tr3a Sticking gears after selecting reverse when car is hot.

[Hitstirrer]

Hi Guys,

 

I have a small problem and wondered if others had experienced it and found a way to overcome. My TR3A has always tended to run hot when in traffic on a warm day - a problem we are all aware of - but one effect for me is that when the car has run an hour or so and is quite hot. If I then select reverse the gearstick jams and I cant either de-select reverse or engage any other gear. The only way out is to remove the gear stick from the housing completely and, using a large screwdriver or similar, force the sliders inside the remote housing back and forth until they run free. Replacing the gear stick again will then allow all gears to be selected but I take care not to select reverse again until the car is cool again. After that the gears are fine again -that is until the next long run and a reverse selection.

I presume that this is a metal expansion problem of some kind and have used a liberal coating of good quality high temperature copper grease in there to try to cure this but it still happens when I forget the hot/reverse combination and fall in the same trap again.

As it always happens in a most inconvenient spot to be carrying out such kerbside repairs I am looking to pick your collective brains to suggest a way to permanently cure this annoying problem.

Any thoughts ?

[AlanT]

This has got to be to do with the selector mechanism. There are lots of small parts with springs that prevent selection of two gears at once by locking the shafts.

 

There is most likely contamination/debris in there and lack of lubrication.

 

These mechanisms are not hard to dismantle, clean and lubricate. The tricky part is not loosing any parts and remembering how it goes back.

 

The screws that lock the forks to the shaft must be prevented from "falling in the works". Loctite is good for this but must be done properly.

Edited June 2, 2014 by AlanT