Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi, i have a tad problem, I left the car in a car park over night and instead of putting the hand brake on i decided to leave it in first gear.
When I returned in the morning to collect it, I put it into neuteral before turning the engine, once started the car wouldnt go into any gear, not a single one, just kept grinding!!

any suggestions??

help

It sounds like the clutch isn't disengaging- the mechanism might need adjusting, or it's remotely possible the friction plate could have got stuck to the flywheel. I can't think of any reason why leaving the car in first gear could have caused that; I've always done it with all my cars and never had a problem.

Hope it's sorted by now , if not , try engaging third with engine off , then get an assistant to rock the car backwards & forwards with the clutch down . This may free a stuck clutch plate , although I am surprised it stuck overnight . I did free a stuck clutch by starting the car in gear then driving with the clutch down but dont try this anywhere busy . Lastly this happened to my brothers car in our first incarnation driving morris minors & was a cracked clutch pressure plate .

Good Luck .

Friday 13th problem!! You will need to inspect the linkages to the clutch in case something has come loose. It's highly unlikely the plate will have stuck overnight - but then it was Friday 13th so I suppose anthing is possible.

new news on my gear box, the car won't engage gear now and just grinds like you wouldn't belive. I thought maybe the halfshafts by see if the prop turns but nothing. what other tests are there that i can do to see what the problem is or should i just take the gearbox off and sort it this way?

Cheers

new news on my gear box, the car won't engage gear now and just grinds like you wouldn't belive.

Isnt that the same symptons you had over 3 weeks ago ?
Have you checked the linkage as suggested ?

grinding noise and problems to put the gear lever into gear means that there is torque transferring through the clutch - if you continue to try engaging gears with a dragging clutch the gearbox will eventually get damaged.
Suggestions above to check the clutch and linkages would be the first logical step.

all links and rods have been checked and are fine, it seems that the problem lies in the gearbox itself. there is a rubber grommet on the bell housing so hopefully it is just the plate or something moved and i maybe be able to push it back?

who knows

Errrr - quite a few of us. You might see more through that hole, but don't pin your hopes on working through it.

You might see more through that hole, but don't pin your hopes on working through it.

Both my head and hands are to big to work through it

Quite

If the linkages & free play are correct , what you describe seems to be a clutch that does not disengage . My last suggestion would be to remove the spark plugs , noting which lead goes where , then either in first or reverse gear depending upon which way you are facing operate the starter with the clutch fully depressed . if the car moves the halfshafts are probably ok . If you are nervous of this, engage an assistant to press the clutch or block it down with a piece of wood , then turn the engine with the starting handle . If you do get movement of the car I suggest strip down the clutch .
This assumes the car moves freely with the handbrake released .