Help - rear wheel locking when reversing

[vwhobo]

Having some problems with my 1990 1.9 petrol T25. When reversing (with steering wheel towards left lock), van moves several yards and then rear nearside wheel locks dead. No sign of other rear wheel locking. Doesn't always happen. Probably unrelated - but also happens only when reversing - if I try to take the gear lever out of reverse before coming to complete halt, the gear-lever gets stuck between gears; have to turn the engine off to get unstuck. Smooth shift in all other gears. Any ideas/suggestions?

[dsa]

HI i would remove the brake drum and check the shoes i had a car do this and the the retaining clip had come off the shoes and caused the wheel to lock when reversing

[vwhobo]

Thanks for that - but I've taken the rear shoes off twice now, cleaned up and refitted - can't find anything wrong inside the drum (although that doesn't mean there isn't anything wrong! Just not obviously wrong)

[Aidan]

does it whine a bit in forward gears ? 4 or 5 speed ?

[vwhobo]

Hi, slight whine when it gets up to speed - but has been like that for years and I've heard a great deal worse! It's a 5 speed.

[toomanytoys]

Does the other wheel still turn???

Oh ad please fil out your profile so we know where in the world you are, one of us might be close so could come and have a look..

[vwhobo]

As far as I can see the other wheel doesn't lock - ie - you can see the skid mark in the gravel on the drive for the inner rear wheel but no sign of any marks in gravel for offside rear. As soon as the van stops, it frees up completely, so can't check... And I'll try to work out how to do a profile - new to this forum!

[R0B]

top of page.under board index.user control panel then click on profile tab

I'll try to work out how to do a profile

[vwhobo]

An update: My local garage couldn't find an obvious problem. He couldn't get the rear wheel to lock when reversing but thinks it could be a diff problem with the diff 'over-compensating' for the nearside slower moving wheel - and therefore locking it - but he didn't seem very sure. Presumably it has got to be either a diff problem or a brake problem - any ideas as to how I can be sure which?

As to the gear problem, after I demonstrated, he thought it was probably that the reverse gear wasn't fully disengaging until the engine was turned off (or van pushed forwards slightly). Presumably, then, a gearbox problem??

Overall, he suggested that I keep driving it, but reverse slowly and make sure fully stopped before taking it out of reverse gear. Certainly, everything seems to work fine if I do that - but I'm a little worried that if we go away to France in it, I'll end up with a huge problem with only hugely expensive garages to sort it! Any thoughts?

[Aidan]

drop the gearbox oil and see what you find would be my top tip - I wouldn't be suprised if this is a very worn pinion bearing hence my q about whine etc. for the price of 4 litres of oil you might found nowt or you might find signs of heavy wear, if heavy wear then I wouldn't advise going abroad in it.
If you can hear the box (ie it whines) then it's not right, you shouldn't be able to tell there's a gearbox, if you can then it's saying fix me
all worn 5 speeds whine cos peeps don't bother to fix them then first gear bearing collapses and the box is toast;
mind if yours is locking the c and p in reverse it may be beyond saving anyway as the pinion head may be very worn

[vwhobo]

Thanks for your advice, Aidan - I was thinking of dropping the oil to see what bits might be there - I'll now go and buy some fresh oil...and post what I find.
Anything in the gearbox/diff is way above my level of competence - can the pinion bearing be repaired/replaced or does it mean a complete rebuild?

[vwhobo]

What a pig! Filler and drain plugs stuck tight. Eventually got them loose and dropped the oil. Do the following pics tell you/me anything (normalish/more filings than would be expected etc.)? [Amazing site this, wish I'd found it years ago!]

Copy of DSCN4636.JPG

DSCN4639.JPG

[toomanytoys]

Is that oil really black???? I'd prob suspect that some "molyslip" or other "gearbox treatment" has been added to quieten and "fix" the problem...

I would say... get yer wallet out... that isnt much longer for this world...

[Aidan]

good news is no needles from 1st gear so that hasn't collapsed yet

but that's the drain plug of a box with heavy advanced wear, the really fine grey mass at the bottom is the pinion bearing race wear debris

pinion bearing replacement is rebuild job and the whole thing will need a very close looking at imho

[vwhobo]

Does seem like summer in the camper is out then... what I orinally thought was a minor bit of adjustment seems to be a little more than that! And yes, I can get my wallet out - only there's not a lot in it!! But, thanks, guys for your help on this - really appreciated. Just a last couple of questions, Aidan, would the worn pinion bearing explain the intermittent wheel lock when reversing? And, could the lock-up happen in forward gear - which might be just a bit of a problem if travelling at any speed!