Not falling into gears

Hi!

Did a small trip of 500km and came back with no issues whatsoever in the 110.
Next morning wanted to take the Landy for a wash and noticed that the Clutch was acting in the last 25% of its travel and not fully. Its got a Redbooster Servo. Somehow managed to drive back even though it was a little difficult to change gears.

First bled the system to check no air which was not there. Still the clutch was the same. Then removed the slave cylinder to find it rusted and the piston movement was not smooth. Replaced it with the 1st new slave cylinder, beld it and topped it with clutch fluid and this time the clutch pedal was much better but now she wont shift into any gear at all when the engine is ON. Also checked the master cylinder and its OK. Tried two more slave cylinders and same problem.

If I switch off the engine then the gears fall into place. Not sure what is happened. Is the clutch not getting activated through the slave cylinder or the release bearing has collapsed? THis happened all out of the sudden. The release fork is a heavy duty one with a small metal piece welded too.

The gearbox seems ok as when the engine is off it falls into any gear but not when the engine is on. She will not at all.



Any inputs are welcome.

whats the condition of the clutch ?

Not sure as I had changed in about 4 to 5 years back. Not done over 6000 km too in that timespan

Strange one. You might prove the operation of the hydraulic system by connecting the slave cylinder, but leaving it out of the bell housing. Then get someone to press the pedal while you try to stop the piston coming out. If you can't stop the force of the pedal action, then it's likely time to pull the gearbox and see what has happened - could be the release bearing has seized.

Those R380 gearboxes (if that's what you've got) are very reluctant to let you change gear if there's any drive creeping through from the engine. That's probably why it will go into gear with the engine off but not with the engine running. Quite a nice feature as it stops you grinding the gears too much. So I'd be looking at the condition of the hydraulic system. Less easy to see, but a source of this kind of fault is the condition of the seals in the master cylinder. Yes, it might look OK but under pressure it might be allowing leakage and not letting the clutch disengaging fully. If you have a pressure bleeder to hand, pressurise the master cylinder. If you give it about 15-20 psi and that enables it to change gear, then it's a hydraulic problem.

Year of the car might be useful, but all of the above is right, check the hydraulic's