Ka Gearbox Problem-Please Help!

[sparkywilliams]

My girlfriend has a new clutch fitted and thats working fine except she had to re-visit the mechanic as the gear knob was leaning more to the left when in 5th gear than it was before so he ramped it up,got her to change gear and adjusted the linkage underneath which proved ok for a while.

Now it's doing it again and it's position is not right,add to that the gear's are notchy going from 3rd down to 2nd and she wants me to put it up on ramps and have a look at it.

Obviously there is some adjustment possible so could anyone tell me how to do it.And also to sort the notchiness out ,can i re-fill with new gearbox oil or add molyslip? I've read that they are 'filled for life'.

Thanks for any advice.

[delboy]

you can refill the gearbox oil

us need an allen key i recall

it's ner the fron of the car on the block.

all you do is use the tube that comes with the oil & squeeze oil into the box until it trickles out then it's done

remember you need the car on level ground to do this.

the linkage is quite simple

undo the bolt & slide the bar that's on the gear shift & re-tighten.

when you had the clutch done did you have whole lot replaced inc the thrust bearing (hydraulic bearing).

sounds like the clutch maynot have been fitter correctly ie out of lign or they used the old hydraulic bearing perhaps

[sparkywilliams]

Thanks for replying mate,the mechanic is going to check it out with me,yes the clutch has to have the thrust bearing and he also fitted a new hydraulic slave.He admitted that when he finished the job he hadn't adjusted the linkage underneath the car and when we complained last time,he wasn't sure wether the gearstick was meant to lean slightly to the left on ka's when in neutral and in all the gears.

After his initail adjustment while my g/f sat in the car changing gear it was fine for a while but ive told him that it must have worked loose and so he's gonna show me what he does.

I will have a look myself on friday as he cant check it untill next week and i will look at the linkage you mention.

Are there any links to pdf's or you tube videos you know of? regarding this kind of adjustment as i presume its a pretty common and needed adjustment after a clutch fit.

Thank you again

[DONFRAMAC]

Thanks for replying mate,the mechanic is going to check it out with me,yes the clutch has to have the thrust bearing and he also fitted a new hydraulic slave.He admitted that when he finished the job he hadn't adjusted the linkage underneath the car and when we complained last time,he wasn't sure wether the gearstick was meant to lean slightly to the left on ka's when in neutral and in all the gears.

After his initail adjustment while my g/f sat in the car changing gear it was fine for a while but ive told him that it must have worked loose and so he's gonna show me what he does.

I will have a look myself on friday as he cant check it untill next week and i will look at the linkage you mention.

Are there any links to pdf's or you tube videos you know of? regarding this kind of adjustment as i presume its a pretty common and needed adjustment after a clutch fit.

Thank you again

The gear-lever has a spring-bias device under the lever.

The other week, I had my gearbox oil drained totally, using a small-bore plastic pipe + diesel primer pump bulb, via the reverse switch hole, got 2.44 litres out. Refilled with the proper grade which is Castrol SMX-S fully synthetic 75W85 GL3/GL4 -- current version, from Opieoils, at discount. The old stuff was black and foul-smelling, rather like the Motul 75W90 Technosynthese semi-synth I have, which is green when new. The new Castrol was amber.

My gearchanges are much smoother, and quietness is eerie. Layshaft noise is only there when cold.

That Motul oil is stated as OK for smooth-shifting, but GL5 oil is best avoided with 'boxes that have problems with their Synchro-cones, I.E. too slippy, so cones can't do their job. Also that Castrol oil has a very low pour-point, about -65 deg C, which is 25 deg lower than most, so it is slill very thin at winter temperatures, so cold starts shouldn't give gear-crunching or obstruction.

Well worth the £40 of oil + half hour of mechanic's time. (I borrowed the diesel primer bulb, bought the plastic tubing, mechanic new the rest, but was sceptacle, thought Ford wouldn't use duf oil, but look on the Castrol website, and their gear oil is still specified.)

[sparkywilliams]

Thanks Donframac,I've only just checked back on this website and seen your reply.

Sounds like you know what your doing and I plan to do exactly the same but i wanted to ask you how to get all the old oil out and considering Halfords are the only shop open tomorrow what oil you'd recommend

Thank you

[DONFRAMAC]

Thanks Donframac,I've only just checked back on this website and seen your reply.

