400 gearbox

[cooper_bm]

Hi Guys, When I put the gearlever into first gear the lever falls back into neutral, I guess the weight of the gearlever does this. However if I hold the lever in first and pull away the lever stays in position even when I put the clutch in. Is this something I can remedy without taking the box out?
My regards Barry Cooper

[Geoff Dowdle]

Barry,



it sounds like the 1st/2nd selector rod tensioner has come loose or its
internal spring has lost tension over the years . Don't over tighten the
tensioner as the body of the tensioner will bind on the selector shaft .

Has this problem only recently occurred?
Regards
Geoff

[cooper_bm]

Hi Geoff , thanx for your reply. The original gearbox is fine but with worn syncro. I was lucky to get a good 401 box which I put in at easter. Initially it seemed OK, has started doing this a couple of weeks later. Is it a matter of having to take the box out or can be done in the car? Thanx Barry

Geoff,
It is also possible that the ball, normally under pressure by the spring
inside the selector ball unit, has dropped down...., and is happily dancing
around on top of the selector plate or-shafts. Or it falls to the bottom
part of the gearbox housing, hopefully not damaging anything in between.
This happenend some years ago with my 403 BWCR5 gearbox. I only could drive
home in first gear, because the loss ball blocked further gearchange.
So if the problem occurred suddenly, I recommend to stop driving, to
dismantle the gearbox topcover ( only 8 nuts) , and to have a look first.
New selector baal units (there are three of them in topcover) do not come
cheap, but some years ago I could order new ones from Brian Marelli at
Bristol Car Services.
I renewed all three, the new springs have better tension, and gears do not
drop out any more.

Jaap in the Netherlands.

[cooper_bm]

Hi Jaap, thanx for that suggestion also. I'll look into that as well.
My regards Barry

[Geoff Dowdle]

Barry,



you can just remove the gearbox tunnel (or maybe even just the gear lever
plate on top of the tunnel)to check the 1st-2nd tensioner which is the
middle one of the three just forward of the gear stick . There is a
sectional view in the manual (section 5 , page 7) , which can be viewed on
Ashley's website www........com

Was the 401 gearbox recently reconditioned and are the syncros any better
than the 400 gearbox ??

Regards
Geoff

[richardclarke]

Please tell me about Ashley's web site. As a new boy it sounds as though there is a wealth of information there.

[cooper_bm]

Geoff

Thanx again. No it wasn't reconditioned recently, it was done some years ago
by the usual person & kept as a spare by a 402 owner. It was turned over
regularly though and the syncros are first rate. Personally I didn't have a
problem with the old box double declutching but Margaret wasn't happy
driving it, whereas with the new box she doesn't have any problems.

My regards Barry

[cooper_bm]

Hi Geoff
All done, works a treat, thanx again.
Barry

[Kevin H]

Originally Posted by richardclarke

Please tell me about Ashley's web site. As a new boy it sounds as though there is a wealth of information there.

It's at http://jel450.com/

[richardclarke]

Thanks very much - the learning curve is pretty steep but enjoyable.

Richard Clarke