Hello, hoping for some advise so I can pass onto my local mechanic who's a little tied up with work at the moment. 

I recently had the gearbox and clutch replaced on my sons Ford KA. Gearbox was on it's way out and sounded like an aircraft!

Our local mechanic suggested the gearbox from a car breakers (online), and suggested replacing the clutch at the same time. Works were done, new transmission fluid in the replacement gearbox, and everything has been fine for the past few weeks. Then last week, my son reversed out of a parking spot, put the car in 1st, and nothing, no car movement on clutch release. So I towed him home.

If I move the gearstick, it appears to go through all the gears with the engine running, but no car movement. And this is odd, with the engine running, I can move the gearstick through the gears without even pressing the clutch pedal. No noise/grinding... and no car movement.

When I put the car in 3rd/4th, I can hear something, can't really describe it, but possible something is spinning (it's not a grinding noise). I don't get any noises at all in 1st or 2nd.

My local mechanic is going to pop around sometime to have a look, but I don't know when, and need to get the car back on the road quickly. So would be a massive help if I knew what the most likely fault is. And difficult for me to get the car to him (for speed) as it's tow only at the moment.

Both the gear box and clutch are under warranty, only 3 months for the gearbox and 3 years for the clutch. I believe the new clutch is an LUK, mechanic said they're best on the market, so am doubtful it's actually a problem with the clutch itself.

Any help with suggestions of what I can check, or what the most likely fault is, very much appreciated.

Note, I've checked the clutch fluid level, and that seems fine.

Cheers

Paul

 

 

If you can get under the car, check whether one of the inner CV joints has come away from the gearbox.  This may have happened if the steering wheel was turned while reversing, especially if there are no circlips on these driveshafts.  

If the splines get separated on just one side, the diff will send all of the power to that side.  You could also try listening to the diff using a screwdriver as a stethoscope while the car is both in & out of gear, if you can find a way to do that safely.  (Just in case it suddenly reconnects while you're under there!)

If the diff isn't moving then it'll probably be a gearbox fault.  There is a chance that the clutch has failed, even decent brands produce the odd faulty part, but that seems less likely at the moment.  Either way, I suspect the gearbox will have to be removed.

29 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

If you can get under the car, check whether one of the inner CV joints has come away from the gearbox.  This may have happened if the steering wheel was turned while reversing, especially if there are no circlips on these driveshafts.  

Many thanks for your reply. CV joint was the first thing the mechanic mentioned (by text), but then when I was describing the fact the gearstick appears to go in all gears without the clutch pressed, I got the impression he'd changed his mind on this.

Where would I find the CV joint? I'm not totally dumb to cars (used to work on my own car when younger), but just not that familiar, but no problem for me to have a look. I can jack up and remove a wheel if that helps with looking.

The CV joints are at each end of the driveshafts.  The inner joints are the ones connected to the gearbox.  The outer joints are the ones connected to the wheel hubs.

If you can get right under the car then there is no need to remove a wheel.  Though it may be a bit safer to remove both front wheels and look from the sides rather than from underneath.

You'll see a large round bulge where the CV joints connect.  That is the diff which is where I'd recommend listening with a screwdriver to see if you can hear that moving or not when in gear.  It will not be moving when out of gear, so the difference in sound should be noticeable.

Many thanks Tom. I'll give that a go tomorrow and post my findings.