Gearbox feels weird...

shauncr91 · 22 Jun 2013 at 06:03

Today and yesterday I've noticed that the gearbox on my car is feeling really stiff, it isn't struggling when going into gear but the actual shift feels very sticky, I suppose the best way to explain is it's like stirring treacle but not quite as bad.

The 'box isn't making any strange noises and I haven't noticed any loss of oil under the car so what else could it be? I've looked online and found someone who had same issue on a Golf which turned out to be crap in the shifter mechanism under the car, coincidentally the day before I noticed the problem I drove through some mega puddles in the rain so does this sound viable or a bit far fetched?

Ta

PobodY · 22 Jun 2013 at 07:12

Trolley jack, axle stands, take a look?

shauncr91 · 22 Jun 2013 at 07:18

PobodY said:
Trolley jack, axle stands, take a look?

Yeah I plan to but just wondered if anyone could suggest anything else to look at while I was at it

PobodY · 22 Jun 2013 at 10:33

Take a look at the bushes? - Maybe there's something stuck in the connecting rods.

I know there's not much to the linkage on mine, but to stiffen it I put polybushes on the mounts.

sovietspybob · 22 Jun 2013 at 12:05

I've heard of the same issue on a regular fiesta of the same era, was just broken mounts/bushes in the shifter mechanism.

Dogbreath · 22 Jun 2013 at 15:35

Does it feel the same without the engine running? If not then it's probably a clutch problem.

Will · 22 Jun 2013 at 15:44

sovietspybob said:
I've heard of the same issue on a regular fiesta of the same era, was just broken mounts/bushes in the shifter mechanism.

Yes this can happen....not unusual....

Hope that its not a clutch issue, slave cylinder failure can cause the lever to seem stiffer over time, getting worse and worse until it eventually won't let you change gear at all or put it into gear (or at least not without a lot of effort). Gearbox off job to replace....so not cheap.

Fuzz · 22 Jun 2013 at 16:05

If you have cables operating the mechanism check those out for cracks in the outer casing as the water you mention may have started rusting them.
Golfs seem to be terrible at melting the cables too :-o

(maybe just racing cars though as most of the heat shielding had been junked

shauncr91 · 22 Jun 2013 at 16:08

The clutch pedal feels absolutely fine and yes it's still sticky with the engine not running, I'll get it up in the air tomorrow and have a nosey round to see if I can see anything obviously wrong.

Thanks for the replies so far