On my way home Wednesday & the Medway Handy Van lost 3rd, 4th 5th & reverse
gears!

Needs a recon box costing & arm and a leg & 7 hours+ labour to de & re.

I'm not a happy handyman :-(

I don't recommend trying to run a Handyman service using SWMBO's Vauxhall
Corsa 2 door!


--
Dave - The Vanless Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message
.uk...
On my way home Wednesday & the Medway Handy Van lost 3rd, 4th 5th &
reverse
gears!

Needs a recon box costing & arm and a leg & 7 hours+ labour to de & re.

I'm not a happy handyman :-(

I don't recommend trying to run a Handyman service using SWMBO's Vauxhall
Corsa 2 door!


--
Dave - The Vanless Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257






Time to take on those bigger jobs.

George wrote:
"The Medway Handyman" wrote in
message .uk...
On my way home Wednesday & the Medway Handy Van lost 3rd, 4th 5th &
reverse gears!

Needs a recon box costing & arm and a leg & 7 hours+ labour to de &
re.

I'm not a happy handyman :-(

I don't recommend trying to run a Handyman service using SWMBO's
Vauxhall Corsa 2 door!




Time to take on those bigger jobs.

I was offered one tonight funnily enough. Existing customer wanted some
'fencing' done. Turned out to be a 7 acre paddock :-)

Whats the point in taking on bigger jobs that earn less money than smaller
ones?

--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

In message , The
Medway Handyman writes
On my way home Wednesday & the Medway Handy Van lost 3rd, 4th 5th & reverse
gears!

Needs a recon box costing & arm and a leg & 7 hours+ labour to de & re.

I sincerely hope there is a manufacturers warranty involved?

regards

--
Tim Lamb

The Medway Handyman wrote:

Whats the point in taking on bigger jobs that earn less money than smaller
ones?

Because you might be able to earn *something* even with a knackered van ;-)

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On Fri, 19 Oct 2007 20:29:40 +0000, The Medway Handyman wrote:

George wrote:
"The Medway Handyman" wrote in
message .uk...
On my way home Wednesday & the Medway Handy Van lost 3rd, 4th 5th &
reverse gears!

Needs a recon box costing & arm and a leg & 7 hours+ labour to de & re.

I'm not a happy handyman :-(

I don't recommend trying to run a Handyman service using SWMBO's
Vauxhall Corsa 2 door!




Time to take on those bigger jobs.

I was offered one tonight funnily enough. Existing customer wanted some
'fencing' done. Turned out to be a 7 acre paddock :-)

Whats the point in taking on bigger jobs that earn less money than smaller
ones?
==================================
Because they're less demanding for transport and operator?

Cic.

--
===================================
Using Ubuntu Linux
Windows shown the door
===================================

"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message
o.uk...
George wrote:
"The Medway Handyman" wrote in
message .uk...
On my way home Wednesday & the Medway Handy Van lost 3rd, 4th 5th &
reverse gears!

Needs a recon box costing & arm and a leg & 7 hours+ labour to de &
re.

I'm not a happy handyman :-(

I don't recommend trying to run a Handyman service using SWMBO's
Vauxhall Corsa 2 door!




Time to take on those bigger jobs.

I was offered one tonight funnily enough. Existing customer wanted some
'fencing' done. Turned out to be a 7 acre paddock :-)

Whats the point in taking on bigger jobs that earn less money than smaller
ones?

--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257



Less wear&tear on the van.

On my way home Wednesday & the Medway Handy Van lost 3rd, 4th 5th & reverse
gears!
Needs a recon box costing & arm and a leg & 7 hours+ labour to de & re.

Thought it was only a few months old ?

....saying that, you wouldn't be covered under consumer legislation as
it's clearly marked up as a trade vehicle :-/

John Rumm wrote:
The Medway Handyman wrote:

Whats the point in taking on bigger jobs that earn less money than
smaller ones?

Because you might be able to earn *something* even with a knackered
van ;-)

Hasn't actually affected my earnings, just caused a lot of aggro :-) and
expense :-(


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

Cicero wrote:
On Fri, 19 Oct 2007 20:29:40 +0000, The Medway Handyman wrote:

George wrote:
"The Medway Handyman" wrote in
message .uk...
On my way home Wednesday & the Medway Handy Van lost 3rd, 4th 5th &
reverse gears!

Needs a recon box costing & arm and a leg & 7 hours+ labour to de
& re.

I'm not a happy handyman :-(

I don't recommend trying to run a Handyman service using SWMBO's
Vauxhall Corsa 2 door!




