Gear Selection Problems (when cold)

[dave_6]

Hi,
Picked up my 2001 Flash Red ibiza cupra on saturday last week

Experiencing problems when its cold though

I start it up and wait till the idle settles

but it wont go into any gears at all, not until it warms up a fair bit more

It will at a push but its really not easy, clutch doesnt slip and it seems fine once fully up to temperature


but it just wont go into any gears from cold

also noticed when changing gears i have to really push the clutch right right to the floor to really change gear

like the clutch cable needs adjustment maybe

currently doing searches for things, guessing might need a trip to a small garage for a look


some work thats been done:
Engine Work:

Cambelt replaced and Metal Water Pump @ 50,000 miles.
Custom Jabbasport remap producing 250bhp / 285 lb.ft
K03s Sport Turbo (k03-058 unsilenced)
Custom FMIC
Red Forge Turbo Intake Pipe
All vaccum hoses replaced with red silicon
3" Blueflame 100cell race cat Downpipe leading to 2.75" Catback Scorpion, heatwrapped.
Silicon Hoses
Green Panel Filter in smoothed airbox
Heatwrapped Charge Pipe
Aquamist set at 12psi.
4 recent coils and brand new spark plugs
Forge 007p DV
4 Bar FPR

Interior:
Nomad Dual Pillar Gauge Pod with Autometer boost and oil temperature gauges. Gauges dim with internal dimming switch and light up with dash.

Exterior:

Scorpion 2.75" Cat Back Exhaust system.
16" Seat Sport OZ Alloy Wheels with recent new Dunlop SP9000 rubber

 

[pj1985]

Dont have a clutch cable if I remember rightly as its hydrolic.

Have any aditives been put in the gearbox oil? Was it noisy or clipping in some gears and something added to help it. I put some tru blu in my mk2 golf gearbox because of this and it made it v.v.hard to change gears when cold although it did get alot better, like it wasnt there after a while.

 

[pdcupra]

could be the syncro's but not sure why it would be worse when cold. thats flash's old car you got.

 

[dave_6]

only had the car a week, the gearbox is quiet, no clunks or grinding

it just wont go into any gears at all when cold, just wont let me move the gearstick into any gears, only left and right

wouldn't have thought even old gearbox oil would cause it to be that bad

its like it's not adjusted correctly

 

[__B3NNY__]

Its a hydraulic clutch mate so it wont be the cable, Could need bleeding up though?

Sounds like you have a decent car there pretty much how mine is going to end up! Not quite there yet though

David.

 

[dave_6]

it's definately just when its cold

it's impossible to get it in gear for a while, but even when warm you do have to plant your foot right to the floor hard to change gear properly, no play there

been taking it easy since i got it, getting used to the power after a 306 gti6, and not using too much methanol as I needed to find a local supplier


but it's an anoying problem

 

[pj1985]

Could be pedal box gone as I had to put my clutch almost through the floor to get it into gear when mine went but I didnt have any of the other problems.

Ask previous owner if it had any aditives put into the gearbox oil. It may well have bee noisy but the aditive has stopped that.

 

[dave_6]

searched for the pedal box, and it doesnt seem to sound that familiar with that either but could be

going to be a garage job by the sounds of it, will try the previous owner to see what he thought it was

 

[Ninja]

Let me know what you find out on this please.

I had my pedal off and welded up when it snapped on mine and now mine does EXACTLY the same thing when its cold.

Has been ok for a couple of weeks in the sun though but still hard to get it into gear at first

 

[AaronGS]

Like Ninja, mine has done similar since I had it re-welded, only got mine done before it broke. Mine continues to do it on qiuck changes whilst warm tho. Really annoying when joining a motorway and cant get into 5th or back into 4th as pedal is stuck to the floor. Let me know what you find.
Starting to think mine may be master cylinder..

 

[dave_6]

OK, history says pedal box needed doing back in 2005, text last owner , username was flash on here

he said it was changed, cant find the receipt for it at the moment

anyway

what i've found is

when cold
with engine off and clutch in, car will go into all gears fine

with engine on, wont go into any gears when cold, takes 7-10 minutes to really be able to get in gear (doesnt grind, just simply wont go into gears)

when first driving in 1st, can be in first going doing a hill, put clutch all the way in while still in first, and car wont freely roll, feels held back like clutch hasn't fully released

car goes into all gears fine once fully warmed up and gear changes are pretty much fine



from searching around the forum i found this:
you probably need a new clutch slave cylinder and also change the gearbox oil this should make it smoother did the trick on mine

34+vat from seat.....check the condition of your pedal assembly mine did this before the thing collapsed in the middle of town

 

[dave_6]

clutch pedal was sitting lower than the rest

i've lifted it up so its level, biting point is alot higher, now at middle of travel, gear changes seem easier at higher speeds

will see how it is in the morning

 

[dave_6]

see here:

http://www.seatcupra.net/forums/showthread.php?t=94593&highlight=low+clutch+pedal


looks like it might just be a simple spring

 

[dave_6]

all seems fine at the moment

pedal hasnt dropped again and the gearbox is as smooth as a babys bum in the mornings

at some point will get down and have a good look and see about replacing the spring or seeing whats wrong but for now its ok and sounds like its been doing it for a very long time anyway

is a very quick car, rolling side by side in 4th with a mates golf R32, both planted the go pedal and I went passed him


plans

probably fit the 35mm lowering shocks and springs I got with the car when I bought it

 

[Ninja]

wicked im pleased to hear this.. Sorry if im being stupid but how did you move the pedal up ?

 

[dave_6]

I had a fiddle around the peddle area first by hand, seeing what i could feel and see

then just simply pulled it up with my hand, it pulled up without a problem and now sits level with the other pedals

from my searches on here it sounds very common

go to the link in the posts above and alot of people were saying they had to do it, some every couple of days

spoke to the last owner of the car "flashbsd" and he said its a common thing on the hydraulic clutches, alot of people either pull up by hand or just hook their foot underneath and tug it up gently

works for me anyway, hasn't sunk back down yet and the biting point is now perfectly in the middle of the clutch travel

gear change at any speed or revs is now fine and most importantly, i can drive it in the mornings without waiting for ages for it to warm up

sounds like someone has the same as me, the pedal came up a bit once car was warm, hence then being able to change gears