vp 5 speed hard to select gears and grinds occasionally

[kitted vp]

my vp has a 5 speed manual and all of a sudden gears have occasionally become hard to select exspecially 1st and it occasionally grinds while driving! it doesnt grind when putting into 1st to take off its just like it doesnt want to click in! i pop the clutch and let it back out and it only helps some of the time! any help is much appreciated

[*uwishn*]

is there fluid in there reservoir? if not could be there slave cylinder, clutch cylinder.

[kitted vp]

its a cable jobby! its not slipping at all i was hoping maybe just needs some adjustment my old mates an ex race car mechanic but i wont be seein him untill next week and hoping maybe i could fix it myself

[Ace_VP]

My old VP 5 speed used to do the same thing. Sometimes to get into first i needed to slot it into second and then move into first. In the end I had to have a new clutch cable fitted, it has stretched and frayed over time and had no more adjustment in it. You may be able to adjust it, if not they dont cost to much get a new one fitted. Matt

[kitted vp]

thanks matt i hope thats all it is was yours hard to depress aswell? mine is! it doesnt stick at all but could also be that ive just put it on the road in the last couple of days and i havent driven stick in about 2 years and my left legs gotten lazy lol

[Ace_VP]

thanks matt i hope thats all it is was yours hard to depress aswell? mine is! it doesnt stick at all but could also be that ive just put it on the road in the last couple of days and i havent driven stick in about 2 years and my left legs gotten lazy lol

you are testing my memory now, this was 10years ago LOL.

If its hard to depress then it could be rusted inside the cable cover.

I adjusted it and it got better and went fine for a while but in the end my thrust bearing shit itself so I just fitted a new clutch and cable all in one go. Turned out the fingers on the pressure plate nearly worn through which is why the cable adjustment didnt last long.

I'd try adjusting the cable first, if the cable seems ok might be time to look at getting a new clutch. How many Km's has the car done? Mine had done around 250000km when the clutch was replaced, but I was the second owner and the first owner was a salesman in the riverina so the car did mostly long highway driving. If yours is a city car the clutch may just be on the way out.

[kitted vp]

i dont know how many ks as the odos shot but the old bloke i bought it off said it had a new donk in the last 12 months and he did the manual conversion at the same time! he told me he was doing it up for his daughter and had spent just under 10,000 in the last twelve months but drew the line when her bloke smashed every window in it which i picked up for just under 400 including a brand new windscreen! and i only paid 750 for the car with brand new 17s and tyres w0rth just under 2000 and a vx clubby kit and just resprayed in chrysler 300c black. and all up on the road its cost me 1600 with six months reg so i dont mind pouring a little extra in myself

[Ace_VP]

sounds like a real score.

If its a manual conversion then its possible the clutch cable is the issue, doesnt sound like it will be the clutch unless they used a second hand one to save cash.

Fiddle with the clutch cable first, if you have no luck i'd pull the box out and inspect the clutch.

If it feels stiff like you say then its either a problem with the cable or the clutch not being set up right, or maybe they used the wrong clutch. They may have used a second hand clutch cable aswell.

Pull the cable off, hang it from the clothes line and dribble come oil down inside the cover/sheath and move the cable around inside it.

Failing that its possible that they have bough a second hand box for the conversion and just used the old clutch instead of buying a new one.

Start with the cheapest option and work your way though to the most expensive fix. matt

[kitted vp]

cool thanks for the advice matt! believe it or not i got under this morning to adjust the cable and i was fiddling around blindly to locate the tensioner and hey presto a bolt appeared in my hand? turns out it was from where the gearbox bolts to the bellhousing so i got a ratchet and climbed under and checked the bolt on the other side at the bottom and it felt ok but when i put the other bolt back in and tightened it the other side was loose so that one got a tighten up also! and before i got to adjust the cable i thought id just try it and hey presto no more trouble selecting! woohoo! about to test if it still grinds or not will update later on that situation! but ive also noticed when sitting still in neutral with clutch out there is like a buggered bearing noise which stops when i push the clutch in! could this be my thrust bearing? and if it is any ideas on what they might be worth?

[Ace_VP]

Thrust bearing should only make noise when the clutch is in. mine was all dried out so when you put your foot on the clutch is squeeled its head off.

Not sure what that would be sitting in neutral with the engine running. There may be a bearing that the shaft in the box spins on when the box is in neutral. If it has been running with the box not bolted in properly the shaft that runs from the box to the engine may have been running on an angle when under load so its possible that one of the bearings that the shaft runs on towards the front of the box may have worn and now the box is bolted up tight it doesnt like running straight.

If thats the case then the box will need to come out, its not a hard job, can be done on ramps on the garage floor. If you end up doing that I would put a new clutch in regardless of the condition of the one in it, if I ever pull a box out I whack a new clutch in, unless its only been like 5-10000km's. Matt

[kitted vp]

well shes shifting fine now and no grinding as of yet but that noise worries me a little! this old bloke i know was a race mechanic until he retired so ill get him to check it out but hes on holidays until next week! but i always like to try and resolve my own issues before i bother him as hes served his time under cars and is now in his relaxing years! not that i think he minds hes a good old bloke thats offered to help twice as much as ive asked for it but im going to contact the people i bought the car off and get as much info as i can on the gearbox/clutch etc! anyway thanks for all your help matt if it werent for you i probably would have found what i did, when i did and it probably would have been much worse by the time i did! thanks mate! and im going to post a thread on that noise and another on an occasional stalling problem it has just to see if i can get a few ideas and maybe get a few more kinks out before i hit up old matey thanks again regards dan