Car won't get in any gear but 3rd / 4th / Reverse. Not good.

DannyR25 · Apr 3, 2011

I had the misfortune of discovering my car won't get into any gear without some force, and then to make it worse the only gears that do engage are 3rd/4th/Reverse.

Fortunately for me, I only was a couple minutes away from home when I got in my car and attempted to move off. I managed to get it going by using 3rd gear/high revs (Baaaad Danny!) and managed to FORCE [fluke] it into 2nd gear halfway home, I never took it out of second gear for fear I won't get it back in all the way home.

I had felt that the clutch was fairly low when I bought the car in Feb but was told that could be the difference in cars, so I got used to it. I've experienced the gears jamming before - approx last week - but all gears were usable with a bit of push. Today I cannot get it into first gear at all, and only had successfully managed to put it in 2nd gear once.

Now I'm no mechanic, but to me that sounds like an expensive job. Any ideas?

Southside · Apr 3, 2011

I had the same problem on my old ZR diesel. Turned out the clutch cable had stretched, Replaced it and all was fine.

What was happening was when pressing the clutch pedal the cable wasn't pulling te clutch release arm enough to fully release the clutch. Hence not being able to get it in gear unless the engine was off.

DannyR25 · Apr 3, 2011

That sounds like the problem I was feeling with the clutch! I'll look into it during the week, did it set you back much money?

zr-td-nutters · Apr 3, 2011

clutch cable isnt that much m8 talking £30 to £40 i would of though and its fairly easy to fit. and i would think that this is the problem did you notice the car creeping forward at all when it was in year with clutch down or was the engine struggling at all.

DannyR25 · Apr 3, 2011

I always thought it moved ever so slightly when clutch was completely down, and the engine is running fine currently, no problems there!

How easy are we talking? Something I could do myself or will it stillhave to be booked in?

ErithMGZR · Apr 3, 2011

definatly the clutch cable, mine snapped last week. its **** easy to change you just need to unhook it from the clutch pedal (little white clip) and unhook it from the clutch throw arm. when putting it back on clip the clutch pedal end on first, pull the cable tight (needs two people to do this one to make sure the clip doesnt come off and one to pull the cable tight) and then just reattach to the throw arm.

job done

simples!

DannyR25 · Apr 3, 2011

Thanks for that, I feel more confident in doing it myself.

Anyone got a part number for it? I'll ask a friend to order it in the morning through his contacts...

david.c · Apr 4, 2011

Do the gears go in easy with the engine off. If no, its unlikely to be the clutch cable. Then you start looking at the gear change linkage. Then gearbox internals.

DannyR25 · Apr 4, 2011

Engine off and the gears go in with out a single problem.

I'll try and get the cable ordered tomorrow, and have a stab at it myself. Haynes tells me it gets a difficulty rating of 3 out of 5 spanners though! Haha.

jensden51 · Apr 4, 2011

clutch cable

Always thought clutch cables were adjustable to take up slack/wear?
Den.

Southside · Apr 4, 2011

jensden51 said:
Always thought clutch cables were adjustable to take up slack/wear?
Den.

Depends how far gone it is. Might already be on its limit.

DannyR25 · Apr 4, 2011

I've no idea how far its gone but considering the biting point is almost at the floor I can only assume that it's nearing its end of life...?

Car won't get in any gear but 3rd / 4th / Reverse. Not good.

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