Shifting problem with 1999 Opel Corsa Manual

[Francis]

Good day All,

I have a problem shifting gears in my 1999 Opel Corsa 1.3 🙁 I checked if the clutch is slipping by putting it in 2nd and pulling up the handbrake and accelerating. The engine would stall if I tried that. Sometimes I can easily shift between gears but most times I have to try a few times before it engages. At this point I cannot engage reverse gear at all without switching the engine off, clutch in, engage reverse, then starting engine again. The gears would grind if I tried reverse while the engine’s idling even with the clutch in. This is always true for reverse and mostly the same for first gear which is why I am better off pulling away in 2nd. The order of gears affected the most is R, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. I may need to take the car into a workshop to get it repaired but I would really like to know what the issue is before I do. So if anyone could assist me with this I will really appreciate it.

Topic

[Yan Ling]

When was the last time you had your gear oil changed? Try changing your gear oil first. If it still grinds after the change, it might be they synchromesh unit thats whacked.

[Ingvar]

1. bleed slave clutch cylinder. Your clutch plate is not disengaged properly. This is usually due to lack of solid hydraulic pressure in the system
2. Knowing Germans, you likely have adjustable shifter linkage. Acquire on “know how” to adjust linkage and perform.
3. Actually, before I mentioned #1 should have mentioned this: how is the fluid level/condition in clutch master cylinder canister?

[Andrew]

I did a clutch on an ’04 Corsa for a friend recently, so know how to set the gear linkage. Here’s a quote from my old post to this very forum:

EDIT: you’ll need to go under the car, locate and loosen the pinch bolt where the gearstick linkage attaches to the gearbox linkage…

…you will need to realign the gear lever rod with the ‘box linkage, otherwise your gears won’t be where they should. Locate the small sprung brass pin next to the gearbox filler plug/air vent on top of the gearbox. It’s just to the left of the slave cylinder union. Find the final U joint of the gear linkage near this and rotate it fully anticlockwise while pushing on the brass pin, which should lock into place. Now go into the car and pull up the gear lever boot. You will see a plastic bracket with a hole in it on its left-hand side, and a corresponding bracket and hole just below on the body. Move the lever to align the holes and poke in a suitable drill bit to hold it there. You can now reattach the gear linkage under the car and tighten the pinch bolt. Don’t forget to release the brass pin.

All directions are given as if sitting in the driver’s seat facing forwards.

I agree with Ukkroz that, far from slipping, your clutch is doing the opposite and binding. Check the pedal freeplay, check for fluid level and leaks from the master cylinder either side of the bulkhead, check the clutch line all the way down the the bellhousing. Bleed the clutch mechanism. Change the ‘box oil. Reset the gear linkage as per above.

If still no go then you may have a problem in the clutch release mech or the clutch itself. It’s such a horrible job if you haven’t done a front wheel drive clutch before that I recommend you replace the slave and clutch as a unit.

[Author]

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