Gear box troubles!

[Rick82]

have installed the gear box to the car and have been driving it around but ive noticed that it is hard to get into gears and no matter what i do it allways crunches rvers gear, have i done something wrong or have i forgotten something??

it also leaks like a bastard from what looks like the sump plug but i replaced the washer when i replaced the gear oil

[GeminiCoupe]

Did you bleed the clutch system out correctly?

Nick-

[Bugle]

Any play in the shifter linkages?

My one had a rubber cone type thing seal for teh plug

[Rodeobob]

Drain plug for the box is meant to have an O-ring on it same as the fill plug. You might get away with a copper washer. If you look at the hole the bung screws into its got a tapered edge for the o-ring to go into and there should be a step/groove on the plug between the head and where the thread starts. IMO an O-ring is better as you dont need to do it up as tight to get it to seal. Make sure the O-ring is lubricated with a bit of oil when you do it up or it will tear or split.


As for the tight shifting, what grade oil did you put in???? Plain old engine oil is the right stuff to use. The syncros dont like gear oil. Id say you prablably knew that already.

And for both the tight shifting and the crunching reverse id say your clutch is dragging. Make sure youve got free play at the push rod on the slave cylinder and that the return spring is fitted to keep the fork pulled back onto the push rod.

Reverse aint syncroed if the cars not stopped it will crunch, but i take it you knew that already.

Cheers. Bob.

[Rick82]

thanks Rodavo but i actually didnt know about the engine oil thing so that will be the first step and then replace the O ring while i got it off.

To tell you the truth i cant remember a spring on the fork but i actually didnt put it in so i will check with my uncle but thanks heaps for the tips.

[Rick82]

sorry Bob that thanks was for you, im half asleep and reading too many posts at once.

what grade engine oil do you suggest in the gearbox??

[Rodeobob]

sorry Bob that thanks was for you, im half asleep and reading too many posts at once.

what grade engine oil do you suggest in the gearbox??

tis no drama.

I use bursons super grade engine oil in everything, it comes in a 20L drum. lol.
20-40 oil or something like that, just regular duty engine oil. Search in the gemini forum its been mentioned heaps in there. Apparently Castrol VMX40 is the best stuff to use but its expensive. If your box is the right ratio for a Piazza box and isnt noisy id look at using good oil.

Check to make sure that youve got some free play. There should be a small gap between the slave cyl pushrod and the clutch fork when the clutch is out. If you have a huge gap and a heap of play chances are that the fork isnt being pushed in far enough to fully dissengage the clutch.

The spring should go in the clutch fork in a little hole in the very end of the fork and i think there is a bracket to hold the other end of the spring that goes on one of the bolts that holds the slave cyl on the bellhousing. Its just a metal tab with a hole in it.

If i get time i will have a hunt and take a pic.

Cheers. Bob.

[wedgenut]

Same thing applies if you have fitted a cable clutch except the spring pulls the fork backwards obviously, and it is usually anchored on a tag bolt on the side of the gearbox back from the bell housing. It certainly sounds like the clutch isn't freeing up. On cable style check the free play at the fork is no more than about 2-3mm, if it is adjust out the cable. On hydraulic model bleed it again if everything looks okay as you may have some air in the system still. If that doesn't work then get your daddy to teach you how to double de-clutch. I used to love those 14 speed trucks with the crash box, you end up with a left leg like Popeye the sailor on a spinach binge LOL

[Bugle]

There's no spring apart from teh springs in the pressure plate and a spring inside the slave cylinder. At least there isn't on mine but it wouldn't surprise me if a dead shit previous owner had removed it and not put it back. I can't find it in the service manual..

[Rick82]

yeh i didnt see no spring when i removed it from the other car?? i will look for a gap in the fork and slave cylynder and retry to bleed the line a third time and as for the O ring on the sump, i noticed it wasnt a perfectly round O ring it had a sort of flat side to the O ring. is that right or is the one im using had it and thats why it wont seal??

[Rick82]

while this is in discusion i know most engines should idle just under a thousand revs but ever since i done the conversion mine idles very high eg: 1150 to 1300 and sometimes at the lights while he aircon is on she will jump up tp 1800 RPMS thats not right hey??

[Rodeobob]

The O-ring will deform, its rubber. Just get a new one and put it on, make sure its the right size and a snug fit on the bung.

The idle will be wrong because it takes a fair bit of effort to spin the pump in an auto. The extra weight of the converter spinning also effects your low end or take off torque. Youve lifted a weight off the motor and its free to spin easier hence the higher revs.
When you switch the air con on it probably upps the idle a little thru the ECU or similar hence the increase. It takes effort to spin the air con compressor.

You will have to consult the Manual to see how you set the idle, i dont imagine it would be to complicated on a Piazza. You also have to look into the manual to see if the ECU is to blame for anything because it thinks its hooked to an auto trans.

If i get time i will look under my car (if i can crawl thru the jungle thats popped up around it) and see what its got in the way of a return spring.

Cheers. Bob.

[GeminiCoupe]

Same thing applies if you have fitted a cable clutch except the spring pulls the fork backwards obviously, and it is usually anchored on a tag bolt on the side of the gearbox back from the bell housing. It certainly sounds like the clutch isn't freeing up. On cable style check the free play at the fork is no more than about 2-3mm, if it is adjust out the cable. On hydraulic model bleed it again if everything looks okay as you may have some air in the system still. If that doesn't work then get your daddy to teach you how to double de-clutch. I used to love those 14 speed trucks with the crash box, you end up with a left leg like Popeye the sailor on a spinach binge LOL

HAH! Geminis were grouse for that. I remember having to learn how to double clutch and double shuffle on downchanges because the 320,000km old 4speed was abit upset and tired. I was the only 16yr old that even KNEW what the purpose of double clutching was and how to actually do it, most of my dipshit mates thought it was just "to rev the car up and sound fo0lly cool". Dickheads.

Theyve all learnt now though, even though its taken them 3 years. They still cant do it to save their life. I was lucky enough to have my Dad teach me. He also taught me norty shit like flat shifting

Um Rick, my Piazza box crunches selecting reverse so i wouldnt worry about that too much.

Nick-

[wedgenut]

He also taught me norty shit like flat shifting

You are nothing but a hoon.......good on ya for understanding the art of DRIVING instead of just steering.

My turbo only crunches going into reverse when I'm dropping out of fifth LOL. The little bent bit of plate that is supposed to stop you selecting reverse when you don't want to is sorta worn. I'm used to it but it gives my missus the shits and I guess isn't doing the teeth any good, must fix that one day

[Rick82]

i replaced the O ring today and degreased the gearbox down and refilled it, took it for a spin then checked again and it is still leaking all over the place so tomorrow i will check again. i think its coming out of the speedo cable hole??