Having issues shifting into 1st gear

[Red Frog]

Hey Guys,

I'm desperate for your advice/held/input!!!

Lately, the Lastina has been having issues shifting into 1st gear. Scenario: Pull up at a set of traffic lights and pop her into neutral. Lights change green, go to shift it to 1st....it clicks in, but only half way where i can't even budge it. the gear stick feels like it's gone as far as it can and has hit sth that's stopping it from going in any further - gears don't crunch. neways, i'll pull it back to neutral, then into 2nd, then try for 1st again...but nothing. usually it'll go in after this, but this afternoon whilst i was trying to take off, it happened again, but this time quite bad to the pt where i couldn't get the car into 1st gear for the good part of 30secs, quite ready to hit the hazards. now, something i've noticed, is that it tends to be worse when i'm stopped on a hill/incline. nething suss there?

i had the clutch changed early april. dad took the lastina back to the guy on the weekend, explained the problem (but as usual) he couldn't find nething. NRMA technical said it sounded like a clutch adjustment, but the lastina is hydraolic so......? can't remember wot the outcome was there. james reckons it could b a bent fork or the syncromesh going (please god no!) - i don't think after 130K in 7yrs it'd be the latter.....

now i need your help. wot do u think it is?

i've also been having a strange whirring noise when i take off on inclines. it's just as i pick the clutch up and balance out the revs when i hear the noise. once the car starts moving, the noise stops. my pop suggested it's the fan belt which needs to be tightened. ne clues?

yes, selling the car is on the agenda for april.....but until then i need to get these problems sorted!

[Rupewrecht]

I'd bet it's your shifter bushes. Probably the ones on the gearbox end of the solid shifter mount are worn/breaking up.

[mill_mobile]

i occasionaly have this prob too..... as mine doesnt do it all the timei havent worried too much bout it.

[Astro Boy]

Originally Posted by Red Frog

james reckons it could b a bent fork

Doubt it, you'd have bigger problems that than..

or the syncromesh going

Also doubt it, synchro's don't do alot on an un-loaded shaft, ie, free spinning from after you've engaged the clutch..

It is starting to sound like clutch... I had a similar thing happen in the red charade as the cable stretched and stretched (till the next day it broke... dam heavy duty jim berry!!!)... And hydraulic clutches have adjustment aswell, might be worth looking at...

But as rupt says, i'd check the shifter bushes first, they're a simple fix, and its more than likely the cause, especially if its changes on an incline/slope, as mis-adjusted or worn clutch wouldn't necessarily do that...

[Melbastina]

I get it reasonably often as well.

Bushes you say...

[Laser the Amazer]

I had the noise on take off with dads laser. Turned out to be a thurst bearing

$40 or so later and dropping the box to replace it, it was fixed

I think bushes would be where I'd start looking with the shifter

Hydraliuc clutch not much adjustment, could try that as well

good luck

Rob

[chipa]

Others have had this problem in the past, I believe it has been clutch problems. In Gav's case my memory rings a bell that he also fixed the problem for a short time by moving the engine mount position a few mm. Of course it may also be shifter bushings, but what you describe is exactly what seems to have happened in other BJ's with worn clutches.

[Astro Boy]

PLUG: If it is clutch let me know!

I know i can do heavy duty BJ clutches for less than people here have paid, i'm pretty sure standard's would be the same... for reference, a heavy duty for a kn/bj is $275, and a standard for a BG is $195, so it'll be somewhere inbetween that!

[chicaboo]

My remedy was (for the most part) to have the clutch adjusted (don't listen to the hydraulic self adjusting BS). But my symptoms were different, the longer I idled for, the harder it would be to into 1st, and then all the successive gears...

If you're not on an upward hill, you may have to ride the clutch off in 2nd if you get really stuck.

Gav.

[chipa]

I thought the problem got better when you pushed the engine back and did the mount back up.

[chicaboo]

Moving the engine back or forth a couple of mm did make a difference, but there's lots of little things that do that. The biggest improvement was taking out the shortshifter and then getting the clutch adjusted. It's still not perfect, but I think that is now just entirely clutch material and/or bearing issues...

[platypus]

Originally Posted by Red Frog

i had the clutch changed early april......there. james reckons it could b a bent fork or the syncromesh going (please god no!) - i don't think after 130K in 7yrs it'd be the latter.....

i also said its probably the selector arm itself....

when they did your clutch they probably havn't tightened or have over tightened the selector.

have a squizz at the selector bushes.... its a big round thing on the back end of the gear box that attaches to a long rod - runs parallel to the selector arm