Reverse gear cable

Took GTA out for a run today and as I parked up my ability to select reverse vanished.

I can select all other gears with no problem and the gear change knuckle has got new nylon balls fitted from last year when i changed the gear linkage bush.

So I'm thinking perhaps the reverse cable is the culprit.

Looks ok at gear shift end, so I'm thinking maybe its come loose /broken at the gearbox end.

Did a search on the forum and there is mention of a plastic collar / bush becoming brittle and breaking off.

Are replacements available? And how easy / difficult is it to replace or fix?

[stephendell]

Sent you a text

I removed the reverse gear cable this evening and checked it retracted fully when lifting from the gear shift end and it does.

So I then tried selecting reverse with the cable disconnected (I assume this is possible and you dont need the engine running) and no luck.

Still wondering if the knuckle balls I replaced have anything to do with it. Selecting reverse would make the knuckle 'stretch' across and if the balls had moved then will this make an issue?

Does low gearbox oil level affect gear selection?

[stephendell]

In what sense? Maybe slight effect on synchro operation or smoothness of selection if wrong grade or no oil. Otherwise more likely to be a linkage issue or worst case gearbox internal fault. What may people forget is that it’s an old gearbox and the gearbox oil change interval is pretty much the same as the engine so worth changing if you haven’t done so lately. Use the proper Elf NFP for UN type gearboxes. You need three litres. It’s not expensive on ebay or if you shop around so don’t be tempted to use anything else.

With the winter months, I havent had an inclination to get under the car to sort out my reverse gear issue.

I've changed the gearbox oil, but it was some time ago; I hardly do any miles in it now.

The car has suffered an oil leak for some time (either gearbox or engine), so I just wondered if low oil would effect gear selection.

[stephendell]

Hi Paul, I don’t think it could have any effect on reverse selection.

Issue turned out to be the gearbox knuckle.
It has now been sorted and reverse gear has been resumed.

Only took a year well done
I couldn't have gone that long without driving my GTA.
Glad it's all sorted.

Thanks Miles.
Yes, I have back issues which slow me down nowadays.
Changing the knuckle once was bad enough, but a second time really tried my patience !!!
Anyway, its back on the deck and appears to work fine now.

Yep I to suffer with the back too sometimes, getting old like the cars.