Rover Sports Register Forum

Hi,All.Ihave a 1947 Rover Fourteen and have a problem with engaging gears when the gearbox has warmed up.When cold I have no problem engaging any gears,but after about 20 minutes driving when I stop at a junction and try to engage first gear it crunches as if the clutch is not depressed.If I select third gear and then first it is fine,but even when I try to engage reverse I have to switch off the engine,select reverse and then re start the engine.I have replaced the oil in the gearbox but the problem persists,so any helpful suggestions will be very much appreciated,thanks .Peter.

Peter,

Sounds like either the clutch isn’t fully disengaging with the pedal pressed or, more likely, the spigot shaft seizing in the bearing in the centre of the flywheel. This may explain why the problem occurs once the engine (and everything else) has hotted up.

I’ve not looked in the manual, but I have a feeling that the spigot bearing is lubricated via an oil feed hole in the shaft which supplies oil from the gearbox. Similarly, oil is delivered to the clutch release bearing. I think there was a modification to reduce the oil flow.

It’s been a number of years since I looked at either of mine and they are both preWar models so could be different. However, I reckon you may be looking at taking the box out to identify the issue. At least you can do it from inside the car but the seats, tunnel cover and carpets all need removing first.

Tony.

Hi Tony,I suspected the spigot bearing as sometimes when in neutral there is a noise coming from the transmission which I didn’t think was release bearing related.I will need to remove the gearbox and see what is happening with the spigot bearing ,and hopefully be able to resolve the problem.I was not aware of the oil feed system from crankshaft to spigot bearing,but it would certainly be a good idea.Thanks for your help,Tony.much appreciated.

I doubt if it has anything to do with oiling or spigot bearing. Most probably it is clutch drag because of insufficient clutch cable travel. Read more here:
http://www.rover-forum.thersr.co.uk/vie ... utch#p8835

Hi Luli,I have already tried adjusting the clutch cable and it made no difference whatsoever in fact I referred to your post on clutch adjustment before I altered the cable/mechanism .I will inspect the spigot bearing and proceed from there.Thanks very much for your reply,all input is most welcome! Peter.

Peter,

The reason I thought of this is that I had the same problem with a Ford Escort about 40 years ago. That had a roller bearing for the spigot shaft in the flywheel centre and changing it involved cutting with a tiny cold chisel as the whole thing was melted through overheating. I was told then that normally the bearing could be removed by filling the bearing with oil then inserting an old spigot shaft and hitting with a hammer so the hydraulic effect pushed the bearing out. The Rover bearing will be a bronze bush I expect but this method may work.

The clutch plate could be dragging if there is oil on it. The mod to reduce oil through the spigot shaft used a piece of welding rod I believe. The problem being that too much oil going through may get on the clutch plate. Either way the box needs to come out if you have exhausted other avenues of adjustment etc. It will be interesting to learn what the cause is. Keep us informed.

Tony

I encountered the situation of smooth engaging when cold and difficult engaging when hot many times. The spigot bearing was never the reason, nor oil on the clutch plate. It was always to do with in sufficient withdrawal of the clutch plate backwards, mainly because of incorrect clutch adjustment. Or essential components outside their tolerance. See more here:
https://lulis.org/2014/04/16/%d7%a8%d7% ... -%d7%99-2/

https://lulis.org/2017/08/26/%d7%99%d7% ... 90-%d7%98/