Anybody got any ideas on the following?
When cold I am having problems selecting first or second gears. It does not help even if I am stationary/double declutch etc. Today I noticed for the first time attempting to select reverse (having just started up) that there was a graunch engaging. I disengaged and retried - same again. Once the box is warm after a few miles selection is fine. So it would appear to be clutch drag but the bite point is normal etc but why does it go away with heat?. What could this be down to?

 

You will usually find that clutch drag happens all the time and gets worse when it gets hotterer. So you'll find that its the gearbox thats worn. Try changing your gearbox oil for some good quality castrol syntrax that usually does the trick

 

Thanks for the reply. I had thought about this, but am suspicious about the fact that 3 gears are difficult - surely a worn synchro/broken baulk rings would affect one gear? Also even though it is an MY98 I extended the warranty to 100K/5years, so will attempt to get to the bottom of the problem with a dealer. I would like to avoid getting the problem covered up until the warranty runs out in a few months!!

 

Could be linkage wear in the gearbox itself. Is it hard to get the car into gears when stationery and not running?

 

Submannz,
With the engine not running and the clutch depressed, it is possible to engage all the gears apart from the odd time when the teeth do not match. What I have found is that if I select 3rd and 4th repeatedly several times with the engine running I can then start to select 1st and 2nd. Otherwise 1st and 2nd are so stiff it feels like something will break before they select.
I am stumped as to what this might be....