car wont go into 5th!!

Does anyone know whats wrong with my car? Whenever i try to put it in 5th gear the whole car lurches and the engine makes the most awful noise. Mines a 1.5 diesel corsa merit btw. Thanks for your help xx

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Reply 1

Né Stig

Sync may have gone, or you just need to drastically renew your oil, which I have a litre of right now, unused from last time out! >.<

edit:
- how old is your car?
- have you had any other work done it lately, like the clutch for example?
- How many miles has your car done

Reply 2

Ryan

Get the linkage checked, common Corsa B problem :smile:

Reply 3

gbduo

The engine makes an awful noise? Are you sure its not the gearbox where the car is not going into gear, it would be like a grinding, screaming kind of noise.

Have you tried double declutching to get into gear, if it works with double declutching then it is probs the sync, if not it is the linkages.

Ask your dad about it because he will know how to do it better than any of us on here because we are all used to synchomesh gearboxes but from what i understand you have to put the clutch done, take the gear out (so out of 4th), bring the clutch up, rev the engine, clutch in and into 5th.

If the gear goes in without any problems it is a gearbox problem, most likely the synchomesh like Walshie said, if not linkage like Ryan said :biggrin:

Graham

Reply 4

Ryan

I'd put money on it being the gearbox linkage

Reply 5

carcrazymat

Me too Ryan, gearbox linkage is such a common fault on the ole Corsa's.

Reply 6

JC.

gbduo

Have you tried double declutching to get into gear, if it works with double declutching then it is probs the sync, if not it is the linkages.

Ask your dad about it because he will know how to do it better than any of us on here because we are all used to synchomesh gearboxes

Speak for yourself! I can use a crash box just as competently as a sync box.

A few points though. When you double declutch you are effectively trying to do the same job as constant mesh gears with your feet instead. When you change gear you are trying to match Roadspeed to gearbox speed to engine speed.

Dip clutch
Drop into neutral
Set engine speed to what it would be in the new gear (Rev it isnt specific enough)
Let the clutch up just past the bite point. (this slows the layshaft down to match the engine speed.)
Dip clutch (Engine and gearbox internals at this point should all be rotating at the same speed)
Slot into gear and let clutch out gently.

Right, now to answer the question.
Don't know much about corsa internals. Can you get 5th gear to engage if the engine is off? You may have to slot it into lower gears first to align everything
For example if I want to select reverse in the BGT with the engine switched off I must first select first, seccond and then third to align everything before it will slot into Reverse.

If you cant get it into gear with the engine off then it must either be a linkage issue or a selector fork issue.
With worn synchros it will get progressively harder to engage a specific gear rather than stop working at all. Whilst it is possible for a synchro to fail imediately it is rather unlikely.

Since linkage issues are apparently common, my first point of call (after the check I described above with the engine off) would be to examine the linkage with a lead light and see if everything looks as it should.

Reply 7

_HappyDreams_

It gos into 5th fine with the engine off. Thanks for all the replies, il ask my step dad tonight about linkage!! xx

Reply 8

Ryan

carcrazymat

Me too Ryan, gearbox linkage is such a common fault on the ole Corsa's.

On all Vauxhalls from 85-98 really :smile:

Reply 9

JC.

If it slots into 5th with the engine off does this not imply that the linkage is fine?

Sounds to me like something internal TBH. I know on LT77 gearboxes they tend not to willingly engage untill the oil has warmed through.
Unfortunately I do not know the layout and materials used in construction of the gearbox used in corsas to comment much further other than suggesting basic checks.

Is it possible to check the oil level or are these units sealed for life? Low oil level would cause difficulty in finding gears. If the layshaft for 5th was located high up in the box it would be the first gear to be affected.
However, like I said, I know nothing of vauxhall gearbox internals so am making broad assumptions.

My thoughts now lean towards damaged or broken selector fork or low oil level.

