5th and 6th gear problem

RavingMad

Hi all

I noticed last night that I couldn't get the car into 5th or 6th gear. It's as though someone has wedged something in so I can't push the stick towards the right.

The only coincidence at the time was I was hoovering the car and cleaned the fluff around it

Any idea what might have happened and what it might cost to fix?

Thanks

Apodemus

Were you trying with the engine running? Your post suggests that this might have been you trying to move the gear stick while the engine was off?

pgoncalv

What make and model is it?

foxy-stoat

Pull the gator up around the gear stick, see if anything has dropped in the mechanism - free fix.

Failing that look at the gear linkage on top of the gearbox to see if looks ok.

forgotmyname

Check the vacuum for the 5th and 6th gears, maybe you sucked them up?

z1a

foxy-stoat wrote: »

Pull the gator up around the gear stick, see if anything has dropped in the mechanism - free fix.

Failing that look at the gear linkage on top of the gearbox to see if looks ok.

Careful though, it might bite your hand off when you try to pull the gaiter up. :rotfl:

Strider590

Does it drop into gear if you go for 5/6th and then loosely let the stick move to the left slightly?

I ask because there's a guide/stopper that prevents you pushing the stick too far to the right (or left), this stopper can wear down (though normally on the left), so the lever goes too far over and won't drop into gear.
The problem is they wear gradually and people (almost naturally) try to force the stick even further over, which causes even more damage and has the opposite effect.

RavingMad

Thanks all. Foxy was spot on; 3 pens were lodged in there! Turns out that in the cup holder console, where I shove spare pens, they were able to thread themselves through a gap into the gear mechanism!? I fished them out and it's all good again

Thanks again