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172 Stuck in 5th

HemiHusky

HemiHusky

ClioSport Club Member
Car  Clio 172, Flame Red
Hey all so i have a bit of a brain twister that im not entirely sure whats happened.

did some work to the clio as its off the road for rust repair including fitting a new exhaust, thought a good idea would be to put the car in 5th so i know how close the selector linkage can be to the new PMS o2 sensor positions.

did the work, the car now refuses to leave 5th gear i went to pull the stick out it kinda got half way but wont return to neutral, and even more bizzare, if you turn the car on with the stick pulled back, it wont drive, push it forward slightly it drives the wheels but with zero grinding going in and out of these phases, without touching the clutch.

i thought it was my short shift knob despite having driven around for weeks with this fitted so i dis-connected that but even at the gearbox end it is still seemingly stuck i cant get the selector going into the gearbox to do anything at all, forward aft or up or down.

i can hear something happening behind the hat for 5th, is this something someones encountered before? or has my JC5 just grenaded itself without even being driven.
 
Hmm bit of a strange one that! At this point, the best thing to do is drain the gear oil, lower the gearbox off its mount and remove the end cover for 5th gear.

Take a picture and upload it in here so I can see what’s going on 👍🏻
 
Have you checked the clutch cable that goes to the gearbox - get a friend to move the clutch manually by pulling the cable by the gearbox.
 
Also get under the car and see if the gear linkage rod has come loose - is the bolt still tight? Also whilst under there can you move the gear selector manually with your hand
 
NorthloopCup said:
Hmm bit of a strange one that! At this point, the best thing to do is drain the gear oil, lower the gearbox off its mount and remove the end cover for 5th gear.

Take a picture and upload it in here so I can see what’s going on 👍🏻
Click to expand...

Got it off this is how it found it. Im no expert but the selector trying to fall off is i guess not how its supposed to be. There appears to be a spring clip in there thats somehow gone outta line. Im hopeing re aligning and getting it back into 5th is gonna be the game plan here
 

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HemiHusky said:
Got it off this is how it found it. Im no expert but the selector trying to fall off is i guess not how its supposed to be. There appears to be a spring clip in there thats somehow gone outta line. Im hopeing re aligning and getting it back into 5th is gonna be the game plan here
Click to expand...
Yeah that’s the issue mate. Small screwdriver to manipulate the clip so the hub slides down, and you’re golden mate. The hub just needs to be level. 👍🏻
 
NorthloopCup said:
Yeah that’s the issue mate. Small screwdriver to manipulate the clip so the hub slides down, and you’re golden mate. The hub just needs to be level. 👍🏻
Click to expand...

Awesome. How it managed that no clue. Maybe I need to re-do my adjustment for the shifter again but its been driving for weeks and weeks with no issue so.

Magical French moments, many thanks for the help!
 
NorthloopCup said:
Yeah that’s the issue mate. Small screwdriver to manipulate the clip so the hub slides down, and you’re golden mate. The hub just needs to be level. 👍🏻
Click to expand...
New issue. On trying to re setup the shift linkage. I cant get 5th to really function correctly. With the rod disconnected I can run through all the gears but 5th has such a tiny amount of movement vs the other gears I dont feel like its actually going into gear.

Is this going to be more issues with that area behined the cover?

Also having a right mare trying to set it up to consistently get reverse and any other gear.
 
Nevermind new new update. Can move the selector about all you want. Its not in neutral. Its still in 5th. Assume box failure then
 
HemiHusky said:
Nevermind new new update. Can move the selector about all you want. Its not in neutral. Its still in 5th. Assume box failure then
Click to expand...
Take the end cover off again and upload pictures showing all the shafts that are sat under the selector fork for 5th gear. The box won’t have failed in my opinion mate.

I reckon its sortable - I just need to see what else is going on inside that end cover mate 👍🏻
 
NorthloopCup said:
Take the end cover off again and upload pictures showing all the shafts that are sat under the selector fork for 5th gear. The box won’t have failed in my opinion mate.

I reckon its sortable - I just need to see what else is going on inside that end cover mate 👍🏻
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This was just before I put everything back together. Re draining the oil now. Hindsight being 60/22 or whatever they say. I should've not re filled it with oil
 

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As it sits. The main box body is still acting like its in neutral with the selector free but try move the wheels theyre locked by 5th somehow
 

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NorthloopCup said:
Right ok. In that case, try and push the selector fork for 5th down all the way so it engages 5th, then manually lift it up. The selector lever under the box SHOULDN’T move. Let me know 👍🏻
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Will give it a shot in the morning as I feel like ill be sleeping in the thing if I dont give people attention inside 😂 im still a bit baffled how its managed this at all. And why its now managed to get itself so out of whack.
 
Right. it was a bit of a faf but I did get it to go into 5th and back out and we APPEAR to have all the gears now. Im not re attaching that shifter untill the new mount arrives but huge thanks. We might just drive again
 

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NorthloopCup said:
Superb! Sometimes they just need a bit of tough love mate 👍🏻
Click to expand...
Hey me again (sorry!)

