Stuck in gear

Could just be a linkage that's popped off/worn. At worse it's the selector forks in the gearbox.

Give it a real good wrench boy.

Kirk Johnson - Stretchin it wide since 1977.

Took it in this morning, tech had a quick look and he said it is in the gear box. He thinks it has selected 2 gears at the same time and knackered the gearbox. It is a lease car, so won't be costing me. But was wandering about the time involved. He said it is a Job to fix??.

He's talking bollocks. If it selects 2 gears at once it locks up and the wheels don't turn. Early metros used to do that when a bolt worked loose.

You said it was stuck in 2nd gear. I presume you drove it to the garage in

I would put money on that being the linkage, but he's going to get a nice earner for replacing a gearbox,

"Oh, and the linkage was a bit worn so we replaced that as well" :-))

Steve

Hi Steve, maybe. Yep I did drive it into the garage in 2nd, it will let you select 5th gear, the gear box crunches a little, but still in 2nd afterwards. It is a Vauxhall garage, for a Vauxhall lease car. So it does not bother me who gets a earner out of it, as long as I can get my car back quickies.

Don't know what you fully mean about the linkage, but the gear lever still has the same resistance, and is connected to the gear box ok?, you can hear cogs moving and clunking when moving the lever.

Its a series of rods and pivot points. When one goes or gets bent, you can't select certain gears. On my wifes Citroen, one of the ball joints popped on the linkage and you could only select 1st and 2nd.

It doesn't let you select 5th, it only lets you think you have, it was still in 2nd. That's because the linkage to pull it out of 2nd, which you have to do before you can engage any other gear, is adrift at some point. That point may be inside the box, but is more likely to be in the levers etc( I'm not that familiar with the Zafira.) It's probably come adrift where it goes into the box.

If you had selected 2 gears, which is what he claimed, if it happened when you were moving, either the wheels would have locked up or there would have been a hell of a crunch followed by even more expensive sounding noises. If it happened when you weren't moving then you would have been unable to pull away, probably you would have stalled it.

To select 2 gears at once is to attempt to drive a shaft at 2 different speeds simultaneously, which cannot be done. This incidentally is how the L[1] position on auto gearboxes worked at one time, may still do for all I know.

Steve

On a standard epicyclic auto the different ratios are engaged by a series of clutches and or brake bands operated by hydraulic pressure from an engine driven pump. So you get no drive or 'lockup' without the engine running. Which is why you can't tow start them. (Some older designs had two pumps - one driven off the propshaft to allow tow starting, but not any recent makes)

'Lockup' simply altered the hydraulic control to stop the box changing gear. 'Park' is usually a separate cog on the output shaft which a pawl engages in.

Just for a update, the car has been returned.. Nice really quick, thanks Vauxhall.

Do not have the job sheet, but have had a read. From memory it said.

Removed Battery and battery holder/tray.

Removed Gear Cluster?

Replaced broken gear linkage, reset gearbox. And replaced also something else to do with linkagages.

All ok now, drives as before.

Thanks for the feedback. I do like to be right just once in a while ;-))

Steve

only just read this, but yes, it's stuck in 2nd because the linkage is fooked if it selects 2 gears at the same time it breaks the box while locking up the wheels at the same time

I didn't expect you to say you got it back quickly, last time I striped a gear box it took me 3 weeks to put it back together. (Then again it was only a few hours total) It probably was in 2 gears at once during dismantling as it locks the shafts together so you can get the nuts off.