Gears wont engage?

[Red_MAv]

GQ TB42 Petrol Manual. Spent the day yesterday all around Walhalla without any problems until the way home. A couple of times went to change from say 2nd to 3rd or vice versa and it wouldnt go into gear. It felt stiff to remove from the gear it was in and wouldnt be pushed to next gear. From stationary at traffic lights it wouldnt go into 1st or 2nd and at one stage I had to roll off the road to allow traffic to clear. After about a minute of engaging and disengaging the clutch etc I finally got it in gear. Had a play tonight in the garage and after a minute or so found it hard to remove from a gear and couldnt get it into anything at all. After a while it would work. Any ideas please.

[shakes]

its most likely your clutch or cylinder and lines.

follow all the lines to make sure nothing is leaking.... then bleed, if you get air, there's your problem. (most likely if its intermitent) if it arises up again quickly it m/c

if not then its order of $$$

rebuild m/c

replace clutch

rebuild gearbox

other people might be able to diagnose better however

Simon

[Sexy Fingers]

Assuming that it's a cluctch problem, look around the clutch master cylinder for any wetness and check your fluid levels. If ok, get under your car with a flat blade screwdriver and use it to peel the rubber boot back on the slave cylinder. If brake fluid leaks out, then you need to replace or rebuild the slave cylinder. If there is no fluid leaks, I would say it's probably about time to replace the clutch. Just a couple of questions though, does the clutch feel any differant to what it used to when you are using it?? Is it easy or difficult to select gears with the engine switched off??

[Red_MAv]

Clutch didnt seem any different yesterday, but tonight in garage when I was running it back and fwd between gears continuously it seemed realy easy to depress. With engine off, and clutch depressed it seems to change ok but the problem comes and goes every minute or so. Will get under it on the weekend and follow up the tips you have given me. Clucth was firs treplace by Nissan around 180k now done 270k so it seems early to be the clutch itself.

[Sexy Fingers]

Well it definatly sounds clutch related to me and not gearbox. I'm guessing it is a hydraulic problem. You say the clutch was done around 90K ago by Nissan. In my experience over the years I've seen clutchs last anywhere between as little as 40 000 km's or as much as 350 000Km's. A lot of things contribute to the life of a clutch. eg driver habit, clutch material itself and other operating conditions. Good luck with it anyway, and I'll be interested to hear what you find.

[of4x4]

.....now done 270k .....

I had to replace the rubber hose between the body and the slave cylinder at 270k. It had only a slight weep, but made exactly the same symptoms as you described. From memory it was about $40 from Nissan (about 12 months ago).

The problem "comes and goes" certainly sounds like air in the system. Meaning you can "pump up" the pressure after a few quick changes, but then after a few minutes of inactivity it has returned to its "normal" bad behaviour.

For a quick carpark check - look at the fluid level in the reservoir.

Hint: when bleeding the clutch, don't forget the bleed screw high up on the body (passenger's side).

[Red_MAv]

Thanks everyone for all your tips I will be out there first thing Saturday to check things out. Luckily its not a daily driver so I can afford to wait until the weekend. Its all too hard in the dark at night after work. Will post what I find out, hopefully it will be cheap, they say there is a first time for everything, ha ha.

[Woop]

When checking the clutch slave cyl flexible hose, check for leaks at the crimped section halfway down the hose, as this is another common spot for leaks..

Nick

[Red_MAv]

Had a look in the garage tonight cant see any leaks but its dark and I didnt get underneath either. Checked the fluid level and its down to bugger all but it looks really grey and cloudy so may pay to change the whole lot. Referred to the Gregory's Manual and it says to attach a clear hose to the bleed screw on the slave cylinder what size hose should I get or is there like a brake or clutch hydraulic bleeding kit I could pick up from an Auto store. I have a 500ml bottle of brake fluid will that be sufficient as I cant find the capacity in the manual. Assume procedure will be to keep topping up the reservoir until I have flushed all the old fluid out the bottom and there is no air coming out. Obviously I wont change the fluid until I find where the leak is. Any tips on this flushing / bleeding procedure much appreciated.

[familybus]

Had a look in the garage tonight cant see any leaks but its dark and I didnt get underneath either. Checked the fluid level and its down to bugger all but it looks really grey and cloudy so may pay to change the whole lot. Referred to the Gregory's Manual and it says to attach a clear hose to the bleed screw on the slave cylinder what size hose should I get or is there like a brake or clutch hydraulic bleeding kit I could pick up from an Auto store. I have a 500ml bottle of brake fluid will that be sufficient as I cant find the capacity in the manual. Assume procedure will be to keep topping up the reservoir until I have flushed all the old fluid out the bottom and there is no air coming out. Obviously I wont change the fluid until I find where the leak is. Any tips on this flushing / bleeding procedure much appreciated.

if your losin fluid and cant find the leak try pullin back the carpet etc from the inside of the firewall behind yah pedals, ive had a leaky cylinder and thats where all the oil was going on mine! hope that helps! goodluck

[shakes]

i used hose from bunnings 1/4" off the top of my head cost around $3 for 1metre, have a cruise through the garden section.

it's long enough too that after a couple of "cracks" of the nut that you dont suck air back into the line but you can still easily see air coming out.

