Stiff/ impossible gear change in low gears

mad_rich

Hello folks. Thought someone here might have some suggestions. I've had a quick Google, which suggests clutch springs, clutch fluid or master cylinder, gearbox oil change, synchromesh problem! I'd be grateful for a bit of a nudge in the right direction.

02 reg Skoda Fabia 1.9 Tdi with 180,000 on the clock, manual gearbox. Very good condition and running well otherwise, so I'm happy to spend a bit of money on it if necessary.

I first noticed it difficult to get into reverse a couple of months ago. It just completely refuses to go into gear. I tend to try a few tricks - dropping into neutral and waiting, cycling through the higher gears or blipping the throttle but to no avail.

Then suddenly after one, two or a dozen attempts, it works. No stiffness at all, as if there had never been a problem. If it doesn’t work, I turn the engine off and on again. Always works smoothly then.

It's now beginning to happen in 1st, 2nd and even 3rd. Seems to be unrelated to engine tempearature, and a couple of times yesterday, I thought I was going to be unable to get away from the lights.

Any suggestions of how to diagnose this a bit better, before walking into the garage with a blank chequebook?

Thanks.

Inner_Zone

mad_rich wrote: »

Hello folks. Thought someone here might have some suggestions. I've had a quick Google, which suggests clutch springs, clutch fluid or master cylinder, gearbox oil change, synchromesh problem! I'd be grateful for a bit of a nudge in the right direction.

This suggests it a manual gearbox.

mad_rich wrote: »

I first noticed it difficult to get into R a couple of months ago. It just completely refuses to go into gear. I tend to try a few tricks - dropping into N and waiting, cycling through the higher gears or blipping the throttle but to no avail.

It's now beginning to happen in 1, 2 and even 3. Seems to be unrelated to engine tempearature, and a couple of times yesterday, I thought I was going to be unable to get away from the lights.

But this suggests its an automatic gearbox.

So which is it or is it some kind of DSG?

jimjames

If it's a manual box I had similar with my Golf TDI.

It was a simple fix and just involved regreasing the gear linkage under the bonnet. Took no more than 30 mins to do and gear change is now perfect again.

mad_rich

Inner_Zone wrote: »

But this suggests its an automatic gearbox.

So which is it or is it some kind of DSG?

Nope, you were right first time! Plain old manual 5-speed gearbox.

JustinR1979

Would look at linkages for wear and tear first off, and lube as already suggested.
Bleed the clutch next.

ratrace

As above try greasing the if not then an gearbox oil change is fairly cheap i suspect at that mileage its probably been a while since its been done

Doing the above is a lot cheaper than taking the gearbox off and then getting it inspected

JustinR1979

Yep oil change can't hurt and is probably overdue, every car I've owned I've changed it - more for second gear when cold issues than stiff in all gears however

colino

While you should recheck every element of the system to eliminate wear and faults, I suspect as the gearlinkage cables and mechanism are now on the factors shelves, they are a common wear point.

Rikki

You problem sound similar to the one I had a few months ago. Once you get into a gear it drives fine the problem is just being able to change gear again. Mine turned out to be the master cylinder and not a new clutch as I first feared. (..and not too expensive)

mad_rich

Thanks all. Just googling how to find the gear linkage now.

Is there anything I can infer from the fact that the biggest problem is with the lowest (or should I say highest?!) gears?

Initially just reverse, then 1st and 2nd, and now 3rd too.

JustinR1979

Linkage or master cylinder more noticeable in lower gears.