So the stupid frog has done it again. Got everything back supported and went to install shifter.

Did it via the freind holding in reverse and box manually in reverse trick, went through the gears but a bit reluctant for 1st. Adjusted it. It then went through up to 4th where its promptly done the exact same. Went in fine. And is now stuck and wont come out.

With the box in fake 4th is that game over?
Or can you still adjust it through the end cap, it must be something wrong with that short shifter the car has yet ive been driving it nearly a year with it!
 
HemiHusky said:
Hey me again (sorry!)

So the stupid frog has done it again. Got everything back supported and went to install shifter.

Did it via the freind holding in reverse and box manually in reverse trick, went through the gears but a bit reluctant for 1st. Adjusted it. It then went through up to 4th where its promptly done the exact same. Went in fine. And is now stuck and wont come out.

With the box in fake 4th is that game over?
Or can you still adjust it through the end cap, it must be something wrong with that short shifter the car has yet ive been driving it nearly a year with it!
Click to expand...
Ah ok. So the short shifters and jc5’s are a bit of a recipe for disaster anyway mate tbh. It just stresses the synchros, and they’re not the best as it is.

You should be able to take the end cover off again and manually take it out of 5th. May have to give the selector a wiggle to get things back right though that’s all.
 
NorthloopCup said:
Ah ok. So the short shifters and jc5’s are a bit of a recipe for disaster anyway mate tbh. It just stresses the synchros, and they’re not the best as it is.

You should be able to take the end cover off again and manually take it out of 5th. May have to give the selector a wiggle to get things back right though that’s all.
Click to expand...
This time it did it selecting 4th would that be one of those two rods that had to be level before?

Seems ill need to find a original one again its a shame because the stock one is a bit low down for me with small arms but long legs.

Im guessing the pms shifters have similar issues and also ive heard the dreaded rattle?
 
HemiHusky said:
This time it did it selecting 4th would that be one of those two rods that had to be level before?

Seems ill need to find a original one again its a shame because the stock one is a bit low down for me with small arms but long legs.

Im guessing the pms shifters have similar issues and also ive heard the dreaded rattle?
Click to expand...
Ah sorry, misread! Yeah so the rods in the box - one will be higher than the other. You just need to make them both level, but don’t knock the rod in so it’s flush. Otherwise it’s a world of pain!
 
NorthloopCup said:
Ah sorry, misread! Yeah so the rods in the box - one will be higher than the other. You just need to make them both level, but don’t knock the rod in so it’s flush. Otherwise it’s a world of pain!
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im guessing knocking that in basically locks the box up?

its still so bizzare after last time it behaved fine and i manually by hand went through every gear and back out into neutral and it was grand, then came to fit the selector today and it's done this lockup thing again, maybe its worth taking it back off the road and bite the bullet to pull the box and see if it does it a 3rd time as by then somethings gotta be up internally.
 
HemiHusky said:
im guessing knocking that in basically locks the box up?

its still so bizzare after last time it behaved fine and i manually by hand went through every gear and back out into neutral and it was grand, then came to fit the selector today and it's done this lockup thing again, maybe its worth taking it back off the road and bite the bullet to pull the box and see if it does it a 3rd time as by then somethings gotta be up internally.
Click to expand...
If you knock the shaft in, you’ve manually selected either 3rd or 1st gear, and I can confirm, they’re an absolute pain in the arse to get them back out. For me, it’s ultimately quicker to pull the lid off the box and reselect the gears manually.

But I rebuild jc5’s in my sleep. Lol!

Yeah it is all a bit strange, and doesn’t make sense. If you don’t have any success and you do the pull the box. Let me know if you want me to open it up and see what’s going on inside. 👍🏻
 
NorthloopCup said:
If you knock the shaft in, you’ve manually selected either 3rd or 1st gear, and I can confirm, they’re an absolute pain in the arse to get them back out. For me, it’s ultimately quicker to pull the lid off the box and reselect the gears manually.

But I rebuild jc5’s in my sleep. Lol!

Yeah it is all a bit strange, and doesn’t make sense. If you don’t have any success and you do the pull the box. Let me know if you want me to open it up and see what’s going on inside. 👍🏻
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strange, i dont think its that then because ive physically confirmed it to be in neutral now multiple times, even currently its a case of selector is stuck in the 4th gear position, wont move, but the wheels arent connected to the engine so were in a fake gear again where selector says something but the car will still roll.

that may be a option if you dont mind of course, going to pull it apart again towmorrow and see whats going on, i do have a scenic shifter + linkage i may just throw in to take it back to somewhere near stock, because the old one i cut the gear knob off to get it to come out as it was all split and mankey anyway.

not the brightest move from me.
 
Dejavu here. 5th has popped off again the sodding frog eating b*****d.

Well reset and then throw the short shifter over the hills and fit scenic parts.

But yeah im in process of bending it now as I did read that unless you fancy a fist fight for 1st 3rd and reverse its needed
 

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