Difficulty to engage REVERSE GEAR

[kmckmc]

My mechanic took the transmission down for Clutch and LSD replacement. It now has some difficulty in engaging the REVERSE gear half of the time. What might gone wrong? I have Dave's short shifter kit installed. Cables are fine. When the transmission was down, the mechanic did not have any problem in selecting all 6 gears (5 + reverse).

I remember reading a post some time back....

when encountering Reverse Gear difficulty, one should try Selecting 3rd, then 4th gear, and engage the REVERSE Gear.

What is the logic behind it?




Cheers,

[Enright]

Mine has always had a bit of difficulty with reverse too - often it takes a few attempts to get it into gear, and just as often it pops out of reverse while travelling backwards (very annoying). It's almost as if there isn't enough movement in the mechanism for it to engage fully.
This happened with standard gear cables, but when I changed to AB cables the problem didn't go away, despite them being adjusted properly. I can't work it out - if you get an answer I will very interested to hear what the solution is.

[RayD]

Edit ... Quote added

I remember reading a post some time back....when encountering Reverse Gear difficulty, one should try Selecting 3rd, then 4th gear, and engage the REVERSE Gear.

What is the logic behind it?

Selecting one of the synchronised forward gears first, momentarily stops the shafts freewheeling and makes reverse easier to select.

Ray

[Specky]

When I fitted another set of gear change cables....... it took several attempts to adjust the little fellas and get the gears how I wanted them...


IIRC the reverse gear is a crash gear as well

TTFN

[kmckmc]

Progress Report.

I drove M100 back from the mechanic's earlier. With respect to all forward gears, each gear engagement is precise and clean. BUT, after I engage in REVERSE GEAR, it became some what difficult to push it out. I asked for another mechanic's opinion. He said the gear cables seemed fine.

After talking to the first mechanic, he said that he will drop/disassemble the transmission box and check it out.

Have other Elan drivers experienced this kind of event before?

My other question would be: If the transmission assembly were not re-assembled properly, why is it possible that I CAN still engage in all Gears?


Cheers,

[Doc Fizzix]

Michael

I had no problems with mine but I do remember how hard it was to line up all locking pins and detents balls, if just one was not set correctly and/or in the wrong pace, it will cause all kinds of problems including trouble getting into gears. I would start with the cables and if that can not solve the problem then you will have to crack her open again

[G UK]

I'd try the selector box before stripping her out again. Theres a little block whatsit that stops you going directly from 5th to Reverse and vise versa. When this buggered up on mine it kept trapping the car in 5th , its probably worth checking.

[Exbury]

When I fitted the AB cables it took my brother and I a couple of hours to adjust everything as for example after one adjustment I could get what i though was a complete set of 6 gears, but actually driving it ended up being 4 gears, or I could get 6 - just etc. As the Doc F said it has to be lined up correctly and once it was fine tuned and locked into place the gear change was perfectly smooth and has been ever since. It may be possible (especially if your mechanic is not used to driving the car) that they have been put back slightly out of sync. I prefered to adjust the cables myself as you get a good 'feel' as you know the car.

[Exbury]

Oh I would also get someone to drive the car, then look in the engine bay before/after during selection of the gears. It is also possible that something is catching on the bracketry/linkages and causing difficulty gear-changing, I think I had this too but think it was me trying to make follow the modifications on making metal brackets instead of getting the AB cables.

[nitroman]

My 2 cents having owned 3 Elans & the AB cables:

Reverse is a normal problem for Elans. Rowing through 1st, 2nd, then engaging reverse will ease engagement. The AB cables make gear selections feel more distinct, in addition to making the cables "unbreakable". The AB cables are not made by Merlin, and you'll still have a lousy feel if someone has not taken the TIME to adjust them correctly. This can only be properly done by adjusting & testing, adjusting & testing...
This is but one example of a job where being an involved owner pays huge dividends, whether you are adjusting AB or stock cables.

My #1 priority in cable adjustment was getting the normal 1, 2, 3, 4 , 5 selection operating smoothly. You can make reverse selection a sure thing, but you will surely hamper the 12345 smoothness in doing so. Having to (sometimes) select 1 & 2 before reverse was an acceptable price to pay for smooth & precise forward shifts.

[kmckmc]

As of now, I can engage 1,2,3,4,5 precisely. But most of the time, it is difficult to engage Reverse gear.
I also have fitted Dave's short shifter mk1. According to Dave, my mechanic did install it correctly. So, I suppose if the tranny were reassembled correctly, then what else should I pay more attention?

Please advise

[DeeAitch]

Michael,
Did you check all the points in my PM yet?
I'm assuming all was well before the tranny was stripped down?
I've just noticed you also replaced the clutch - is it OE or uprated? Is it working / adjusted OK? If it is dragging it might make the non synchro reverse difficult to engage.

[Monty]

Make sure that the gear cable ends going to the selector move freely on the pins, as when i was fitting the AB cables one of them was tight when fitting on to the pin, so just drilled the hole slightly larger.

[nitroman]

BTW engaging 4th, then reverse; is the ticket.