Wisdom Welcomed - No Drive To Wheels

[Dartmoor7]

1400 SS 5 speed gearbox.

All fine three days ago.

Just got in it and when I let the clutch up there is no drive to the wheels.

Any ideas anyone?

 

 

[Jonathan Kay]

What does the pedal action feel like?

Have a look and a wiggle at both ends of the cable.

Jonathan

[revilla]

Very odd!

I think that amount of play in the clutch arm is not unusual, you're just taking up the slack - the clunk will be the pedal flying up above its normal position.

Same in all gears? No odd noises? Saw a case recently where the clutch splines had chewed out of the centre of the friction plate, but that happened on a track day and made horrible noises!

[Dartmoor7]

Hi Jonathan,

Cable ends normal, adjuster and lock nuts normal.

Clutch action feels normal.

Video here, is this the normal action of this part? 

With the engine off, I can get the gear lever into all gears, but only fifth offers any resistance to rolling the car.

 

 

 

[revilla]

It's either clutch, gearbox, propshaft or diff ... all sound like an odd mode of failure.

Can somebody look under the car when you try to drive off to see if the propshaft is turning?

[Dartmoor7]

With the engine off, I can get the gear lever into all gears, but only fifth offers any resistance to rolling the car.

No unusual noises.

[revilla]

And what happens if you try to pull away in fifth?

[Dartmoor7]

On my own at the moment and the car is blocked into the garage.

[revilla]

If you put the handbrake on and keep one foot stamped on the brake for insurance, the car won't offer much fight in hight gear ... Just trying to make sure I understand correctly that in fourth, at idle, you can let the clutch up and nothing at all happens, in fifth it feels like the car is trying to move (it will probably just stall!).

[Dartmoor7]

Visions of driving through the wall!

 

Yes, the car will move in fifth but not in any other gear.

A couple of times when I tried fourth I got a bit of a click/clonk from somewhere but no drive.

[revilla]

I've never had a Type 9 box in pieces, but it was based on an earlier 4-speed box with fifth added in the the tail housing extension. Looking at exploded diagrams, it looks like there is one selector shaft with two big forks on it, one to select first to fourth and a separate one operating fifth. I'm wondering if the main selector fork has detached from the shaft? I think it sounds like an internal failure of the gearbox that will mean engine and box out one way or another though.

[Dartmoor7]

Strewth, that sounds expensive.

Think I might have to bury my head in the sand for a while.

 

 

 

[revilla]

As I say, I've never personally had one pieces so I may be wrong ... hopefully somebody else who knows more about the Type 9 will come along soon. However ... if the failure was outside of the gearbox, I can't see how it could leave you with one gear still working.

[TomB]

Look on the bright side - you can get your gearbox rebuilt and a better set of ratios fitted.  Look at BGH long 1st/ short 5th as examples of what you can do.  Suggest speaking to Steve Perks Components (SPC) for gearbox repairs/ ratio upgrades.   

[Jonathan Kay]

What TomB says about the silver lining. There are a couple of recent threads discussing the options.

Jonathan

[bjw]

Sorry to be less than encouraging on my first post here, but it seems likely to be a failure of the hollow roll pin that secures the striker block to the selector shaft. This will 'disconnect' both 1/2 and 3/4 selector forks, with no effect on 5th.

The only (and very faint) glimmer of hope of not having to take the box out is that the assembly is located just under the top cover. It may then be possible for someone skilled in the art to replace the pin in situ, though I can imagine it would be a real struggle to punch out and retrieve the broken parts with such restricted access.

Hope you get it sorted soon.

Cheers

[Dartmoor7]

Thanks everyone.

Regrettably, the 'silver lining' option requires silver.

[Jim 123]

If the clutch is OK and you can engage 5th you should be able to roll the car forward in 5th (engine off) and clutch depressed, without the wheels trying to turn the engine.  Can you engage reverse? If so I'd try the foregoing also.  If the clutch is OK it might be worth popping off the gearstick and then the selector cover for a further look.

[Dartmoor7]

Hi Jim,

Yes, the clutch is OK.

Is the selector cover under the tunnel cover?

What is under there that might shed further light?

 

 

[Wrightpayne]

You’ll need to tackle from the engine bay working down the tunnel. Removing the transmission tunnel cover from inside the car may help but there is an ally plate under the cover, riveted to the chassis which is over the gearbox.

Ian

 

[Jonathan Kay]

Can you engage reverse? If so I'd try the foregoing also.

Same thought: if the fault is in the selector then does whether selecting reverse engages the output shaft or not help to localise it?

Jonathan

[revilla]

I suspect the question is a bit academic now. One way or another the lid will have to come off the box, at which point it should be pretty clear what is and isn't moving as it should.

[Jonathan Kay]

Thanks

Jonathan

[Jim 123]

Jerry, as a next step why not get the gearstick off.  There is just a small chance that the issue my be with the stick assembly  or where it engages with the selector remote arm at the back of the box..  From my rapidly deteriorating memory of the type 9, the gearshift sits in a ball socket with a nylon liner which can wear / fracture.  You can also check the prongs on the base of the lever.  With the stick removed you should also be able to manipulate the remote arm in the 1, 2, 3, 4 position to see if you can get the selectors to engage which may help narrow things down.

 

[ECR]

The selector roll pin is known to break. During rebuilds it is good idea to insert a new roll pin with another smaller diameter roll pin inside that to strengthen things. (courtesy of SPC) ....