Time to take on those bigger jobs.

I was offered one tonight funnily enough. Existing customer wanted
some 'fencing' done. Turned out to be a 7 acre paddock :-)

Whats the point in taking on bigger jobs that earn less money than
smaller ones?
==================================
Because they're less demanding for transport and operator?

I only do around 100 miles a week anyway, so it makes little difference. My
pricing is 'front loaded' so 2 x 3 hour jobs in a day earn me more than 1 x
8 hour job. Thats the crux of the 'little job' ploy.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

Colin Wilson wrote:
On my way home Wednesday & the Medway Handy Van lost 3rd, 4th 5th &
reverse gears!
Needs a recon box costing & arm and a leg & 7 hours+ labour to de &
re.

Thought it was only a few months old ?

It is Colin, bought in Febuary, although its an 03 reg van.

...saying that, you wouldn't be covered under consumer legislation as
it's clearly marked up as a trade vehicle :-/

Checking that now....


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

In article ,
The Medway Handyman wrote:
On my way home Wednesday & the Medway Handy Van lost 3rd, 4th 5th &
reverse gears!

Needs a recon box costing & arm and a leg & 7 hours+ labour to de & re.

Sounds like a selector fault to me. Of course to fix this might involve
gearbox removal. I'd ask on uk.rec.cars.maintenance just in case it's a
common fault with an easy(ier) fix.

--
*I'll try being nicer if you'll try being smarter

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On my way home Wednesday & the Medway Handy Van lost 3rd, 4th 5th &
reverse gears!
Needs a recon box costing & arm and a leg & 7 hours+ labour to de & re.

That sounds very much like a gear lever linkage and not a gearbox
fault.

Does the gear lever operate normally and the gears not engage, or does
the lever feel "odd"?

I had very similar happen on my van (VW Transporter T4, lost all but
3rd and 4th) and it was simply the pivot point for the side to side
movement of the gear lever that had broken. Cost to repair, zero - I
made a little bracket to repair the broken pivot.

On my way home Wednesday & the Medway
Handy Van lost 3rd, 4th 5th & reverse gears!

Interesting mix...

Check...
o Gearbox oil level -- low oil usually means pops out of 5th
o Gearbox linkage -- external to box (& also engine mounts)
o Shifter fork alignment/bent -- internal to box I'm afraid

Many FWD have weak engine mounts and excessive play
will prevent gear engagement in certain conditions. This is
more likely with steering at full lock, but still possible.

I assume no obvious whining initially (gear hardening worn
and wearing through or thrust bearing wear), in neutral (input
shaft bearing), under load (input/output shaft bearing),
(excessive) gear whine when in gear, no synchro probs
(requiring double declutching due to difficult engagement).

Many gearboxes do not have forged shifter forks even on
quite high-end cars/engines (thus will bend very easily). If
it will not go in then double declutch and try again.

Whine or screech during reverse when cold is typically a
throw-out bearing (clutch), external to gearbox. Rarely it
can be rear engine seal letting oil seep onto the clutch etc.
If the clutch is not fully disengaging (cable or bleed) then
on some boxes it can prevent certain gears being selected.

Use the right oil for the gearbox, do not get too smart as
certain friction additives are corrosive to some parts (eg,
synchros) and gearboxes can be very fussy re oil weight.
If you always cold-start and find shifting into 2nd is a
pain then investigate a compatible synthetic oil. Can
turn a rubber-gearbox into a butter-gearbox instantly.

I would try anything before a rebuilt box and even try a
main dealer - in case a known fault a) warranty b) scream
blue murder at them/GM re any TSB covering it and c)
it may be a quite simple fix. 8hrs to crack most boxes.
Most dealers are criminals on leave, care in community...

Rebuilt factory gearboxes are ok, but anyone else worries
me because there can be faults with its original manufacture.
Check for TSB, Tech Service Bulletin, along with any web
forums for any known causes & faults with a gearbox.
--
DB.

Dorothy Bradbury wrote:
On my way home Wednesday & the Medway
Handy Van lost 3rd, 4th 5th & reverse gears!

Interesting mix...

Check...
o Gearbox oil level -- low oil usually means pops out of 5th
o Gearbox linkage -- external to box (& also engine mounts)
o Shifter fork alignment/bent -- internal to box I'm afraid

Many FWD have weak engine mounts and excessive play
will prevent gear engagement in certain conditions. This is
more likely with steering at full lock, but still possible.

