|
It's not uncommon to experience one of the following difficulties when selecting the reverse gear in an MGF...
Crunching/grating of gears as reverse is selected.
The gear lever popping back out of the reverse position as the clutch pedal is raised. This is normally accompanied by a grating of the gears as it happens.
Usually, this is nothing to worry about - there is no fault with gearbox or selector mechanism. Unlike the forward gears, reverse gear on the F does not have a synchromesh - part of the gearbox that ensures the spinning gear cogs rotate at the same speed as they brought together as you change gear. There are however ways to reduce the likelihood of this occurring....
To over come this problem the gearbox on newer MGF's is apparently fitted with a new type of selector fork with a small lever. As reverse starts to be selected the small lever also engages fourth gear slightly, this slows the primary shaft down, and just as reverse is fully selected it drops back and disengages fourth. Safety features prevent both gears being selected at the same time.
Having the cables on the gear selector mechanism adjusted has also been known to improve this problem though not eliminate it. Owners of older cars may find it beneficial to have both cables re-adjusted and gear linkage checked for any excessive wear/play. Gear shift mechanisms that improve gear change and reduce gear lever slop are available from aftermarket vendors such as, Techspeed and Mike Satur.
|
