Topic

Hi!

Im brand new to cars and thought the best thing to do would be to start with something easy and cheapness, so for my first car I bought a 2000 MGF, i'm so in love!

So after a week of having her i'm driving down the way and the gears are SUPER hard to move. At one point I have to put my hazards on because I simply cannot shift Manage to get her home going in 3rd the whole way and now I have no clue what to do & how to start.

I lifted the old girl up and it looks like the rubber around the ball joint in the gear might have gone, but here is the thing. How do I diagnose my car? I haven't got a clue what stuff should look like, and where I should be looking - so are there any videos or how to's out there that don't just rely on me knowing the names and locations of everything?

FYI I tried to change the gearbox oil and I thought it might be that but I cannot for love nor money get the f*****g bolts out as the previous owner has covered the entire underside in rust prevention paint (i think) and nothing will budge.
I just want to know where and how to start, i'm currently very enthusiastic but have no clue at all!!

Right, OK.

There are two cables that connect the gearbox to the gear lever.
First thing to do is to find out if they are still both connected at both ends. You need someone looking under the car at the rear while someone tries to move the gear lever. There are two levers sticking out of the gearbox that actually change the gears and it should be possible to push these in and out by hand.

Is it easier to put it into gear if the engine is off?

Check the level of fluid in the clutch master cylinder under the bonnet.

The two cables hinge on the bell crank.

As in the photo above the small rubber gaiter is often split and this shouldn't cause a major issue. I had a big gear change problem with a Lancia of mine and changing the oil made no difference at all. Far more likely to be the clutch or gear shift cables and their connections as suggested.

That's the clutch master cylinder sticking out of the plastic shroud.

Hi and welcome to the forum

I think most of the problems are covered above but feel free to ask for more help.

James

Thanks!! I’m waiting for some friends to be free to help me figure out the cables snapping! I’ve got new sockets as the current ones are so bad, but from what you say it probably is the cables!

I’ve got a manual on restoration but sounds like changing te cable myself will be a huge job because of the subframe?

Yep, changing gear cables IS a nightmare of a job.

Well, I managed to change the ball joints (crazy impressed with myself as it’s my first ever mechanic fix and here are the pictures I took to show the part to my mum who has even less a clue than me) but seems like the gears are still heavy although there is an improvement so will update you on progress once I’ve managed to get someone to sit in the car and change the gears!!!

Might take the L and go to a garage for the cables and a sub frame removal is so far away from my comfort zone

THANKYOU FOR YOUR ADVICE

If you can get the gears, although stiff, then the cables are probably ok. You may need to adjust their length to make the gear change easier.


The other common issue is the clutch arm seizing up, making it difficult to get the gears.
Check the clutch fluid.
You will need to check the clutch slave cylinder to see if the arm is moving freely. To see it, you need to remove the engine access panel behind the seats. It's necessary to lift the rear of the soft top to get at it. See the how tos...