Notchy Gearbox

[peterjfox69]

Had my gearbox rebuilt about 2000 miles ago by a Stag specialist. Was all original before rebuild so nice and loose but noisy etc.
After rebuild, 1st gear can be quite notchy to engage. Obviously will feel a lot tighter after rebuild but 1st gear definitely not great.
Has anyone else experienced this?

[NeilR]

Yes, on 3 different gearboxs over the last 25k miles. It depends on where the syncro hub happens to stop.
Get the gears spinning before trying to engage - just briefly release the clutch.

[dasadrew]

Yep, got that T-Shirt. All gears tend occasionally to 'clunk'. Put it down to clutch, did all I could short of gearbox out, and just live with it for now.

[trunt]

I can’t say I’m aware of any issue selecting first but my other classic is a 67 MGB so it has a 3 synchro box, I.e. no synchro in 1st gear. Because of that I have developed automatic habits for first gear!
I’m guessing it’s hard to select when stopped? If so then as Neil says you need to keep the gearsets moving so do not sit in neutral with the clutch down, release the clutch and only depress it just as to want to go into first, if that fails either release the clutch again in neutral and try again or drop it in to second then immediately into first.. all of these actions rotate the gears a bit to better align the dogs/gears
Terry

[MikeParker]

I do not recognise these problems with the gearbox. It is one of the best parts of the car. It slips into gear easily and the gear lever is one of the most play-free, positive feeling I have used. Surely this must be a clutch issue?

[mole42]

The Triumph clutch/gearbox has always been fraught with issues, most due to things exterior to the unit. Since the early use on the 2000 saloon, through various TR’s, the Police 2.5PI and 2500S cars, two iterations of overdrive and many, many thousands of miles, the gearbox has held good. The most common failure is the pin retaining the clutch release fork to the clutch cross-shaft. And then there is the difficulty in bleeding the clutch, and difficulty diagnosing leaks in the master or slave cylinders. There is a need to remember that all gearboxes are now at least 50 years old and many have been rebuilt down to a price. In the larger Triumph gearbox there are several known areas which need attention when rebuilding, the favourite with early 2000 gearboxes was to build them to ‘Police’ specification which included stronger bearings.

[peterjfox69]

Thanks guys

[Lingen]

Peter. Is it just first gear? That is the one you use when starting off, but have you tried engaging second, (or reverse) from a standstill? If they baulk, (or grate), then I think you probably have a clutch problem.
If not, then it is first gear playing up a bit. It may improve with use.
Mike.

[peterjfox69]

Peter. Is it just first gear? That is the one you use when starting off, but have you tried engaging second, (or reverse) from a standstill? If they baulk, (or grate), then I think you probably have a clutch problem.
If not, then it is first gear playing up a bit. It may improve with use.
Mike.

It’s only occasionally especially in traffic. There’s a kind of ping through the gear shift when engaging first. Mick at Wards said it should get better. I had the lay shaft, reverse selector and all bearings and gears replaced so you’ve got new and old parts working together. Second can be a bit notchy sometimes but I’m hoping it will settle down.
He did mention using Activ8 which surprised me. Has anyone else used it?

[mole42]

Did they replace the synchro cones?

[jbuckl]

Did they replace the synchro cones?

Seem to recall there being 2 different synchro hub suppliers / sources.

one was purported to be higher quality.

[peterjfox69]

Did they replace the synchro cones?

Syncro rings

[mole42]

Syncro rings

Sorry, I'm old school, we always called them synchro cones (or baulk rings), but it's the same thing - those bronze rings with ridges on the inside. As Julian wrote, there are good ones and better ones.

[peterjfox69]

That I don’t know, Wards did it so I presume they used quality products or the best they could get.

[Lingen]

I was taught never to presume anything!
Mike.