[Red_MAv]

Big surprise this morning starting the Maverick in the garage with clutch depressed as you do. It started driving forward, F#@^ wasn't expecting that. Put it in reverse same deal clutch depressed and off she goes up the driveway. Any way found the leak at the slave cylinder so undid the bleed screw and poured a couple of reservoirs full of fluid through to flush it all out. Used a brake bleeding kit to bleed it all properley and it was working fine. Went for a drive around the block and its playing up a bit is that likely because its loosing pressure via the slave cylinder. Will purchase a new one this week and install it and bleed everything again. I noticed that 'of4x4' said to watch out for the bleed screw high up on the passenger side but all I can see there is a brass block that joins a rubber hose to the metal hydraulic line. I cant see any screw there to bleed anything is it possible I still have air trapped in that upper section ?

[Red_MAv]

Anyone know of this other bleeding screw that of4x4 talks of.
Hint: when bleeding the clutch, don't forget the bleed screw high up on the body (passenger's side). I cant see it, jus ta joiner between the ribber hose and metal hydraulic line.

[nalucas]

Yeah the top bleed point is up near the fuel filter, back left corner (well on my diesel anyway). There is a tee piece lower down that comes up to a block with a bleed nipple on the top of it. There may be a rubber dust cover on the nipple.

I have just been through a similar problem. Firstly I replaced the slave cylinder and it worked great for a couple of days and then it went back to it's old ways. Next step I put a reco kit through the master cylinder and bled it all including the top point and it works a treat. When i removed the master cylinder, you could see where the fluid was forcing it's way past the seal. The paint on the booster is also burnt off from the fluid leak.

The new slave cylinder was about $45 from Repco and the master cylinder kit was $12.95. The master cylinder reco is pretty easy and takes about an hour.

You don't need much fluid for the system, there's probably lucky to be 100mL in there.

Hope that helps you out.

Nathan

[Red_MAv]

Thanks but Diesel may be different because I followed the line all the way around and can only find a bleed screw at the slave cylinder. The one on the passnger side firewall appears to be just a brass block with the rubber hose on one side and the metal hydraulic line coming out the other, the whole thing attached to a metal bracket on the bodywork. The Gregories manual only talks of the one bleed screw too. Would this slight leak be whats buggering everything up. Getting a new slave tomorrow and will fit it and see I guess.

[wrksux]

Ive just bought a 89 td42 mav, it doesnt like to shift from second to first when downchangeing, all other gears are fine, first to second is fine. just not a down change.

Is this normal
its an original clutch as far as I and the PO (2nd) know.
had a cylinder rebuilt in teh last 2 years clutch feels ok but is on its way out in the next 10 thou i will expect.

So could this be the clutch or something more serious with the gearbox?

[Red_MAv]

Dont really know about a diesel mine has always changed up and down well between all gears until last weekend. I'm hoping tossing ths new slave cylinder in tomorrow will have me back to normall.

[Sexy Fingers]

Don't really know about this second bleed nipple, but generally if it's run out of fluid, you need to bleed the master cylinder as well. Although it may become a bit messy, if there is no bleed nipple on the master cylinder, just crack the nut off the hydraulic line to bleed. I'll be able to tell you for sure later on this week, as my slave cylinder just crapped itself too (as well as the high pressure power steering hose and carby ). On another note I picked up a new slave cylinder from my suppliers for $28 on the weekend. Sounds like a good deal compared to Repco.

[of4x4]

Anyone know of this other bleeding screw that of4x4 talks of.
Hint: when bleeding the clutch, don't forget the bleed screw high up on the body (passenger's side). I cant see it, jus ta joiner between the ribber hose and metal hydraulic line.

Mine's diesel so it may well be different. In the block on the firewall passenger side, there is a line from the Master Cylinder, line to the slave cylinder, and a third line to the bleed point. If you want I'll get a pic and post it up.

[Red_MAv]

Nah, dont worry of4x4 diesel must be different there is no such extra bit on the TB42. Wife has the new slave cylinder I will toss it in tonight. Let you all know if that fixes it.

[Red_MAv]

Got the old one off eventually the bolts were badly rusted had to get new high tensile ones from bunnings but even though they were same thread they wouldnt go in. Spent an hour under the car with the tap and die set fixing the holes up. Ready to go on now but found out I need rubber grease to lubricate the rubber boot that the little piston thingo comes out of. Will get that tomorrow and put it all together.

[Red_MAv]

Final update - fitted the new slave cylinder tonight, bleed it fine, drove it for about 10kms - all fixed... and under $30 for all the parts. Thanks everyone for all your help.. Peter