C3 1.4hdi Gearbox

[Jeff]

My C3 is just over three years old has covered 45,000 miles and I have owned from new. I wondered whether anyone has had a similar gear selection experience.

 

Since new and particular during the car warm up period for approximatley the first 5 miles 2nd gear up selection is not always clean. The synchromesh will not work effectively for at least one change during this period. The issue has not worsened since new but consistantly occurs. Down changes are never a problem. All other gear changes are relatively smooth although 1st can appear stiff on occations. The gear change appears to be too delicate.

 

I have raised this with my dealer on at least two occasions but each time when they have checked the gear selection on road test they have not experinced the problems. I find this rather frustrating but it seems I have to accept their findings.

 

It seems to me the gear selection on this car is not robust enough. I find I change gear gingerly to make sure I allow the synchromesh to work. This makes for a slow gear change particularly the up change into 2nd gear.

 

This has become a niggle for me with this car and although I am generally happy with the C3 the gear change issue will put me off buying another.

 

I would be interested to know if anyone else has any similar experiences as up to now my raising of the issue has seemed to suggest it is only my C3 or even it is me being too particular about the gear selection on the C3?

[paul.h]

Welcome to the forum.

 

A few thoughts, however, we do not have any problems with our 1.4 petrol, 35k miles, 2003 SX model.

 

20 to 30 years ago, a car with your mileage often would have a worn syncromesh baulk ring on second gear and would grind when changing up from first. But it would not occur from when the car was new. Also when cold the gearbox oil would be thicker (more viscous)so would be more likely to occur when warmed up and the oil had thinned. So it is probably not a worn gearbox problem but could be a faulty part problem.

 

A clutch problem can also make gear selection difficult - does the pedal bite near the floor as though the clutch is worn or as if there is a hydraulic problem (air or worn seals in the master/slave cylinders, fluid needs changing - should be done when the brake fluid is changed). Again this is not likely to occur from when the car was new.

 

If the gear lever mechanism is not adjusted/set up properly this could give a problem selecting the gears. When I have replaced Saab gearboxes, if it was not set up properly you would end up with the gears on the same side of the lever difficult to select such as 1st and 2nd or 5th. Also on the Saabs, you had to have the correct type of gear oil and oil level and occasionally they would recommend a different oil if there were problems.

[Jeff]

Welcome to the forum.

 

A few thoughts, however, we do not have any problems with our 1.4 petrol, 35k miles, 2003 SX model.

 

20 to 30 years ago, a car with your mileage often would have a worn syncromesh baulk ring on second gear and would grind when changing up from first. But it would not occur from when the car was new. Also when cold the gearbox oil would be thicker (more viscous)so would be more likely to occur when warmed up and the oil had thinned. So it is probably not a worn gearbox problem but could be a faulty part problem.

 

A clutch problem can also make gear selection difficult - does the pedal bite near the floor as though the clutch is worn or as if there is a hydraulic problem (air or worn seals in the master/slave cylinders, fluid needs changing - should be done when the brake fluid is changed). Again this is not likely to occur from when the car was new.

 

If the gear lever mechanism is not adjusted/set up properly this could give a problem selecting the gears. When I have replaced Saab gearboxes, if it was not set up properly you would end up with the gears on the same side of the lever difficult to select such as 1st and 2nd or 5th. Also on the Saabs, you had to have the correct type of gear oil and oil level and occasionally they would recommend a different oil if there were problems.

 

Thanks for your reply I agree with all you have said but do not feel there is a gearchange setting or clutch problem. The drive take up point of the clutch is toward the top of the pedal and has been from new therefore I do not see a problem there. It has also been suggested to me by a local garage that the quantity of oil in the gearbox might be an issue. They led me to believe that there was no level plug on this gearbox and therefore could have been overfilled from new. I have not persued this theory further although I can see the point made that oil quantity may when cold effect gear selection. I am coming to the conclusion that perhaps the gearbox in my C3 has a slight inherent fault which with careful handling for now may not necessarily get any worse in the short term. I am thinking of changing the car this year. Thanks again for your interest.