Should have taken her out more …….. (1 Viewer)

[Rob and Val]

Nice bright day today – for a change - and, as our motorhome has been sitting on the drive since before Christmas, it was well overdue for a run.

We have a trickle charger to keep the van battery topped up so she fired up first time. Went to put gearstick into 1st gear ……. wouldn’t go. Tried all the other forward gears …… nothing. Tried reverse …….. grating noise but wouldn’t go into reverse.

Luckily we have a motor mechanic whose business premises are five minutes away. Went to speak to him. He asked if I had tried the gears with the engine on or off. I said only tried with engine on. He said try it with the engine off. If it goes into gear then, that eliminates a problem with the linkage and it’s probably the clutch plate sticking. If that’s the case, he said, then leave the engine running in neutral for at least half an hour to get it really warm and then try to find the gears.

What great advice. It worked! Thought I’d let others know in case they have a similar problem.

 

[TheBig1]

frozen clutch is much the same as brakes locked on because you leave the handbrake on for months
with brakes, rocking the van back and frth gently with the clutch often frees them, but a stuck clutch needs either the gentle touch by leaving it running to warm and expand or failing that brute force by a mechanic. fortunately the gentle approach often works as the heat expands the metal t release. dont be surprised if the clutch squeals a bit on the first drive for months