clio 172 strange gbox fault?

[Adey aka Ewok]

right an odd one peeps, i think it could be a selector alighnment problem. here goes, if you start the car and drive u can select the 5 forward moving gears, drives fine only thing is you cant select reverse, now if u can on the odd occation find reverse you will only get 4 forward gears? strange???? anyone have any ideas?

[SP33DY]

Adey underneath the gear box, the selector rod where it attach's to the rod that runs to the gear stick will be either loose or miss aligned.

If you put it into neutral, loosen it off and get some one to sit in the car and hold the gear stick in the neutral position then when you tighten it all back up you should be fine

I had a similar problem when I swapped the box in my 182.

[Spooky]

Was about to say have a sniff around the linkage/rod area.

Could have loosened up and moved, did in our 172, nice and tight now

[Adey aka Ewok]

Excelent, winner. The car has just had a clutch change so could well be the problem, cheers

[Adey aka Ewok]

right peeps, cant get reverse even on the box itself, whats to check?

[THE MASTER]

could be a simple gear lever adjustment.
but im thinking a reverse gear prob and the interlocks are not going i place

try this when you get the prob using reverse . hold the gear leaver over to the left and pull back keeping it over to the left so that it hits the stop. if the prob goes away doing this . it's going to be a bent reverse shaft sticking in the casing OR this is a good one a worn reverse light swith .... try a new reverse light switch first

[Adey aka Ewok]

Cheers col, will whip out the switch and try that first, then try and align the selector, I have 5 forward gears tho so can't be far out can it?

[andyrg]

When you say " wont even go in reverse " do you mean with the gearlinkage attached or not??

If you have not removed the linkage i suggest you do and try putting in reverse like that

I had this issue too when i fitted my new box

[Adey aka Ewok]

ill try that tomorow, is it easy to do?

[andyrg]

What i suggest you do is remove the 13mm bolt that holds the "rod" onto the box selectors, wiggle it off can be tight but it will come off, once u have done that then check that it will go into reverse if it will then the rod is not correctly connected ready what speedy said about setting up and youll be away, I will warm you mind its a ball ache

[SP33DY]

Sometimes when people have the linkeage apart they insert the rod too far into the the sleeve section (effectively shortening the overall rod length) what happens then is you can push all the way across as though selecting reverse, however you can't push the gear lever far enough forward to actually engage it.

[Adey aka Ewok]

Cheers for all the help peeps, tho it seems the box is at fault, can't select reverse even with the linkage completely off

[Tony Walker]

The only other thing you could try thats not stripping the box is removing the end casing and checking the 5th speed nut is tight, they sometimes loosen, more so on the older boxes but its worth a try. obviously drop the oil first before taking the cover off.

[Spooky]

nah, jack the car up high enough and you'll have minimal spillage ...just a case of topping it up after

[Tony Walker]

Yeah that'l work too but make sure its a good jack not the cars own and an axle stand.

[Adey aka Ewok]

Would the 5 th gear nut stop reverse working, plus last time I had that prob I list 5th gear not reverse also?

[andyrg]

yes if the bolt comes out will stop the box going into reverse if the bolt falls in the right place

[Adey aka Ewok]

Surely I would of lost 5th tho? Taking the cover off is defo on the list this week then

[Adey aka Ewok]

Ok so I've taken the end cap off, all the gears select fine and the reverse shaft is totaly free but when you try and select reverse on the box the 5 th gear shaft starts to engage at the same time, any ideas? As I'm really trying to get away from lifting the box out

[Tony Walker]

I'll have a look at a box we have stripped but i prob cant get back on to put a reply for a little while, will try my best tho.