99 220SDi Gearbox/Clutch probs

1066 Views 5 Replies 3 Participants Last post by p_b82, Oct 7, 2010

James24

Discussion Starter · Oct 1, 2010

I've never had a gearbox or clutch go on me before so i'm not 100% sure of the symptoms.

All gears are fine except on my drive down to London the other day the car just didn't want to go into 5th gear. No crunching, just feels like pushing against a wall. The gear will pop in from time to time.

Reverse gear has also started playing up very slightly 50/50 whether it would go in or not. But popping it into 3rd seems to help.

I was hoping to get a garage to take a look before the weekend but unfortunately I need to wait till Monday.

Today it seems almost back to normal out of the blue.

The garage have said they wont know for sure what it is till they get it up on the ramp, but they're guessing it might be the slave cylinder that needs replacing. Especially when I mentioned that double pumping the clutch seems to help get it into 5th.

Just wondering if anyone else could hazard a guess and also if anyone knows if the slave cylinder is external or internal ?

The garage have said if it is external then it shouldnt cost me too much to get it sorted which i'm hoping! Tax due at end of month and i'm already broke as it is!!

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E_T_V

· #2 · Oct 1, 2010

200 is a cable clutch so no hydraulics so no slave cylinder.

Check the cable adjustment, check that the clutch arm isn't seized.
Check that there is oil in the gearbox.

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James24

Discussion Starter · #3 · Oct 1, 2010

Thank you, i'll make sure to check those things before monday.

I'm no mechanic but I have friends i'm sure I can throw under the car with the advice you mentioned.

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James24

Discussion Starter · #4 · Oct 5, 2010

Garage has had a look and it appears to be the clutch on its way out.

The mechanic wasnt sure if it was the gearbox or the clutch at first till he revved it in the parking lot and could smell/see burning clutch.

I've also just noticed i'm losing coolant and after a bit of a nose round with a torch it looks like my radiator is split somewhere.

On top of this it's also been smoking a lot of late, mostly under high revs. A quick blast on a quiet street will clear it out for 24 hours but it's soon back. Tried injector cleaning fluid but to no avail.

The garage have quoted me £225 - £250 all in for the clutch, but factoring in a possible new radiator now and the mysterious smoking i'm starting to think it's time to move on. It's a shame however because the engine is sound and has a fresh MOT.

If I do get shot, does anyone know the going rate if I scrapped it?

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James24

Discussion Starter · #5 · Oct 7, 2010

Sucked it up and paid for repairs today.

Was very tempted by a 97 audi a4 but decided it was better to stick with the rover because I at least know where I am with it and I know the engine is sound and well taken care of!

Cut a long story short, the garage has put a new clutch on, fixed a leaky rad and repaired a split pipe somewhere...Not sure which pipe, maybe the intercooler one i'm not sure but whoah! It almost feels like a new car, I have power and acceleration back. It's been sluggish for over 2 or 3 years now, I just assumed it was 'old car' syndrome but it appears ive been driving with a split pipe for ages!

It's going back to the garage in the morning however as i'm still having problems selecting 5th gear! This has kind of peed me off a bit as I booked the car in specifically for them to check clutch/gearbox regarding 5th gear and i'm starting to wonder if they even checked the box oil level!

Repair price for the fixed rad and split hose + new clutch was £300, in north east birmingham.

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p_b82

· #6 · Oct 7, 2010

well that is not that bad a quote 'if' they did everything, but to do the clutch change they had to take the box off, so would have to have drained it and refilled it.

So it *might* be that there is some damage deon to 5th already if the oil level was low in the past....

Either way good luck with it

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