Hi all,

So over the course of this week my gearbox decided to get jammed between gear 4 & 5 when I was 80km's from home. Long story, crap night, but after some setbacks, now, thanks to a very annoyed tow truck driver the car is home.

The problem was that the car would not get out of 5th gear no matter what I tried. I ended up coming to a halt on the side of the road and the car jerked to a stop. Car would not move after that whatsoever. I can move the shifter into position 1,2 & 3 only, but not 4 & 5. The gears inside the box do not seem to change however the external selectors do change. Other symptoms include the car stalling if the clutch is not pushed down, behaving as if it is slipping if I try to launch and absolutely no ability to move the car as front wheels are locked from the driveshafts in the stuck gearbox.

So I've been told that the internal gear selectors are likely stuffed and as a result two gears are jammed. I've got myself a 2nd 3L gearbox to work off. If possible, I'd like to repair my current gearbox, and use the parts from the spare gearbox as my current one, before the problem, was in really good condition (no crunch on cold or crappy syncro's). I'm just hoping none of the internals are damaged.

Therefore my questions are:
- When replacing selectors - does the gearbox needs to be taken apart? Can the selectors break and parts of it damage gears?
- If I need to fully dismantle a gearbox, is there anything I need to explicitly know or just follow the mitsy and the max eller service manual?
- Also - since the gearbox is apart - I was thinking of doing an overhaul or some sort of preventative maintenance - what's involved and how hard is it? Are there any "rebuild" kits around for the manual magna's?

Thanks for all your help! Really do appreciate it :)

Cheers,
MagnaP.I

Until the box is apart no one can answer any questions. In short how much gas in a fart???

Get it apart first

Yep, get it apart first. First though locate the detent plugs on the outside and loosen them, then try the shift action.

Thanks for the replies.

No worries then - I'll take apart the gearbox and see how it looks inside.

Since the box is coming apart - is there any I should look at replacing? I was thinking of replacing the syncro's and the seals. Is there anything like a rebuild kit for the magna gearboxes? I know commonbores/falcons have them for their tremac or t5 gearboxes.

You really need to pull it apart to find out what would require replacement. You will probably want to change all the bearings and seals, or just the worn ones as the price of replacing them all could add up to several hundred dollars. Possibly some synros are worn. You'll need to do a strip down and make a list.

I do a rebuild kit which generally comes with bearings and seals and these retail for $430.00. Not a stocked item, I have to order them in specially and take up to 5 days to arrive.

The syncro's are generally an OEM part only, I am not aware of anyone who maked decent aftermarket ones and to be honest given the issues you have to go to in order to access them I personally would not chance it.