TVR S3 gearchange

[racingmegashed]

I'm now onto my 3rd S Series car... so no stranger to these great machines. That said my latest is interesting.

Its all coming together nicely and a bit of fettling has the car running/looking/moving well.

Just one glitch - the gearbox. Seems that first and reverse are so close together you need to be VERY careful at junctions... or you can slip it into reverse and frighten the daylights out of that nice lady in the Fiat 500 behind you.

So I am planning to change the gearbox oil. If its anything like the plugs/engine oil/filter/air filter chances are its older than my children.

That said - anyone else out there noticed this?

Thanks,

M.

[phillpot]

That don't sound right, should take a (very) positive push down on the lever to select reverse?

I'd guess something wrong/broken/missing on gearlever or in the gearbox tailhousing where the gearlever connects to the selector rod?

[mep12345]

Agree with Mike, I find I sometimes get first instead of reverse, but never the other way around

[phillpot]

A is the bottom of your gearstick, selector rail is removed from this gearbox.

When going for first the red bit hits the blue bit, stopping the lever going over and finding reverse but when you push down on the gearlever it goes underneath allowing the extra movement required to pick up the reverse selector.
That lump with the blue dot is steel set into the alluminiun tail housing, could it have fallen out?

The "springyness" you push against when selecting reverse is created by (I think) just a rubber bellows kind of thing on the gearlever, could that be split/perished/damaged?

Or a previous owner has "messed" with it because he found reverse difficult to select

This view is from the back of the gearbox, a metal plug normally fills the hole but removing the gearlever should enable you to see whats going on (once you've removed half a tub of grease).

Edited by phillpot on Sunday 1st December 20:40

[Oldred_V8S]

phillpot said:

The "springyness" you push against when selecting reverse is created by (I think) just a rubber bellows kind of thing on the gearlever, could that be split/perished/damaged?

Or a previous owner has "messed" with it because he found reverse difficult to select

This view is from the back of the gearbox, a metal plug normally fills the hole but removing the gearlever should enable you to see whats going on (once you've removed half a tub of grease).

Edited by phillpot on Sunday 1st December 20:40

I had a Mk1 escort that did this, Mike is correct there is a conical rubber that acts as a spring, on top of which was a circlip that stopped the rubber sliding up the gear lever. My escort had the Circlip missing; it was therefore very easy to select reverse instead of first.

[phillpot]

Oldred_V8S said:

there is a conical rubber that acts as a spring, on top of which was a circlip that stopped the rubber sliding up the gear lever.

Not so easy to slide up with the TVR modification but I still suspect your problem is in this area?

[racingmegashed]

Thanks very much guys - much appreciated. I'll do some investigating at the weekend and let you know what I find.