Another thought just occured to me.... You say "the car lurches when i try to put it into 5th and makes an awful noise"
Can you actually get 5th gear to engage? i.e do the revs drop or do they rise? If you were to put the car into 3rd gear it would lurch and the revs would rise. In 5th gear they aught to drop. I wonder if perhapse the gearbox is actually half engaging 3rd gear and 5th at the same time. This brings the linkage theory back into play.

The answer is to have someone that knows vauxhalls to take a look at it. It is difficult to accurately diagnose problems without seeing the car in the flesh.
Appologies that I can't help you any further.

Reply 10

stim90

Well, after a period of time u can expect awkward problems like these to arise after considorable milage on the Corsa B. Don't take it to a mechanics just yet as it may be just a simple problem which can be easily fixed (plus u may get the old 'oh it was a massive job, that will be £500'). But it dosent take a genious to know that gearbox problems can be quite complex. But I could cope with 4 gears right now so don't blow the dollar just yet.

Reply 11

gbduo

You know what i think you have...

http://www.pantera.se/IMGP1613.JPG

This :biggrin:

Some of your cogs have disapeared/stripped so the gear is jumping in and out on 5th making the horrible noise. (If your interested, that is 3rd and 5th that have completely stripped, 5th stripped and 3rd sort of half stripped. From the bottom, reverse, first, second, third, fouth is missing (on the floor), fifth)

How many miles has the car done and has it done alot of motorway mileage/had a old lady owner previously?

Graham

Reply 12

iceman_jondoe

..odear..

Reply 13

JC.

Ah! Is the engine running faster when you change into what you think is 5th than the speed it was running in 4th?

If it is, then the "lurch" you feel is the clutch biting on the flywheel and dragging the engine up to high revs.

Linkage issue or selector forks.

Reply 14

Ryan

The cogs on 5th could be worn out in that case. Weird how it's in 5th though, must have done a lot of motorway miles. (scrapes into the gear)

Reply 15

AT82

Konstantine

My corsa's got the same problem, and so's my friend's one. Mine sometimes goes into 5th, but more often than not it feels like it's slipped back into third and does that lurch thing.

This is the kind of thing I hated with the Corsa's but the one I drove kept doing it in 4th. If you put on any weight on it at all it would just go into 2nd, this is a problem I have never encountered with any other cars I have driven.

Reply 16

_HappyDreams_

Im really confused now, dad says he doesnt think its linkage cos if it was it wouldnt go into 3rd either and plus it does go into 5th it just really doesnt like it. Dunno if i should drive it now until its sorted n that wont be for a while cos im broke...where is the bus timetable?! xx

Reply 17

JC.

Has he bothered to look though? Untill you check everything is suspect.
Have you checked the oil level yet?
Not sure how the linkage works on corsas. If it needed rebushing then it could possibly cause these symptoms.

You can continue to drive the car if you like. I would assume that 4th gear would be 1:1. Direct drive from the imputshaft to the prop.
5th Gear would be an over drive gear.
Overdrive is simply there for economy.

My first car - a triumph spitfire 1500 - only had a 4 speed gearbox. 5th gear was an optional extra achieved by bolting a 2nd gearbox or "overdrive" onto the back of the primary gearbox. This is then activated by a little flick switch on the gearlever instead of clutch and gearstick.

In short, as long as there are no expensive sounding noises when you drive the car by all means continue to use it.

Reply 18

Ryan

AT82

All cars age with miles and Corsa B's gearboxes is their main, if not their only main fault. You must have driven one that had either been ragged or had high mileage as mine is perfect and doesn't, and never has done, anything you say Corsa B gearboxes do :smile:

Reply 19

AT82

Well it was a learner car, but it was only 18 months old had just 40,000 on the clock. All I know is that GM replaced the gearbox of the C due to problems with the B unit which was possibly the same 5 speed unit carried over from the Nova as the Corsa B shares the same running gear as the Nova.