Sounds like you know what your doing and I plan to do exactly the same but i wanted to ask you how to get all the old oil out and considering halfords are the only shop open tomorrow what oil you'd recommend

Thank you

Halfords do stock the Castrol SMX-S, at about £13/litre, only 3 bottles needed. There is a posting on the Fiesta part of this Forum that gives a LINK to an eBay advert for oil-sucking pumps that can go down even the dip-stick hole, the tubing is that small-dia. That AD. shows several capacities of oil receptacle, and prices from low teens to ~ £30.

There is a small chance that Halfords stock that kind of oil-change sucking pump.

I knew I had drained the 'box well because of the amount of fresh oil needed to reach overflow fron the level/fill hole that is concealed by the black plastic gear-linkage boxing. The oil bottles have a pull-out extension pipe to poke into the fill hole. The correct level is below the hole, by about the short leg of a small allen-key, so a fast fill, will leave some space for the oil to settle lower, and be cautious topping further, using an allen key probe.

The main point is to suck out of the reverse-switch-hole, which is higher, bigger, and outside the black box. My mechanic had to repeatedly squash the tube flatter, and push it further down thro' the gear-shafts, catching all the oil in an old white emulsion plastic tub, -- easy to gauge the amount sucked out.

The eBay kits have quoted volume holding. I took a printout of that eBay products, and gave it to the mechanic who loaned me the diesel priming bulb/pump.

[DONFRAMAC]

Halfords do stock the Castrol SMX-S, at about £13/litre, only 3 bottles needed. There is a posting on the Fiesta part of this Forum that gives a LINK to an Ebay advert for oil-sucking pumps that can go down even the dip-stick hole, the tubing is that small-dia. That AD. shows several capacities of oil receptacle, and prices from low teens to ~ £30.

There is a small chance that Halfords stock that kind of oil-change sucking pump.

I knew I had drained the 'box well because of the amount of fresh oil needed to reach overflow fron the level/fill hole that is concealed by the black plastic gear-linkage boxing. The oil bottles have a pull-out extension pipe to poke into the fill hole. The correct level is below the hole, by about the short leg of a small allen-key, so a fast fill, will leave some space for the oil to settle lower, and be cautious topping further, using an allen key probe.

The main point is to suck out of the reverse-switch-hole, which is higher, bigger, and outside the black box. My mechanic had to repeatedly squash the tube flatter, and push it further down thro' the gear-shafts, catching all the oil in an old white emulsion plastic tub, -- easy to gauge the amount sucked out.

The Ebay kits have quoted volume holding. I took a printout of that Ebay products, and gave it to the mechanic who loaned me the diesel priming bulb/pump.

I've just found the eBay LINK to a 4-litre pump, that Dan62 used via the reverse switch hole and got 2.2 litres, replaced it with SMX-S. The seller of the pump was Discount Toolz, Chesterfield, and the product was made by Silverline. (I own a few tools by them, gardening, and mechanical, from a local Ironmonger's.) They have a website for you to register the warranty.

Look up Fiesta page 35, 2nd item down.

[sparkywilliams]

Thanks for all that, where is the reverse switch hole?

[DONFRAMAC]

Thanks for all that, where is the reverse switch hole?

I got a photo off another site, that helps avoid undoing the reverse gear detent bolt,(or 5th, I forget) which is lower down than the allen-socket top-up hole. The detent bolt must not be used for draining, as there is a sprung ball behind the hex-boss bolt, and gear alignment may be lost. The top-up hole is a couple of inches higher, and an inch towards the clutch, and it takes an 8mm allen key. The reverse switch is outside the plastic boxing, about 2 inches towards the clutch, and slightly higher than the top of the fill hole. A two-wire plug is pushed on the spade terminals on the switch body. Remove the electrical plug, and unscrew the switch body, and set it aside, while you use this hole for sucking out the oil. Obviously, the 'box needs to be NOT in reverse. All these features are on the forward face of the gearbox, below the battery. The car was on a hoist for the job.

By the way, today I was in a HI-Q diy front shop, and saw that very Silverline brand 4 litre oil sucking pump, with ball-shaped chamber below the pump. This was at "Goodtread Tyres & accessories" in Alness, north of Inverness. They are also motor factors. They quoted me £49 each for EcoConti3 tyres for my wife's Aygo, £4 cheaper than the net, and 4 Denso iridium sparkplugs for £32, almost £8 cheaper than the net.

I hope you have enough info now.

I've just paid £22 for professional guidance from "just answer.com" which advertises in this site. Sean correctly pinpointed my centre seatbelt lock-up problem, and it just cost me the trip to my dealer to get a 5-minute fix, and I only need a large torx key if it happens again. So, he earned a tip. The garage was free, but 6 gallons of petrol wasn't.