Problems with my reverse gear

ANSWER : Other consumers report the type of issue you have with various years and models of BMW but the reports are model specific. If you do a Google search ("difficulty getting reverse BMW "model, year") for your car, you can try the various strategies that I see published. I would suggest one, but I do not know which model you have. If none of those work out for you, that would point to there being a mechanical fault with the reverse synchronizer and related assembly in the transmission. That latter possibility being strongest of course if this difficulty in shifting is a "new" issue that you are experiencing. If you need help diagnosing the shifting issue, a certified professional from YourMechanic can come to your car’s location to inspect the vehicle and advise on the repair.

ANSWER : Hi there. We don’t see a lot of Vauxhall Vectra’s here in the United States, so unfortunately, we’re not able to suggest a possible solution or cause of this problem you’re experiencing. You should consult with a professional mechanic in your home town to determine what’s causing the shifting problem you’re experiencing.

ANSWER : If the clutch mechanism is releasing properly, and the shift linkage is not malfunctioning, your transmission will have to be removed from the vehicle and inspected. Once a transmission has been removed from a vehicle, if the problem is a broken or worn part or parts, and the transmission has 100,000 miles or more, the most cost effective approach is to just simply rebuild the whole transmission. There are transmission rebuild kits that are sold just for this purpose. Rebuilding a transmission is no big deal and is indeed easier in many respects than rebuilding an engine. You can rebuild your transmission right in your own garage. You can NOT rebuild an engine in your own garage due to the highly specialized, and extremely costly, machine shop equipment required. Occasionally, mobile mechanics will take on a transmission rebuild job especially as once the mechanic removes the transmission from the vehicle, it is just simply a modular unit that can be easily transported to a mechanic’s shop and rebuilt right there and then returned to your vehicle. If you have further questions or concerns, do not hesitate to re-contact YourMechanic as we are always here to help you.

ANSWER : The shuddering you feel may be a warped or contaminated pressure plate/flywheel. I normally send the flywheel to a machine shop to have it resurfaced when I install a new clutch. This helps prevent the shuddering you described. Contamination from oil or grease can also cause that feeling, but not as severe. You don’t really need to break in a clutch, but sometimes they will grab a bit better after a while.

If you’d like to have this looked at, consider YourMechanic, as a certified technician can diagnose the shuddering you’re experiencing and fix it from there. Best of luck.

ANSWER : The first thing to do is to drain and check the oil to see if it has any broken chunks of metal or a lot of brass metal pieces that indicate the gears and synchronizers for the gears are bad. If no metal is found then replace oil with recommended oils for transmission. If metal is found then an internal transmission repair is needed.

ANSWER : There are a couple of possibilities. The first thing that comes to mind is of course the shifter itself. There is a nylon ball and socket joint at the base of the gearshift lever that sometimes falls apart, making the feel of the shifter very vague. Additionally, there are links to the transmission shift linkage that involve nylon bushings and joints that can fall apart. Both problems are very common on your car. The other less common possibility is that you have a bad motor mount that is allowing the transmission to move around too much when you try to shift gears. either way, it’s not a big deal to fix, and probably won’t require expensive transmission work. If you contact Your Mechanic, they can send a technician to your home or office to check out you shifting issue and let you know what repairs it will take to correct it.

ANSWER : Hello – I believe you have a failure in the reverse input clutch in the transmission. This could be caused by several components in this clutch, all of which will require removal and disassembly of the transmission to repair. To confirm this diagnosis, I recommend a transmission inspection by a mobile, professional mechanic, such as one from YourMechanic, who will come to your location, diagnose this problem, give you an accurate assessment of damage and cost estimate for repairs.

ANSWER : Hi there. Either the clutch has failed causing the transmission not to engage in any gear, or the transmission shifter plastic rings broke and will not engage the shifter. Check the clutch and make sure that it is moving when the pedal is pressed down. If the fork on the bell housing is moving and the wheels can be moved when the clutch pedal is depressed and then the wheels not moving when the pedal is let up, then the clutch should be in an okay shape. Most likely the plastic rings on the shifter housing has broke and making the shifter move around. If you need further assistance with the shifter moving around too much, then seek out a professional, such as one from YourMechanic, to help you.