No first or reverse gears

[deegee19]

First off,apologies if this topic has been covered elsewhere,I have trawled the wiki and search modes for half an hour and can't see my exact problem.
My bus is an '85.... RHD.... UK.... caravelle based devon dayvan..1905cc ...DG... petrol... wasserboxer with the 5 speed box.
Ok,over the last few days I have been experiencing problems with engaging first gear.Today I have experienced a problem which felt like the brakes were binding on and then letting go,as if the rear brake linings were loose in the drums,the bus slowed and then something banged and released and things went back to normal,
also the handbrake cable didn't feel like it was pulling both brakes on when pulling it on.
Went on a run and found I couldn't engage first or reverse gear yet gears 2,3,4,5 engage fine.Also noted that first gear whined some when accelerating when initially I set off which was not usual.
I've read a load on the posibility that it's the gear selector bushes etc,but the guy who does my spannering reckond=s it's the gearbox that shot,could that be a real possibility?,
Would really appreciate everyones input b4 my spannerman drops the engine to change the gearbox!
thanks All,regards DEEGEE.

[Ian Hulley]

Sounds like the selector shaft has turned on the splines where the 2 halves meet. Can you select the gears on the selector with the shaft off ?

Ian.

[deegee19]

Hi Ian,thanks for the info,just managed to drive the bus home,haven't done any stripdown as yet,went down to the garage to book it in with my spannerman,I'll let him know your thoughts,cheers,Nigel

[Ian Hulley]

The gearlever is possibly not going across far enough ... i.e. the slipped theory because 1st & reverse are together over to the left on the stick. Even 1 spline out and it can be hard to get the gear.

You need 1 person in the cab and the other underneath with a 13mm spanner

Ian

[deegee19]

thanks Ian,will try that,cheers,Nigel

[littledave1980]

Sorry to be the bearer of potentially bad news. Sounds like the problem i had when my gearbox died!! I had trouble selecting first and reverse, it kangarooed in reverse and made a horrible whinning noise in all gears, although got less whiny the higher the gear. An easy check is to drain the oil out and have a look at the drain plug (make sure you can get the filler plug out first!). The plug is magnetic so attracts any metal floating around the gear box. A few metal fillings are said to be normal, but mine had large bits of what were once teeth off my crown wheel! It was mullered so a recon box had to be sourced!

I hope yours is less serious.

Good luck.

[Ian Hulley]

If you've never changed the oil it doesn't hurt (Hypoid EP80/90 GL4 oil). Crack the fill plug first (17mm hex) if the drain plug (also 17mm hex) has a silver Christmas tree on it you have issues a few filings are allegedly normal.

Ian

[Aidan]

drop the oil if it was ok before and then changed I'd hazard first gear bearing failure you'll find the evidence on the sump plug
the noise is the box's way of telling you it's not good

[deegee19]

Cheers All,have had the spannerman out to look it over and he's confirmed that the box is toast.
thanks to everyone for their input,this is a damn fine forum which always comes thru for me evertime. DEEGEE

[wasserleaker]

Classic symptoms of the end of the mainshaft snapping off where the circlip groove weakens it! the bearing falls to bits and leaves the shaft poorly supported, then one day you hear a slight clunk, and no more 1st and reverse. take off the end casting of the box (furthest from engine) to confirm. there may well be a short bit of mainshaft with 2 gears machined onto it loose in there.

[deegee19]

AAAHHHH so that's what's caused that bid hole in the casting!.Had a look under the bus yesterday and there's a hole about the size of a ten pence piece just where the last post said there would be!,come to think of it there was a THUNK just before everything went pearshaped!.
Bus is now in the garage for a stripdown,will post the results asap,cheers All