QuestionQUESTION: I have a 1978 MG Midget. It was running fine then, recently, I was able to shift up all right but couldn't shift down (without tremendous grinding of gears). Is this a clutch problem (there's been no clutch slip that I've been aware of) or, as a friend suggested, is this a fluid problem? Many thanks.
ANSWER: Hi Raymond,
The way to tell if you have a clutch problem is to sit with the car idling and in neutral, depress the clutch pedal and go from neutral to reverse. If you get a lot of gear clash, you can have a clutch problem. Another thing to note is how the pedal feels. The pedal should only have about 1 inch of free travel and it should feel firm right away.
Clutch hydraulic systems in MGs tend to bleed themselves as long as you have fluid in them.
How long have you had the car? Are you familiar with the correct down shift procedure?
let me know,
Howard
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Thanks very much, Howard. Yes, there's a lot of gear clash trying to go into reverse; goes into First okay. The pedal feels fine - a little free travel and then firm all the way down. I've only had the car about six months but most of that time it's been sitting in the garage over winter. I've been driving for nearly sixty years so I'm familiar with down shifting. Thanks again for your answer. I appreciate it. I think I'll take it into my local shop to be checked over.
AnswerOne other problem we noted in the dealerships is that BLM told everyone to use gear oil in the trans and we noted that the syncros didn't work well with gear oil so we went back to engine oil in the trans which made the syncros work much better.
Howard
