3rd gear prob

[Heronwood]

HI All,

I am driving my series ii 1954 MM, so far so good, however sometimes she won't go into 3rd gear no mater how gentle i am, its not all the time but when it happens its annoying. Any ideas?

Mike

[bmcecosse]

Have you tried changing the oil ? Engine oil - not EP oil....

[Heronwood]

Change the engine oil?

or gearbox oils?

[MarkyB]

Change the oil in the gearbox, it uses engine oil.

[bmcecosse]

[Heronwood]

Hi

I thought the recommended gear oil was different from the engine oil?

I put 20/50 in the engine .

[bmcecosse]

You thought wrongly then - 20W50 will be fine.

[Heronwood]

could be the answer to my problem

[bmcecosse]

I doubt it - but for all it costs -worth a try! You need to tell us about what's going on - does it 'baulk' as you try to select, or is the problem that the lever is very 'loose' and perhaps just not able to push the selector far enough?

[Heronwood]

its fine in 1st & 2nd but when you try to select 3rd it just won't find the slot. although it does sometimes , also when is does happen (that is it won't go in gear) it won't go in 4th either . but then all of a sudden it is fine and works perfectly.

Mike

[Heronwood]

did you mean 20/50 would be ok or 29/50 as you put?

[bjm38]

Never driven a Series MM , but third gear was always a bit woolly on our Series II, it was "all in the wrist action" - a sharp flick to the right usually did the trick.

Bernard

[Heronwood]

sorry meant series ii. the MM was morris minor

Maybe thats the answer then a quick flick

Mike

[bjm38]

The Series II gear sticks aren't known as "pudding stirrers" for nothing.

Bernard

[bmcecosse]

If you can find 29W50 then use it. I suspect you know perfectly well that was a slip of the finger...now corrected. I'll not bother following your threads any more.... Good luck with it.

[bjm38]

Bit harsh, Roy...? Some folks wouldn't know engine oil from cooking oil.

Bernard

[Heronwood]

I would love to put your anger at my innocence to one side and draw on your vast knowledge……….please accept this apology and lead me through the challenge.

Mike

[Heronwood]

Hi

If I wave a white flag would yiu give me some advice please.

The gearbox was empty of oil. I filled it up but the problem is still there. It goes in third about 50% of the time the rest of the time it is just pushing against a dead stop.

To get it to work I need to put it back into 2nd and then try again, although this does not work all the time either.

Mike

[minor65]

Does the problem happen when the gearbox oil would be cold or warm? Does it improve after a good run?

[Heronwood]

Hi,

The problem does not go away when the car is warm.

Mike