Discussion
I'm not able to advise on the lever depression lubrication (hopefully others will) but it is worth noting that there is no synchro on the reverse gear. To make selection easier, I always select first (with clutch down) and the go directly to reverse, and then bring the clutch up. This helps align the gears, and makes the action much smoother.
After the winter lay-up last year, I found on the first shakedown drive this year that I couldn’t engage reverse. Gear stick would not depress to allow engagement. I tried spraying WD40 down the gear stick in the hope that it would free up but to no avail.
Eventually, I decided to remove the gear lever mechanism and investigate. The pain is you have to remove the transmission tunnel cover before you can access the mounting bolts for the lever. There’s plenty of info available via Google if you’re unfamiliar with removing the cover. Once I got the lever mechanism removed, I found the shaft was corroded into the ball joint preventing it from being depressed. A swift tap on the shaft with a mallet with the ball joint held in a vice released it. Inside the gear housing it was liberally covered in white silicon grease so I just applied more to the gear shaft and hope it doesn’t recur.
You can see the shaft and where it passes through the ball joint in the above photo. Hopefully this helps - try the WD40 first but you might have to replicate what I did. I wouldn’t advocate trying to put force on the shaft with the gear lever in place. The shuttle bush that the lever engages is plastic/nylon and might be damaged if you give it too much of a whack. Good luck!
Eventually, I decided to remove the gear lever mechanism and investigate. The pain is you have to remove the transmission tunnel cover before you can access the mounting bolts for the lever. There’s plenty of info available via Google if you’re unfamiliar with removing the cover. Once I got the lever mechanism removed, I found the shaft was corroded into the ball joint preventing it from being depressed. A swift tap on the shaft with a mallet with the ball joint held in a vice released it. Inside the gear housing it was liberally covered in white silicon grease so I just applied more to the gear shaft and hope it doesn’t recur.
You can see the shaft and where it passes through the ball joint in the above photo. Hopefully this helps - try the WD40 first but you might have to replicate what I did. I wouldn’t advocate trying to put force on the shaft with the gear lever in place. The shuttle bush that the lever engages is plastic/nylon and might be damaged if you give it too much of a whack. Good luck!
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