Stuck in gear

[austingipsy]

Just been out to fire up amazon number 2 today, which would be the neglected one. Fired up grand first turn which I was impressed by as it's been sat the last two months doing nowt.
Went to engage reverse gear but an almighty crunching of gears stopped me in my tracks. It's a cable operated clutch so I figured maybe that had snapped but no, all seemed well.
Clutch plate seized to fly wheel maybe? I turned off engine and got into reverse ok, my thinking was start in reverse and jolt it lose. Fired her up, a little lurch backwards but then she just bogged down in gravel....bugger.
So without a hard surface for the tires to grip I think the sudden jolt technique is not going to do the trick.

Any ideas what might? Oh it's stuck in reverse now as well, won't go back into neutral with the engine on or off.

[JIM C]

It does sound as if the clutch is stuck. You could always jack the car up to take it out of reverse gear. I remember having this problem and freed the clutch by towing the car in third gear and switching the engine on and off to free the clutch.
Jim

[Derek UK]

Just leave it ticking over, turn the screws in a bit after the choke comes off to keep the revs up a bit. Go off and do something else or clean the car. After about 15 minutes have another try to get it in gear. If no joy try again in 5 minutes and so on. As the flywheel clutch plate warms up, it usually releases due to differential expansion. A soft option but it works for me. Doesn't take long and it tops up the battery too.

[austingipsy]

I can't let it warm up now sadly because it's stuck in gear . I do like the sound of that technique though. The jacking up scares me a little as i fear it might be lethal if I'm stuck in reverse .The gravel also means it's like being parked on ball bearings. Not a smart place to leave the car unfortunately, but all I've got. Fine in the summer but frosts and thawing have left a mushy layer that the gravel is floating on.

[agent_strangelove]

One time I managed to break a dog (locating key in the Volvo parts manual) in the gear box that didn't allow me to shift my transmission out of 4th gear. It happened while driving so I had to use the clutch and roll through a lot of stops signs to get home with out killing the car...

But if the car is stuck in gear, have some one try to rock the car (forward and back) while you are depressing the clutch pedal and trying to move the shifter out of reverse. If it's simply stuck in reverse due to force being transmitted (from the clutch back into the gearbox) then the rocking will take the force off things and it will pop back into neutral. You can also work the engine back and forth slightly to take the force off the reverse gear by the large bolt head on the front of the crank with a large wrench. BUT I wouldn't do that if you can rock the car since you run the risk of breaking off the bolt head in the end of the crank if you get carried away.

You will then have a much easier time to get the clutch to break loose.

Let us know how you fair...

Chris

[austingipsy]

Well managed to get it out of reverse, the rocking back and forward was out as it's in a hollow and slightly uphill in any direction. A big spanner on the fan pulley did the job though. I only had a short time to play before work so I didn't manage to get it up to temperature so the clutch is still seized. I'll have another crack at it tonight. I did notice the water pump is leaking though so there's another job for the list.
cheers guys, I'll keep you posted.

[Moosejaw]

My clutch was stuck after a couple of months inactivity and I got it unstuck by turning the starter on the key a few times in 4th gear after I'd let it warm up for 10 minutes. After about the 6th attempt, there was a 'clunk' and I was back in business!

[austingipsy]

Thank you kindly gentlemen,
clutch plate free after a 15min warm up, switched off engine put into third, restarted, a wee jump a clunk and success .
So I just need to fix that weeping water pump, extract the car from the quicksand like gravel and go visit a nice sympathetic MOT tester, now that bit could be a challenge.

cheers all, invaluable assistance as ever. :)