful.

 

Good luck and keep us posted as to progress.

 

Best Regards, Peter

[John Morrison]

Hi John,

 

get another TR6 driver to try your car, and in turn you try his,

you are somewhat in teh dark, local group club night is the place to head for.

 

John.

[John L]

If you select reverse with the engine running, does it go in cleanly? If this is ok then I wouldn't suspect the clutch to be dragging..

It could be the selector not sliding the gear squarely on the shaft, and so baulking the engagement, perhaps worn selector fork, or perhaps some play in the mainshaft.

John

[JohnG]

At the moment, it goes into reverse well, however, when the problem manifested itself, I could not select reverse at all.

 

My problem is that I would like to do the job myself, but, do not have the facilities to drop the box out and dismantle the clutch, (Small garage, no ramps, hoist or pit, no alignment tools). So, the master cylinder I can do, but, this being 1970's British engineering, I do not want to do one job, just to cause another.

 

Based on this topic so far, I am confused as to the path to take; do the master cylinder, or take the gearbox out?

 

Would the problem, appear and the disappear if it was a broken master cylinder spring?

Ditto selector fork taper pin?

I'm still not sure

 

I just hope for something definitive

 

John

[dingle]

John-If the problem is just requiring a lot of effort to move the shift lever (as opposed to clutch release issues), the culprit maybe in the cap&retainer of the gearshift lever assembly. If it is dry&gritty the force needed to move the lever is greatly increased. It is an easy culprit to eliminate by removing the boot and spraying cleaner around the plate while pushing it down. Complete cleaning and lubricating requires removing the cap from the top cover.

Berry

[JohnG]

John

1st Job tommorrow, thanks

 

John

[John L]

Check also for excessive play in the master cylinder clutch fork to the pedal. This will cause a lot of lost travel at the slave end. An adjustable rod can be purchased to eliminate this extra play.

John

[JohnG]

Part of tommorrows early start

 

Thanks

[AlanT]

You can get the gbox out by removing the seats and lifting it into the car.

 

This you can do without any ramps and all that is needed is to jack up the back of the engine, so it does not tip back.

 

I'd gues most people do it this way.

[Stanpartmanpartwolf]

While you're at it, overhaul your clutch slave cylinder, and refill the system with proper fluid, not silicone.

There is no need to go mad with extra clutch fork fasteners; a correctly fitted 158777X will take all the load & then some.

Roll pins, etc are just a bodge & you might as well weld the fork to the shaft in the traditional fashion as long as the cross-shaft bushes don't need replacing during your ownership.

NB- please add a pinch of salt....

[JohnG]

Alan

I have investigated the removal, but, I am in my 60's and have MS and lifting can be a bit of a bugger sometimes.

In addition I have a better half who is not above making her opinion known, especially where my ignoring my limits is concerned.

This is a primary reason for my heavy dependance upon the real people who populate this forum, I can use their knowledge and experience to counter some of the b******t I sometimes get from the 'professional experts' and why I need to have all my ducks in a row before I decide what I am going to do.

 

As long as it does not involve heavy lifting / balancing or climbing, I can usually get away with it.

[AlanT]

We did the fork-pin to death only recently:

 

http://www.tr-register.co.uk/forums/index.php?/topic/47662-gearbox-taper-pin-sheared/page-2

[John Morrison]

John

 

having read your last post, absolutely all the more reason

to track down your local group, they will be happy

to proffer opinion/help.

 

John.

[JohnG]

Thanks as always

Tell me, why not silicone?

When the clutch was done last, the 'Triumph expert' who did it, used silicone.

Should I replace it?

If so, what would be best?

 

John