Morris Minor Owners Club

I am having problems changing up from 2nd to 3rd gear, changing down from 3rd to 2nd however is fine All the other gears are ok including reverse. Before I go down the route of taking out the gear box could anybody give me a pointer as to where the problem may be. Could it be the plastic bush in gear lever selector ?- might be worn.

Well worth pulling the lever out and inspecting it - doe the lever have loots of 'slop' ? next stage will be to drain the oil and remove the side inspection plate - watch out for two little springs as you take it off. Here you can inspect the selector forks - especially the little bolts holding them to the sliding rails. The 3rd / 4th selector may have come loose on the shaft - although this would show at the lever as excessive movement in 3/4 gears compared to relatively little movement in 1/2 gears.

Just be careful when taking the gearlever out that you dont loose the anti rattle spring & plunger.

They may already be lost! But Kevin is right - best to have a good look at a parts drawing before you barge in there if you don't know what to expect.

has it got oil in it?

Are you consciously moving the gear lever forward and to the right then forward in a deliberate movement? Pause briefly in neutral.

Modern FWD gearboxes make for lazy drivers and lazy diagonal gear changes from 2nd to 3rd. try this in a Moggie and you will get a crunch as you are really trying to go into 1st. It catches out virtually every new Moggie driver who has come from a modern car.

If you really do think the box is failing - there are several very cheap ones on ebay at the moment - i've put up the listings in 'For Sale'. may be an idea to grab a spare at the right price - there is no better way to ensure your box is in perfect condition !