Suzuki Club UK

I've just spent all day replacing UJs, patching some holes and repairing a cracked exhaust manifold. The jobs went ok.
I did find that i will need to replace the rear prop. There is a big chunk missing from the yoke on the prop (the bearing is a bit loose because of it). I've ordered a second hand one off ebay wich acording to the discription is in good condition.
On the way home, i couldn't for the life of me get the gear stick 'across' to the 5th or reverses positions. It would jam when you try to slide it across between third and fourth.
What could cause this problem?
Also when i try to put it into first gear going more than about 10mph, it crunches, even though the clutch is pressed down. There is no similar problems with any other gears.

I'm going to start calling my car Lernaean Hydra.... fix one problem and another two appear!!

The crunch going into 1st is because your going too fast. 1st gear is for pulling away and very low speeds. The don't like changing down into 1st unless you're almost stationary.

Oh, So it's a usual thing with SJ gearboxes? I thought it was my one getting a bit tired.
Thanks
Huw Jones

My TD Yaris won't let me select first if I'm going above about 15mph either. If I'm slowing to a stop at a junction, and I try to pre-select 1st as I come to a halt, I get resistance (I'm guessing from the synchro's) until I've slowed down enough, and it just slips in (almost by itself) at about 15mph.

My diesel mk2 yaris is geared much higher than my petrol mk1 was, which did the same but at about 10mph.

I thought all manuals were like that.

I've previously had a Toyota Avensis and a Vauxhall Astra van, both manual, and both of which I could pre-select 1st whilst approaching a junction, even if I was doing more than 15 mph.
When I tried to do the same with my SJ it didn't like it.
Curiously, I somehow managed to fix the problem of it not sliding across into the fifth-reverse slot. I took the knob and gaiter off the gear stick, and unbolted a 3 bolt flange on top of the gearbox that held the gearstick in place.
I took the stick to the part washer at work, cleaned up all of the old grease off the stick. Gave it a light covering of new grease and bolted it back together.
When I tried it, it worked! I haven't got a clue what I did!
When driving home, it went into fifth 98% of the time. It did have a moment once but crucially, it went in with a bit of encouragement, not just stop.
Since the gearbox whines in some gears and makes funny noises every now and again, I’m tempted to try and find another, refurbish it and replace it with the current one. The reason I want to get another rather than refurbish the one that in it is that I use it to go to work and back 5 or 6 days a week.
So if anyone has a 5 speed gearbox for a SJ 410 that they are willing to part with, give me a shout.
Thanks
Huw Jones

I tried it today, and the Yaris will select at 15mph - I had to get it up to 21mph before it wouldn't select. But it didn't crunch or whine, it just won't select 1st until you slow down a little bit.

If I try it at *very* high speeds (40mph+), I can hear the whine of the gears as the synchro's spin the input shaft up to very, very high speeds. Similar to the noise a straight-cut gearbox from a rally car makes.

It's cool, but probably not very good for the gearbox.

As for what you did to fix the 5th/reverse thing, I'd venture a guess that you've just put everything back together properly, when before something wasn't quite aligned and was pressing against something.

Just so you know, my 413 (different gearbox) won't let me select some gears, especially reverse, when the engine isn't running. Which gears it won't let me select is a lottery - I guess it depends on how the gears are lined up inside at the time!

Starting the engine and popping the clutch while it's in neutral (spinning the input shaft, basically) solves the problem.

The Yaris's both do the same thing, but generally it's rarer, and only happens with reverse. Pop the clutch, and it selects just fine.