sticky first gear - ae111 6spd.. help!

[chiksluvit]

Hi guys

So my AE111's having some gearbox problem, so i thought i'd check and see what you guys reckon...
I've taken it to a few mechanics, some says clutch some says synchros, some just shook their head and said "it's weird mate, got no idea at all"....

the problem:
starting from 2 weeks ago my car's developed a problem, sometimes when i shift from first to second, the gearstick gets stuck in first. ie. won't move out of first gear.
so when that happens, i have to really use some muscles and force it out and put it in second (it has no problems going into second though)
second gear's sort of having that problem too, but not as bad as first gear, ie not stuck as hard and not as frequent, only happens when i shift up to third.
however, i have no problems going into any gear at all.

condition for it to happen:
this doesn't happen all the time, frequency of the stuck first gear is probably 1 in 15 times and the stuck second gear is probably like 1 in 20 times
sometimes i can drive for an hour and it would not even happen at all. gearchange is normally really smooth, no crunch no nothing.
During this time I took the car down to the track, and it never happened at all while the car's getting thrashed down there, never happened when shifting on high rev heavy load.
it's very random, but only happens in city driving and it can happen when the gearbox is cold or warm.

what i have done recently before the problem and after the problem:
about 2 month prior to the problem, i've had a clutch kit change to toda clutch kit, new pressure plate, new clutch disc, new flywheel, and new thrust bearing, main bearing seal, drive shaft seals.
clutch pedal was re-adjusted to suit the heavier clutch and clutch fluid changed. clutch pedal feels nice and solid, slightly heavier than before.
my guess is that the clutch probably doesnt have anything to do with it, we've re-bled the clutch fluid twice and problem is still there
when i did a clutch change i changed the gearbox oil, used castrol syntrax 75w90, after a week, the problem occured. i've changed the oil again to redline lightweight shockproof, but the problem's still there. however, first gear doesnt seem to get stuck as hard as its used to, but only just a fraction lighter, or maybe just my imagination that it's gone lighter.
otherwise, normally the first to second gear change is smooth as, like cutting through a custard, problem only happens maybe once in 15 times of first to second changes.

I've looked through quite a few other forums and no one seems to have the same problem, no matter what car it is. so i thought it might just be a common ae111 6 spd problem?
it was annoying me so much i started looking for second hand 6spd boxes, but unfortunately they are so rare in Australia i couldnt find one at all anywhere... does anyone know what's causing the problem and what the cure may be? has anyone come across the same thing?

Thanks in advance guys

[YGT04A]

I had something kind of simillar and fixed it by draining some of the oil out of the gear box as I had put a little bit to much in there

[chiksluvit]

hrmm.. the oil was filled via the filler hole so it should be ok?

the c160 box takes 1.8L of oil according to the manual, and it actually did end up taking 1.8L..

[YGT04A]

did you have the car up on blocks or not level? as there would still be stuff that did not drain out

[chiksluvit]

yeah it was actually done on the hoist so it should be level...
it took roughly 1.8L... worked that out from what i've got left over.
but i guess it's worth a try, i'll undo the filler bolt tomorrow on leveled ground and see if any oil comes out

[YGT04A]

ok there goes that thought then

[Vios-GT_07]

was it necessary to adjust the pedal box? i seldom hear people doing that, and my guess would be a stuff-up or over-adjustment of the pedal box, not enough to cause drama all the time but just enough to cause this stickiness? sounds like sometimes the clutch doesn't dis-engage properly..

[merc-blue]

ill trade you a 5 working speed for it
best be would be to tearout the box and open it up, inspect syncros and selectors etc, i have never had one of these open so cant make any suggestions

[Benno]

before condeming the gear box, might wanna check simple things first like clutch adjust and shift cables.

[jezza323]

yeah check shifter cables

but sounds like clutch out of adjustment to me, gets worse when the engine gets upto temp?

[Kyosho]

If it's a hydraulic clutch, it sounds like the slave or master is letting go.

If you put the car in gear, idling, and hold your foot on the clutch for ages, will it eventualy start to drop revs (I mean after minutes etc)
You could well have oil bypassing around the cylinder, and allowing the clutch to remain slightly engaged.

[JP]

had exactly the same problem, the clutch adjustment was the issue.

Really had to slam the shifter to get it out of gear.

[chiksluvit]

was it necessary to adjust the pedal box? i seldom hear people doing that, and my guess would be a stuff-up or over-adjustment of the pedal box, not enough to cause drama all the time but just enough to cause this stickiness? sounds like sometimes the clutch doesn't dis-engage properly..

it wasn't really necessary to adjust the pedal box, i did drive it around without the pedal adjusted and it was fine. and then the intermittent problem occured so we thought we'd give it a bit of adjustment and see how it goes..
we actually moved the engaging point up a little bit, so that it would fully disengage. and we've checked and also ensured that there's some freeplay..
cheers

[chiksluvit]

yeah check shifter cables

but sounds like clutch out of adjustment to me, gets worse when the engine gets upto temp?

hrmm it's never happened when the engine's fully cold
only happens maybe once in an hour of city driving.. so when it's warm
sometimes it may happen when it's warming up, ie. water temp not up to the normal "half-way"

[chiksluvit]

If it's a hydraulic clutch, it sounds like the slave or master is letting go.

If you put the car in gear, idling, and hold your foot on the clutch for ages, will it eventualy start to drop revs (I mean after minutes etc)
You could well have oil bypassing around the cylinder, and allowing the clutch to remain slightly engaged.

thanks for your advise, i'll give that a try!

found a gearbox specialist website, they're located in hornsby, might get them to have a look.