vauxhall corsa 1.4 gear problem

[discobobby]

Can anyone help, my corsa has a problem getting into gear,especially 1st gear, i have had the cable changed which has made a slight difference but somebody told me that it is more than likely the gear selector ball.Can anyone shed any light on this and is this a garage job or is it something i could do myself.

Thanks
Bob

[Andyvon]

That's the ball at the bottom of the gear stick Bob. It allows the stick to move through the different positions when you change gear. The ball is usually greased and has a strong spring if you have to push down or lift the stick up to change into reverse. You could check if the ball is greased and moving freely by removing the surrounding gaiter or the console depending on the car. It's not usual for that to cause problems though and it probably won't be anything to do with the gearbox itself.

Is the gearstick hard to move? Depending on the car it sounds more like the selector levers could be getting sticky. They are rods connecting the bottom of the gear stick to the gear selectors on the gear box. They can become dirty, bent or rusty - whatever. If you feel confident, remove the rubber/cloth gaiter surrounding the gearstick then check the selector mechanism for free play and make sure everything is well greased. Otherwise ask a garage to have a look for you.

Good luck.

[david21]

Bob,This is an well known problem with coras and merivas,check out vauxhall owners network.co.uk it has lots of info on this problem,i have a (04)meriva and had this prob about a year ago,it's something to do with the gear linkage that was made of plastic(a design fault)and can be replaced with a metal part that vauxhall now supply(for a fee ofcourse) ,a local garage done it for me(the mechanic was familiar about the problem) i was charged £110 supplyed and fitted,i'm told it's a bloody pain to do as it's very hard to get to...hope this helps a bit.

[AlBags]

Yep ..
Check condition of gear linkage input at the transmission.
Renew bushes or assy. if necessary.