finding it hard to find 2nd gear

[paddy the farmer]

as a new esprit owner (my very first) i am at the stage of enjoying the acceleration out on the juel carraige ways of west london. but i sometimes when accelerating am missing second gear.. is this the linkage problem i have heard about and could anybody please offer me some suggestions.
regards
liam

[johnny boy]

Which Esprit do you have?

Anything from S4 on (I believe) has the dreaded Renault gearbox - it simply cannot handle the power, especially on accelerating from start.

So, the first to second gear change will always be dodgy and there is no cure I'm afraid.

Edited by johnny boy on Sunday 25th November 20:13

[Espritloveruk]

Look in your engine bay and see what colour the Clutch Hose is (slave cylinder is on the right somewhere depending on what model you have). Alternatively open up the front bonnet and the master cylinder is on the same side as the clutch pedal. If the Clutch Hose is a Red Plastic Tube then you need to get this replaced ASAP and drive the car carefully until you do as it expands when the car gets warm/the weather is warm (the Turbo Esprit engine bay gets very hot). When the Red Hose expands the Hydraulic Clutch pressure drops hence the problem with selecting gears (2nd mainly but also 5th to 4th). If you ignore this then potentially you are looking at £2.5K minimum gearbox repairs (if you can even get the parts). I know as it happened to me! The other things which can cause this are:

1: A bent Selector Fork (12 hours labour to remove the gearbox!).
2: Incorrect Clutch Pedal adjustment.
3: Leaking Slave/Master Cylinder seals.

Let me know if you want the details of reliable Lotus mechanics (main dealers charge £70-£100 PH Labour) who are also reasonable on labour charges (£35-40PH).
As Johnny said if you have a 88 onwards Esprit (Stevens) it will most definately have the Renault box (some early 88 models still had the Citroen unit though).

[liamcaplis]

thank you gentlemen, incidently i have a 1990 Esprit Turbo SE, i am away on business at the moment but will be sure to check when i get home on friday, thanks

liam

[Miko]

If it's only second gear, then you're not shifting 1st to 2nd as slowly as you should be. If it's more than just 2nd gear it's might not be you. Regardless, if you do not have a stainless braided clutch hose, change to one now!!! And if you've been leaking fluid (from my personal experience) it's probably a good (and inexpensive) idea to overhaul your master and slave cylinders at the same time. (Learned all of this on my '89)

[rob.ellis]

Harry

I believe many 4 cyliner esprit owners replace the red plastic clutch hose with a braided stainless steel item.

This usually improves things.

Check out:
www.andywhittaker.com/ssclutchline.htm

Cheers
Rob.
98 V8-GT