# bad gear selection



## GEOMAR (Mar 16, 2008)

My son has an 2004 motorhome on 2.8 fiat and is having great difficulty selecting any gear . It is parked outside in his driveway in this very cold weather and hasn't been moved for a few weeks , would the cold weather cause this by thick oil etc .
GEOMAR


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## Sideways86 (Feb 25, 2009)

Hi, Yes it could so easy. Let it warm up well first dipping the clutch and holding it dipped a few times and when warm hold the clutch in a second or two before selecting a gear.

I am assuming of course that all was well with selection prior to it being parked up.
Regards


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## GEOMAR (Mar 16, 2008)

*bad geag selection*

His gearchange was ok when used 3 weeks ago before it was parked up
GEOMAR


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## buffallobill (Sep 28, 2007)

*Re: bad geag selection*



GEOMAR said:


> His gearchange was ok when used 3 weeks ago before it was parked up
> GEOMAR


just a suggestion maybe wrong. but could the cables from gear stick to gear box be frozen.


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## byjingo (Feb 3, 2009)

I am having the same problem on my 2003 2.8JTd too and would appreciate any words of wisdom. The van was fine when last used early in December but almost impossible to select 1st or 3rd gear and notchy on the others when I picked it up last week after the cold snap. 

I too suspected frozen cables or simmilar but after a round trip from Cheshire to Weymouth and back this weekend can only report that it became "useable" but significantly notchier than before. After sitting overnight on the drive it was also difficult to select 1st again this morning when I took it to the storage compound. 

I am now wondering what I need to do to fix it before the next outing at the end of Feb. Having looked at another thread discussing replacement of faulty 5th gear wheels I am also wondering how to go about changing the gearbox oil to see if that helps. Would synthetic oil be better and how much would be needed?


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## vardy (Sep 1, 2006)

OOps!


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## vardy (Sep 1, 2006)

My old crate does this, is it only the older ones that need oil down inside the cable sheath?


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## Bubblehead (Mar 5, 2007)

I dont know how true this is, but I was told a few years ago that old gearbox oil is susceptible to frost than new. I was told to change the oil for new as this would solve the issue. This was a mate who knew his stuff about landrovers.

May be worth a try

Andy


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## cmautoservices (Feb 26, 2009)

GEOMAR said:


> My son has an 2004 motorhome on 2.8 fiat and is having great difficulty selecting any gear . It is parked outside in his driveway in this very cold weather and hasn't been moved for a few weeks , would the cold weather cause this by thick oil etc .
> GEOMAR


Hi
Very common fault on these is: on top of the gearbox mounting there is a swivel connection where 1 of the gear cables connect, this is known to sieze, just needs removing, cleaning and greasing

Regards Mark


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## Mick757 (Nov 16, 2009)

cmautoservices said:


> GEOMAR said:
> 
> 
> > My son has an 2004 motorhome on 2.8 fiat and is having great difficulty selecting any gear . It is parked outside in his driveway in this very cold weather and hasn't been moved for a few weeks , would the cold weather cause this by thick oil etc .
> ...


Ford Trannys can also have this problem. The selector on the top of the housing stiffens right up through the lube drying with the heat of the engine (so nowt to do with cold weather). It has to be lubed and prised up and down a few times to get it free again. Then the gear-chane is back to normal.


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