Notchy/stiff 2nd gear when warm

[ValiantSaint]

Hi everyone, my mum has just brought a 1998 Micra 1.3 GX. The car's in very good nick for it's age, and has a full service history. Sadly, when the car's warm, 2nd gear is quite hard to engage. This seems quite odd, as the car has only done 75,000 miles, and the rest of the gearbox is fine.

Is there anything that could be done about it? Is there a "quickshift" kit for this car? would that help?

I thought I better come to the "experts" first

 

[ollie240585]

Hmm mines the opposite, my second gear is horrible to get into when cold. lol

Maybe doing an oil change on the gearbox might help? The oil might be going all horrible when it's getting hot?

I dunno about gearboxs really!

 

[butta]

my 1998 1300 si has a bad 1st to second shift if you try to rush it or dont match the revs for the next gear properly

 

[Craig]

Mine was a bit fiddly when cold, but that box had taken a bit of abuse, your best bet is to get the gbox oil changed and see if it persists, are all the other gears fine then?

 

[JayY]

Try the gearbox box oil mate, my car did this when i first got it and I changed the oil and it seemed to go away

 

[ValiantSaint]

Try the gearbox box oil mate, my car did this when i first got it and I changed the oil and it seemed to go away

I'll try to change the oil then and see if that works. Thanks for all your help.

Er, one other thing, how do you change the oil? And what oil should I use?

Is it hard to do? If it is, are there any places that could do it for me cheap?

Thanks again.

 

[ollie240585]

easy job to do, remove the plug from the bottom of the gearbox, it should have a square cut out for a socket wrench. drain it out into a suitable container think there's about 3l in there. dispose of properly. put the plug back in, fill the gearbox back up by using the speedo cable hole at the back of the gearbox. i used some kinda gearbox oil, no idea what make etc. i do remember using the 1 litre bottles as they were easy 2 get in there. on re-filling i can guarantee u'll spill some, lol.

 

[Soixantaine]

I had a part synthetic trans oil in my wife's Micra. When the clutch was changed I'm sure the garage refilled the trans with regular (generic) oil. Shifts are more difficult now, especially when cold, and second gear is the worst. Synthetic, or part synthetic trans oils in bulk are hard to find. As soon as I can get some I'm changing the oil again.

After removing the plug and draining the oil out, I used a funnel and a length of plastic hose with a metal angle fitting to refill.

S

 

[Soixantaine]

Sorry, should have added that to do this job you'll need, besides the tool to remove the plug, a floor jack, and jack stands - don't get under your car without them.

If you haven't got the tools, find a good garage - ask around! Insist on good quality oil and if you can't get synthetic or part synthetic you might try adding one of those synthetic additives. They seem to ease the shifting a bit.

S