bad shifting with a c160

[jacobrjett]

symptoms -

*when engine is off, gears are smooth as butter
*when engine is running, its quite difficult to put it from first to second, and sometimes it slides into 4th instead
*mild crunch into 3rd
*sometimes I put it in reverse and the lever goes in and reverse lights come on etc, but the gear doesnt engage properly and just spins freely

has a new clutch and pressure plate. there seems to be a good 6-8cm of push after the engagement point on the clutch pedal, so im pretty sure its disengaging properly...

going to spray some wd-40 over the gear linkages and the ball of the shifter... then thinking about bleeding the brake/clutch lines incase their is any air bubbles.



any thoughts or similar experiences are welcome, cheers

[jacobrjett]

also there is a bit of chirp/whistle/squeal noise that seems to come from around the clutch area... , it seems like the slave cylinder piston is vibrating against the clutch fork to make the noise, and when i apply pressure with my finger on the fork or put my foot on the clutch it goes away. but i guess its not normal and may have something to do with it

[sergei]

Sounds like it does not dis-engage fully, try bleeding the clutch to see if it helps.
To check if master is stuffed, try pumping clutch couple of times and then see if you get the symptoms...

Constant squeal indicates on stuffed release bearing (was it replaced?).
Did you machine the flywheel? Was the step between working surface and pressure plate area maintained?

[jacobrjett]

there is one thing i just remembered happened. I actually dropped the clutch plate by accident and it took a very small chunk out the corner of one of the pads... were talking like half of a 10c coin size chunk. but i didnt think to check if it warped i imagine though that it would straighten out after a while if that was the case...

I did not get the flywheel machined. my mechanic told me it wasnt necessary because my one looked in good condition, and i just sanded the surface on it.

the clutch release bearing was indeed replaced.

ill look into bleeding it... although there is a good few inches in of pedal movement after the friction point, so i assumed it would be disengaging properly... possible that its not?

cheers

[jacobrjett]

ive narrowed it down a little

seems that when the car is on, but in neutral and parked, with the clutch in the gears are smooth as butter.

its only when driving that they are a bit stiff. its only the shifting into second that im annoyed about, otherwise it would be fine...

[Dell'Orto]

What gear oil did you put in it?

[jacobrjett]

"Nulon" semi-synthetic 75w-90 "smooth shift" manual gearbox & transaxle oil.

was originally going to put in castrol syntrax, but was told that it was overkill.

[jacobrjett]

i would think that if the cluch wasnt disengaging fully, the gear changes woud be stiff throughout all the gears. with the engine on, but parked and clutch in it is smooth as butter. so it must be when the gears are actually moving that there is a problem.

which leads me too think its a gearbox problem. with the change in shift performance along with temperature im hoping a different oil will help me out.

with a 220km body the gearbox itself is getting old though. i knew I should have pulled it apart when it was out

[Mr Revhead]

Those missed gear symptoms may mean the selector lever has taken a knock. I had that on one job, had to tweak them a bit. Find another car to look at and observe the movements of that one. Don't try and just guess.

[Rob]

You should always machine your flywheel, Take it back to your mechanic. Was it doing this before you pulled it apart???
Pull the boot back on the slave cylinder and check for fluid leakage, and bleed it anyway.

Make sure you didn't bend the selector levers as these can adjust the distance the shaft moves

[jacobrjett]

mhm. mhm. I trust my mechanic and he said I did not need to get the flywheel machined. Hes been a mechanic for 30 years. I will check the boot for leaks.

by lever, do you guys mean the gear stick itself, or the two levers where the cables engage on the gearbox itself? it may be these... as the gearbox was sitting on the floor for a while and may have been rolled around a bit...

im quite certain the clutch disengaging properly. Today I sat in the driveway and reved it to about 4000rpm and put the clutch in and switched between gears, smooth as butter. its only when im actually moving there is the sticky gear.

[Mr Revhead]

Yeah the levers sticking out of the box

[jacobrjett]

ok. sounds like a fiddly fix!! ill have a look.

[andyztouring]

I would be checking the clutch slave cyclinder both on the clutch and the bulkhead.My car had issues and new slave cyclinders fixed it all