Intermittent Loss Of Drive?

[ade]

well thought the clutch had gone in the old girl yesterday as went to pull away from lights and nothing.

gear lever was stiff to get any gear.

eventally manage to find 3rd with engine running quick shove and off,

anyway, go to get it on the recovery truck this morning and everything is fine again.

Does anyone have any ideas what has caused this and will it return?

 

Oh had both driveshaft replaced about 2000 miles ago

[Saif Rehman]

well thought the clutch had gone in the old girl yesterday as went to pull away from lights and nothing.

gear lever was stiff to get any gear.

eventally manage to find 3rd with engine running quick shove and off,

anyway, go to get it on the recovery truck this morning and everything is fine again.

Does anyone have any ideas what has caused this and will it return?

 

Oh had both driveshaft replaced about 2000 miles ago

 

I think the gear linkages may be worn or need adjusting.

My brothers mk1 had the same symptoms a few years back and the mechanic had to strip the carpets back and seats out to get to them.

[alan_131]

Could you move the lever from side to side freely?

Forward and backward freely?

Sometimes (the better of the common issues) the external part of the linkage on top of the box sticks - on mine it went from normal to a bit sticky to completely stuck(side to side) over a short time...

 

Or could be clutch related - did this feel normal?

Or something completely different .... (sorry not very helpful!)

[ade]

been to garage they have diagnosed gear selector linkage has exploded into a thousand tiny pieces.how much for a new one?

[Saif Rehman]

been to garage they have diagnosed gear selector linkage has exploded into a thousand tiny pieces.how much for a new one?

 

My brothers one, a couple of years ago cost him around about £150 (parts and labour). I wouldn't know how much it would cost now.

[alan_131]

Bit puzzled...

 

When you said in your first post everything was fine again, did you mean it drove as normal?

 

Do you think the garage meant the bit inside the gearbox?

 

There's the linkage - from the lever to the gearbox, and then the selector mechanism on top and inside the gearbox. The linkage is basically two cables, and there are posts on the forum about that, but the main issue with replacing it is, IIRC, the labour plus cable costs. If a cable had snapped, or as sometimes happens, unclipped itself from the gearbox mechanism, I can't see that working again without it being fixed. If it's the selector mechanism on top/inside of the box, then it can stick and be released - if you're lucky, only by working outside the box with wd40 or whatever. If you're unlucky, it may need to be dismantled or even gearbox out - there's a bolt which gets loose and falls out or shears off and can do lots of damage - it's all in here.

If the problem is with the gear lever or its housing, I'd have thought - thought I haven't removed the whole housing, only the lever, that should be straightforward to replace and less labour than the cables.