Can't select reverse

[JasonL]

Hi, I've recently bought a morris minor 1000, 1968. It has been stood for 11yrs, after servicing the engine it is running fine, however, I can't select reverse gear. The gear stick will not move further to the right than 3rd and 4th gears. I believe there is a spring loaded safety device to prevent accidental reverse selection and was thinking this could be the problem. Unfortunately I don't have the equipment to remove the gearbox, I only have access from the top, where the gear stick enters the selector. I see that the end of the gear stick has a ball joint with a seal, is this realated to the reverse issue? I have had the car in reverse once, but not been able to since. Any help would be much appreciated. thanks.

[autolycus]

May I ask how familiar you are with A-series gearboxes?

The reason I ask is that many of them respond to a sharp tap - almost a slap - with the palm of the hand when steady pressure has little effect. Modern driving instructors don't seem to teach the concept of twisting your wrist so that the palm of your hand guides the direction of movement of the lever - it's all expected to be finger-tip stuff, at lightning speed.

Kevin

[JasonL]

ok, i tried the 'slap' method and there is just no getting it over there. Last night i managed to get it into reverse again after taking the assembly to pieces and loosening off the adjuster bolts that are placed around the neck of the selector section. Thing is now, after reassembling, when in the stick is moving freely in the 'neutral' position, reverse gear is engaged. Also, i can select 3rd and 4th in the usual places but no 1st and second. i have no idea where to go from here and all help would be greatly appreciated. thanks

[JasonL]

oj, here's a pic of the assembled unit. The bolts 'A' and 'B' i have adjusted to see if it made any difference, i'd like to know the purpose of these if poss. I'm assuming that 'D' is simply to stop the gear stick rotating during use. The hole in the plate (shown as 'C' does not line up with the hole in casing labelled 'F' in next post. is this normal?[frame][/frame]

[JasonL]

ok, next. haha. shown in this pic is the spring and plate which it is sitting on, i'd also like to know its purpose, is this the 'spring loaded mechanism' to preven accidental reverse selection? If so, the stick is currently in the neutral, freely moving position yet reverse is engaged, could this be related?[frame][/frame]

[JasonL]

ok, final pic...
this is obv a view from above without the gear stick, reverse is engaged in this position at the moment (it wasn't originally). The 'plunger' shown as 'g' i have removed, cleaned and greased and has a smooth operation, i dont think this is related. The hole marked 'E' shows the top of the spring bolt i assume, it is currently sunk in about 1/4" from the top of housing and does not line up with the hole in the faceplace marked 'C'. is this normal? i hope these pics help to clarify and not confuse the problem. thanks.[frame][/frame]

[MarkyB]

In the second picture E looks like the spring which I think should be pushing a brass plunger and not visible at all.
If you remove the whole floor that covers the gearbox then the remote gear change assembly can be easily removed and you can find out where the brass bit has gone.

[bmcecosse]

Is that the brass plunger lying on it's side - beside the crumpled up spring ? When you say you slackened bolts around the selector - which bolts ?? Not any of these I hope![frame][/frame]

[JasonL]

thanks for all your help, we've managed to get it going. i removed the floor pan and then the linkage 'box' that sits on top of the gearbox ans cleaned it up. turns out that where the linkage box connects to the top of the gearbox, there was a part that had slipped, i managed to get a slim piece of metal down there and re-engage it. i'm getting all gears as i should now. there is no resistance when pulling to the right to select reverse (i believe its supposed to be spring loaded) but i can live with this for now. The bolt i altered were the one's pointed out in the first pic, I never opened up the actual gearbox. I know i may not have properley explained the solution, but i don't know the technical terms for the parts. lol. sorry

Thanks for all your help, it was indispensable. no doubt i'll come accross something else i need help on...

[bmcecosse]

Good news then! Well done. But you should try to get that spring and plunger in place - to prevent accidental reverse selection at 60 mph!

[JasonL]

The spring shown in 'E' is resting on the plate just below it, which is part of the assembly 'G'. Do you have any pictures or anything of where the brass plunger should be, as if would be much better to not have the risk of reverse at 60! haha

Thanks.

[katy]

There should be a spring and brass plunger behind "B" and a spring and steel ball behind "A"

[les]

If you've slackened A to get sorted you have in fact just taken the pressure of off the ball bearing that presses into an indent in the plunger F ( when you select reverse you jump the ball out of the indent followed by the positioning of the appropriate selector rod ) If you tighten A, with the copper washer behind the head, you should be able to get reverse by (as someone has rightly suggested) smartly hitting the gearstick to the right. Maybe some of the mechanism is dry. C does not have to line up with F.

[JasonL]

Thanks for the replies, they have proven very useful.

There is in fact a brass plunger behind 'B', it was obscured from view because the bolt was loosened. Slackening 'A' did not fix the problem, it turned out to be something to do with the 'selectors' near the nylon gimble. However, behind bolt 'A', there is a spring but no steel ball, so this is probably why there is no resistance when engaging reverse gear. Any ideas on where to get on? Are they a standard size that maybe the local engineering shop will have?

Thanks again.

[JasonL]

Also, is it possible that the plunger 'F' has turned, so that the indent in it no longer lines up with where the steel ball pushes against it?

[JasonL]

http://morrisminorspares.co.uk/shop/pro ... 72c311d604

Is this the correct steel ball?

I have a few things i need to buy from this site, so if its the right one i'll just stick it on the order.
Does anyone know of a downloadable workshop manual?

[kittyfell]

I believe there is a manual available.............I'll have a look for you.

[katy]

Are you sure that there is no ball in there? Sometimes they get stuck w/dried grease and crud and then are reluctant to come out.
IIRC, the steel bal is about .25" diameter, measure the OD of the spring and also the OD of the hole it fits into. I don't think the diameter of the ball is extremely critical, as long as it's close to the right size.
Also, there should be a copper washer inder the head of "A".

[les]

Yes,the ball you show is the one you need