no reverse

[sin-ders]

:-( Hi Guys'n'Girls, I have had problems on my ducato 06 early model 2.8cc getting 1st and 2nd and a little difficulty getting 5th but on sunday coming home I could not get reverse at all and it does come in handy.

my two questions are :- 1. does anybody know what the problem is and what to do about it ?

2. Is the a way of getting drawings or pictures of the engine/gearbox :'(

[Brambles]

Sounds like the gear change linkages need lubricating. Is you gear lever fairly stiff side to side and you cannot really feel the spring loading or it self returning to 1st position in neutral?

 

The linkage to lubricate is the main bush on the lever controlling lifting and falling of the gear rod into the gearbox. It has a black cap on it covering a nut, and if you remove the cap and then the nut you can partially dismantle to get grease around the plastic bearing bush. Next you also need to make sure the rod going into the gearbox is well lubricated.

 

If this is the problem, you will find gear changes after a few days when the grease has worked in beautifully easy and slick.

[Tracker]

The gear change shafts entering the box get rusty not least because rain water drips onto them from above, and this is made worse by longish periods of inactivity when the rust can easily spread.

 

It's a simple enough but messy and awkward job to get underneath and clean them up with emery cloth and then grease them - and that may not even be your fault - but its the first place I would suspect.

 

If you have access to a garage style hydraulic ramp the job is easy but on your back on the drive it is not quite so much fun!

 

Don't let anyone try and convince you to buy a new cable set - not only does it cost a fortune it probably will not help unless the shafts are cleaned too.

[Brambles]

As Tracker has said it is awkward lying on your back, however not impossible. What you can do which is easier is get some bicycle spray oil for chains or something like WELDTITE TF2 spray oil with Teflon. I think Tesco sell it actually ( maybe Asda or even both). Spray it on the shaft and also at the rear of the lever arm I mentioned. Now because of where it is located it is really awkard to get to and hence spray liberally as it will wash off dirt and flood the area and some will soak into the bush,. It may take a day to soak in enough, but it should work albeit possibly only temporary.

[Tracker]

Lubrication is good but alone it probably will not solve the problem as it is the layer of rust that prevents the shaft sliding and that rust needs to be got rid of first for best results.

 

I only ever did ours once and it was still fine after two years following the emery cloth and grease treatment.

[Brambles]

Totally Agree Tracker, but as it is so awkward to get into with two hands I thought the spraying with oil would at least ease it off a bit. As I said a temporary fix.

 

It really is quite a horrible design not having proper seals/boots on the shaft, let alone the stupid lever bush which has a plastic cap sealing one end but other is exposed to water getting in. Lets not mention the poor quaity rubber corrugated boots on the cables. The thing is of course if it was in daily use oil works its way up from the gearbox to keep the shaft lubricated and stops rusting, but sitting around with water draining over the darn thing it is going to have problems. When parked up for a long time then the gears should be selected to leave the shaft fully in, but for the life of me everytime I work it out I forget if it is 5th or reverse the gears should be left in.

[Dave Newell]

 

difficulty with 1st/2nd and reverse could be due to the lateral motion cable end becoming partially/totally detached from the gearbox. The inner cable is fixed with a small bracket bolted to the box casing with a single 8mm bolt (13mm head size) and they do occasionally come loose causing exactly this problem, I've seen it several times.

 

D.