Gearbox fluid ?

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Xantia2.0
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Gearbox fluid ?

Post by Xantia2.0 »

In the last 2 weeks the Xantia has had a problem of slotting into Reverse but when you try to move it just grinds and won't go anywhere, take it out and really yank it in and it works! Is it a badly lubricated gearbox or a loose shifter linkage causing it to apparently slot in but not fully engage ?
1998 Citroen Xantia 2.0 16V I4 with 148,200 miles on the clock. Bought it with 123,000.
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CitroJim
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Post by CitroJim »

Linkage or dragging clutch, the latter most likely.

Remember the reverse gear in a BE3 is a sliding straight-cut pinion without benefit of synchromesh. The pinion slides along a shaft and meshes with another pinion to obtain reverse; it's all very crude and not even constant-mesh. A real old-school "crash" gear.

Against this background, a bit of clutch drag that keeps the gearbox first-motion shaft spinning in neutral will always make reverse difficult to engage.

A concrete test is to engage one of the forward gears immediately before trying to engage reverse. If reverse then engages it's your clutch dragging. Remember too that the car must be stationary to engage reverse without a crunch.

Bad oil mostly affects the synchromesh performance and will have a minimal effect on reverse engagement.

This is the reverse pinion on its sliding shaft:

Image
Jim

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Xantia2.0
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Joined: 21 Jul 2010, 15:12
Location: Scotland
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Post by Xantia2.0 »

Nope, still the same if you go from 1st then to Reverse.
1998 Citroen Xantia 2.0 16V I4 with 148,200 miles on the clock. Bought it with 123,000.
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CitroJim
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x 6163
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Post by CitroJim »

Does reverse engage easily with the engine stopped?
Jim

Runner, cyclist, time triallist, duathlete, Citroen AX fan and the CCC Citroenian 'From A to Z' Columnist...
Xantia2.0
Posts: 131
Joined: 21 Jul 2010, 15:12
Location: Scotland
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Post by Xantia2.0 »

Yep it feels the same as with the engine running. I have noticed in Reverse the lever has a lot of play in it (about 2cm in each direction)
1998 Citroen Xantia 2.0 16V I4 with 148,200 miles on the clock. Bought it with 123,000.
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