Millhaus

I just unwrapped my car from the winter for a little drive and found that I could not get the car to go into reverse.

I have a stock 1980 930 and this has never happened before.

I tried moving the car forward a bit and even pushed it out of the driveway for a test drive hoping the syncro was just mis-alined. Nothing worked.

I noticed some trans fluid leaking from the seal where the shifter shaft goes into the trans. Could enough fluid leaked out that now it won't go into gear?

I tore apart the console and looked at the shifter linkage. It looked like the linkage was moving its full travel, I just can't slide the shifter rod into gear.

Any thoughts on what I should check would be helpful.

Thanks

911rudy

I had a similar problem after a storage period and it turned out to be the clutch plate stuck to the flywheel. I put it into third and gave it a push and it broke loose. If it is in neutral now you will have to find a gear that it will go into without a lot of stress on the syncros and dog teeth.

Millhaus

Thanks but I just remembered that there is the shifter coupling behind the front seats.

I adjusted that and it is fine. Must have gotten loose somehow.

Mark Houghton

Same thing happened to me once, and I was parked nose-down against a concrete barrier...so going forward was not an option. Embarassing to say the least.
Anyway, in my case it was the linkage allen head screw that screws down into a detent in the shifting shaft. Loose and creating too much slop. Pretty common but mystifying until you've gone through it once.

Mark Houghton

Another one of my been-there stories: One of my old MG's had the same stuck-clutch issue. Rocking it back and forth while in gear didn't work, but starting it up in gear with the clutch pushed in broke it free. The lesson: Start your car up every now and then while in storage, preferably followed by a short drive. Helps to keep the seals lubed as well.