Right, this is in other marques as it's for a Seat Marbella, a nasty cheap Spanish copy of a Fiat Panda :cool:.

It's a one-hundred-quid jalopy that I've bought for the wife to learn to drive in (and for me to have some fun) before we get the Real Car, so she has the inevitable accident in this one rather than the Pride 'n' Joy :rolleyes:.

A month or two ago, when we first got it, it would jump out of first gear when we went over a pothole (there are numerous in the old car park we're doing driving lessons in). Yesterday we hit it full tilt, and now it will barely go into first or stay there, it will barely go into fifth (yeah, five-speed box! The GLX version, no less!!), and occasionally jumps out of third. So, all gears on the forward throw (if that makes any difference).

Question - anyone know of a cheap fix to keep this going for a few more months? Like, taking up slack in clutch cable? I thought it meant synchromesh/cogs had gone, but surely not on three gears, is it a sign of something else?

Wifey hasn't passed her test yet, so we haven't even got to driving on the roads, therefore I'm loathe to dump it already - OTOH coughing up for a recon gearbox and fitting doesn't really seem worth it!

Thanks for non- "drive it over a cliff" suggestions!:)

Brendan

Had this on a renault i use to own.
First thing to do is check the level of fluid in the gearbox (just to be on the safe side) and if thats low then just top it up and see how it goes, if it still jumps out of gear then it looks like your going to need a new syncro for 1st gear (i take it you only get the problem in 1st still?)
Not terribly expensive but will cost around 150 quid to sort out :(

Tony:D

Brendan, asside from the things you've already suggested, have you checked the gearbox oil level? My mate had a similar problem with his Elise, when the official dealer (who shall remain nameless) forgot to put the gearbox plug back in. The oil exited from the box and it wouldn't stay in gear after that.

Edit: beaten to it by Tony... :)

Den

[Edited by Dirty_Den - 11/25/2002 10:12:32 AM]

If the gear linkage is anything like the Fiat 127, it'll have one/two ball joints under the front bulkhead (probab two for 5 speed), one may have popped out, you'll need some water pump pliers to compress if it's gone. Alternatively the bushes might be knacked - look on the top of the box at the back - easily fixed with washers.

Thankee kindly - will check the oil, and linkage!