5 Speed Box

[Ramsden]

I have a plus 2s 130/5. When I come to engage fifth gear I often find it requires quite a shove to move the lever into position. Disengagement can also require some effort. On the other hand, just occasionally the level slots home with no effort. There is no grating feeling through the lever nor any noise such as one might expect where the synchros worn, its just really stiff.

Have other owners had similar experiences. Is this normal or can anyone suggest a remedy?

Many thanks

Simon

[1964 S1]

Have you noticed if there's a difference between cold start shifts and after start up when the engine is up to temp (fuel stop, grocery store etc)? I'd check easy stuff first, trans oil level, then the lever's dry "linkage" up on top and look for any shiney worn places. Unfortunately, if you've got a stock +2 I think the center console must be removed to see under the shift boot. Does engine rpm have any predictable effect? Good Luck.

[rgh0]

A few suggestions


Check that nothing is blocking the physical movement of the lever itself such as the rubber bellows around the gear lever getting in the way and jamming between the lever and the centre console. Pull the lever out of the box and check that the lever mechanism looks OK. Check the engine and gear box mounts are not broken allowing the gear box to move and the lever bind up.

Check clutch is fully disengaging. Clutch drag will require higher pressure on the syncros to bring the gear speeds into alignment. Normally this shows up as a hard to engage first gear while stationary rather than fifth.


Change to Redline MTL, not cheap but the best gearbox oil around and made a big improvement to the syncro performance and change speed and feel on my plus 2 5 speed.


If all the above still does not solve the problems then you probably need to pull the box out and pull off the top cover and look at the syncros and selector mechanism to see where it is binding up. Could be a range of problems from bent seelctor shafts or forks to worn bearings causing misalignment.

I also found putting a lighter lever bias spring that pushes the lever back to the middle position in the gate helped get into 5 gear smoothly and with less effort. However you do need to be more careful going back from 5th to 4th to ensure you dont try to get reverse instead.


Rohan

Rohan

[Ramsden]

Thanks for the tips guys I shall investigate.

At the moment I favour the theory that something is binding against the lever. There is no whirring as of synchos meshing and once engaged, the lever is very solid. There is absolutely no movement from side to side if you try to waggle it.

Many thanks

Simon

[rgh0]

Simon

You comment that the lever is very solid is perhaps a clue.

The 5 speed gear lever is located by a rubber bellows spring into its ball socket. That spring allows a slight movement of the lever when in gear. If the lever is solid in gear it suggests the rubber bellows has been replaced with some solid location device which could be causing the lever and change mechanism to bind.

Rohan