I assume no obvious whining initially (gear hardening worn
and wearing through or thrust bearing wear), in neutral (input
shaft bearing), under load (input/output shaft bearing),
(excessive) gear whine when in gear, no synchro probs
(requiring double declutching due to difficult engagement).

Many gearboxes do not have forged shifter forks even on
quite high-end cars/engines (thus will bend very easily). If
it will not go in then double declutch and try again.

Whine or screech during reverse when cold is typically a
throw-out bearing (clutch), external to gearbox. Rarely it
can be rear engine seal letting oil seep onto the clutch etc.
If the clutch is not fully disengaging (cable or bleed) then
on some boxes it can prevent certain gears being selected.

Use the right oil for the gearbox, do not get too smart as
certain friction additives are corrosive to some parts (eg,
synchros) and gearboxes can be very fussy re oil weight.
If you always cold-start and find shifting into 2nd is a
pain then investigate a compatible synthetic oil. Can
turn a rubber-gearbox into a butter-gearbox instantly.

I would try anything before a rebuilt box and even try a
main dealer - in case a known fault a) warranty b) scream
blue murder at them/GM re any TSB covering it and c)
it may be a quite simple fix. 8hrs to crack most boxes.
Most dealers are criminals on leave, care in community...

Rebuilt factory gearboxes are ok, but anyone else worries
me because there can be faults with its original manufacture.
Check for TSB, Tech Service Bulletin, along with any web
forums for any known causes & faults with a gearbox.

I had exactly this happen on a FWD Fiat van a few years back. AA bloke
tightened up some bolts that had worked loose and I was back in business.
IME when things *suddenly* go without any nasty noises it usually means
something needs reassembling rather than replacing

Dorothy Bradbury wrote:
On my way home Wednesday & the Medway
Handy Van lost 3rd, 4th 5th & reverse gears!

Interesting mix...

Check...
o Gearbox oil level -- low oil usually means pops out of 5th
o Gearbox linkage -- external to box (& also engine mounts)
o Shifter fork alignment/bent -- internal to box I'm afraid

SNIP

Thanks for sucha comprehensive reply, I appreciate it. First port of call
my regular garage who are brilliant. I assumed it might be a transverse
linkage but they checked everything out & diagnosed a gearbox problem -
didn't even charge me. Trasmission people reckon a shaft of some sort has
snapped.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

In article ,
The Medway Handyman wrote:
Thanks for sucha comprehensive reply, I appreciate it. First port of
call my regular garage who are brilliant. I assumed it might be a
transverse linkage but they checked everything out & diagnosed a
gearbox problem - didn't even charge me. Trasmission people reckon a
shaft of some sort has snapped.

Basically a gear box has three shafts. Input layshaft and output. The
input drives the lay gear cluster which has one 'half' of all the gears as
a one piece forging. There is usually a direct gear - 1:1 ratio, usually
4th, which simply locks input and output together while the lay idles
round. All the others are in constant mesh revolving round the output
shaft and are locked to that as required by the synchromesh mechanism.

The gears - or rather the synchromesh units - are moved by forks mounted
on selector rods. Usually three or more. The gearlever selects the one
needed and moves it back or forward from a neutral position to give you
1&2, 3&4, reverse, etc. It sounds very much to me like the selector
mechanism has failed in some way - hence only 1&2 being available. But on
every box I've seen the selector mechanism has to be removed before
dismantling the actual box so obviously can be repaired without the need
for a full re-con.

What you need is a specialist who fixes their own boxes. Many just fit
re-cons done elsewhere and are merely fitters. And those re-cons done
elsewhere are often of very poor quality. Since your van is low mileage
I'd be far happier having its own gearbox fixed rather than getting a so
called recon that could have done a very high mileage.

--
*Snowmen fall from Heaven unassembled*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
SNIP

What you need is a specialist who fixes their own boxes. Many just fit
re-cons done elsewhere and are merely fitters. And those re-cons done
elsewhere are often of very poor quality. Since your van is low
mileage I'd be far happier having its own gearbox fixed rather than
getting a so called recon that could have done a very high mileage.

Thankfully thats what I have, they will recon my existing box. Thanks for
the info. I am reasured.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

Message-ID: k from The
Medway Handyman contained the following:

Thankfully thats what I have, they will recon my existing box. Thanks for
the info. I am reasured.

They did that on my Citroen Synergy. It lasted 12 months then went
again.

--
Geoff Berrow (put thecat out to email)
It's only Usenet, no one dies.
My opinions, not the committee's, mine.
Simple RFDs http://www.ckdog.co.uk/rfdmaker/