Need your advice re fault with gears

Kerry22

Hi everyone

I bought a second hand car a few months ago, from a garage.  I noticed the gears seemed a bit stiff, but I thought I was being paranoid as I'd had a gearbox go prior on another vehicle (which they advised me wasn't worth fixing for the vehicle in question then).

Now, a few months later, the gears are going and possibly the clutch.  I'm not technical at all.  I know these things happen and not necessarily their fault for selling it to me.

At the moment the car is stuck in reverse on my drive, I'm hoping I can get it out of reverse in the morning as I have a few jobs to do locally, only a mile here and there, and the other gears seem to work ok.

Any advice on that, if there is any, I'd be grateful.

As well as getting it out of gear, I'm thinking of putting it in to a gear specialist because I'm just not good at finding cars and I can't be without one for long.  This car has a new cam belt.  So I'm hoping if I sort the gear box and clutch (if needed) things might be ok for a while.  I'll be paying for it, but I'll be paying for another car in any case, so maybe stick with what I know.  It ran beautifully before all this in the last week, there's a loud engine noise if going at 60mph, and a whining, subtle at the moment, when pulling away in first gear.

Anyone any advice?  Are there cheaper ways of getting this sort of thing fixed that I don't know about?  Thanks 

LightFlare

How long ago exactly did you buy it ?

Did you buy it from the premises or online !

What make,age,mileage,cost ?

The options/answers will very much depend on these details 

Kerry22

Light Flare, I bought it in April this year.  I bought it from the premises, though it wasn't for sale there, it was one of their own cars that they agreed to sell.  

It's a vauxhall astra.  It's old, I don't have the paperwork to hand as I've moved, but it's an old vehicle, I paid £1500 for it, It's done over 100,000 miles, I think the garage said something like £136,000 when they spoke the other day.

But it's got a new cam belt put in. 

I'm useless with cars so I don't know what options there are, I just know that for £1000 plus, I can get it fixed and be without a car for a week, but is it worth it.  Is there a less expensive way of getting gears fixed etc.  With the slight whistling sound on pulling away I imagine that's the clutch?  So if that's the case then I'm not sure it's worth my while calling out a mobile mechanic to check the gear box.  

Though at the moment it's stuck in reverse, so maybe they could at least help with that.

uknick

At 100k miles I'd look at getting the clutch replaced, unless you have evidence it's been done since new.

When you say stuck in reverse does it change gear when the engine is off? 

Kerry22

Right, I got it out of reverse.  It wouldn't do it with the engine off and the lever on the stick was stiff as well.

I dropped forward with the car as on a slope, then reversed back with some force and then tried to get out of gear and thank goodness it worked.  For now.  

Hoping that means I can get to one of my jobs at 4pm, as long as I don't reverse at all.

Kerry22

anyone know what typically happens in these situations, I've only got some 5 minute journeys over the weekend

angrycrow

It does sound like a knackered clutch. If it's bad enough to jam in gear I would not recommend driving it until it's fixed. You might be able to nurse it to the garage for repair or they may be willing to collect it. Continuing to drive it risks further damage 

Ectophile

It sounds like your plan is to run it until the gearbox or clutch is completely destroyed, then scrap it like the last car?

Has anyone checked that there is actually any oil in the gearbox?  It's not an easy thing to check yourself unless you can get under the car.

Kerry22

angrycrow said:

It does sound like a knackered clutch. If it's bad enough to jam in gear I would not recommend driving it until it's fixed. You might be able to nurse it to the garage for repair or they may be willing to collect it. Continuing to drive it risks further damage 

thanks, I won't be driving it anymore, I am walking to my jobs, they are near enough.

Kerry22

Ectophile said:

It sounds like your plan is to run it until the gearbox or clutch is completely destroyed, then scrap it like the last car?

Has anyone checked that there is actually any oil in the gearbox?  It's not an easy thing to check yourself unless you can get under the car.

No, it was just that I wasn't sure if this was a problem that might last some time as the garage said it would just 'go' at some point (what exactly I don't know, there seems to be a tendency not to talk about the problem when it's gears or clutch, my experience this time and last time, which is why I'm wondering on the best thing to do)

I won't be driving it.  I've no idea if the oil was checked in the gearbox, no report given and as I say they didn't seem to want to discuss the problem.  It was like being told someone was dying, very sorry, goodbye, there's other cars to save, must go.

I just want to know all options.  The gear specialist sounded more positive.  So it's just whether to pay out for them to fix it, or get another car, but then I've done that once and here I am

ThisIsWeird

How are you getting on with this? 
Do you have a nearby, trusted garage? An experienced mechanic might be able to give an outline diagnosis on the issue.
For example, if the car is parked up, handbrake on, engine off, then it should be possible to move the gear lever fairly smoothly (tho' a bit clunky to actually get it fully into gear). Ie, is the gearshifter itself stiff - could the control cables be dry or corroded. Or is it all clutch-related. I think a reasonable - tho' not comprehensive - diagnosis could be made in a few minutes. Then you ask for quotes; £x if it's just the cables. £y if the clutch has gone. £z if it's... And make your decision.