Xsara gearchange lumpy

Honest John Back Room » Technical matters
What is life like with your car? Let us know and win £500 in John Lewis vouchers | No thanks
View Threaded
Wed 7 Mar 2007 23:12
Xsara gearchange lumpy - David Horn
Hiya,

Noticed that the gearchange on my Xsara is getting a bit stiff - car is 8 years old now and as far as I know this has never been checked. No problems getting it into gear, just doesn't feel that slick. I am, somewhat embarrassingly, comparing it to a 2007 Ford Transit which is wonderful to drive.

Would changing the oil in the gearbox help? Likewise, are there any accessible bits or the selector mechanism I can lubricate?

Cheers,

David.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 8 Mar 2007 07:16
Xsara gearchange lumpy - Collos25
Could it be the clutch getting to the end of its life.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 8 Mar 2007 08:05
Xsara gearchange lumpy - M.M
As Andy says 8yrs is about the age a Citroen clutch will stiffen up. However if it is just the lever movement rather than getting into gear that is stiff it is worth going through the link pivots.

Open the bonnet and get someone to run through the gears as you look from above. You will see the gearchange rods with their end pivots and a weird collar arrangement that slides on a lump of plastic. These are all together at the back of the gearbox.

For a quick fix you can spray WD40 up from underneath the pivots as you wobble them about so it around the ball and cups. For a more lasting improvement I pop off the links and clean/grease inside the cups.

Also worth replacing the gearbox oil... only 2l of 75-80 needed. Looking at what drains out will tell something about the gearbox if these are problems.

Just this weekend I have put a new clutch in our Xsara TD, filled with new transmission oil and treated the gearchange links as above... it feels a different car.

DW
Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Looking for a garage you can trust? Honest John's Good Garage Guide has thousands of reader recommended garages, plus how-to guides and tips on servicing.

The Good Garage Guide

A guide to how much VED you will need to pay on your car.

Road Tax Bands and Rates