VL diff problem

[The V-HELL]

Hey guys I have a bit of a problem with my old VL.

The problem is if I leave the car in 1st and gear park it ( ie turn the car off with the clutch in) when I start it up again an then put it into reverse the gears don't engage with the diff until the clutch is almost completely out and when it does engage it clunks and goes in pretty hard. I don't know if it's the gearbox or the diff.

Any ideas?

[stuntmanmike]

Sounds like your linkages on the gearbox for 1st gear and reverse gear need adjustment. When was the last time you changed the oil in the transmission or had it serviced?

[The V-HELL]

It was serviced not too long ago but I dont have any record of a gearbox oil change in the invoice. I might see if I can get it changed in the next few days

[stuntmanmike]

It might be normal considering that the reverse gear does not have synchronisers (aka synchro rings). Without knowing what the extent of the "clunk" is maybe you could gear park the car in any other gear other than 1st and see if the same issue occurs when you attempt to engage reverse.
In my experience, all the gears should engage smoothly. If not then it would be best to start by looking at the clutch/throw out and the shifter/linkages. You say that your gearbox was serviced not too long ago so I'm kinda at a loss if something changed between the service and since you discovered the issue. I hope that it is something simple and doesn't cost too much to rectify. Tricky to diagnose through the forums...
What's the "stick feel" like when the engine is off and you run through the gears without the clutch being actuated when the car is on a flat and level surface?

[The V-HELL]

Yer it goes through the gears no worries when parks on a flat without the clutch, I tried it gear parking it in 2nd and 3rd and still had the same problem

[The V-HELL]

just to conclude this post for others who may experience this sort of problem.

i took the car to a mechanic and it turns out it had nothing to do with the gearbox.

the real problem was with the handbrake and rear drums. both drum cylinders were leaking alittle and one of the handbrake cables was siezed and catching.

the clunking backwards was the handbrake cable freeing itself slightly releasing one of the rear drums.

the gearbox is all good and running well

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

OK, so the gearbox was actually going into reverse, just the noise was coming from the back when it started to move.

Your initial explanation sounded like it wasn't going into reverse until the clutch was just about all the way up. But after reading the solution, this is actually a fairly common problem.

[detox_nath83]

time for a disk rear upgrade...


easy and a cheap way to upgrade for the better...