Not going into gear

I posted last month that it was heavy and a bit crunchy and flagged it up with the specialists who agreed but it was working okish. Been out earlier today and thought it was feeling better than it had been however this afternoon was a nightmare. Needed two hands to push it into 1st and I'm getting worried of causing damage. So what's the likely culprit slave or master cylinder? The clutch itself feels fine with no slippage etc. I'm sure I had this before on the 20vt that turned out to be the slave and a quick job at that ..

Do the gears crunch, indicating a clutch problem (ie: does it feel as if the clutch is not engaging at all?), or are the gears hard to "find" as if the lever/cables/linkage are not lining up properly? If the latter, it could be the nylon "bush" housing at the bottom of the gear lever, they can crack (but can be replaced), or the nuts/bolts can be loose, leading to a very vague gear change and difficulty selecting gears. Also the rubber bushes at the gearbox end of the cables can wear out leading to similar gear selection problems, these can be replaced.

They do crunch occasionally particularly in reverse. But at the moment it's like jammed in neutral and it's really tough / virtually impossible to get into gear. I am aware of the nylon plate and mentioned it to the specialist but seemed ok. The car's been hardly used and is now becoming a daily driver so I'm wondering if something has started to fail as a result. Probably need to nurse it to a reliable local garage for them to work through these possibilities before new clutch time ..

I echo what Dave says, if you take the gear stick gaiter off, you should be able to see if the white nylon housing is damaged.
Failing that the rubber bushes above the gearbox may have worn, you might be able to lubricate them as a temporary fix, but that solution didnt last long with mine.

Just wondering if it may be the linkage cable....

It has a bush at one end which can become worn making 1st gear in particular hard to engage.

I think Joe CC has produced some good replacement bushes (?brass?) which have been used in several coops, mine included

Gman, i’ve had similar problems but only when it’s freezing!! Had to use 2 hands to get it into first. Now warm seems to be ok.
Joe at fcss replaced my plastic lower gear housing (as it was broken) but still can be tricky to get into first gear when engine is cold.
I think it must be the bushing or cables at the gearbox end. I’ll get them looked at when next with Joe. Not sure if these can be luricated or even where they are?
Anyone got any ideas as where to apply lubrication?

It’s one of three things, the nylon ball assembly under the gear stick, the cables are bone dry, rusty, generally shagged or the nylon connectors onto the gear box, early cars, your profile suggests yours is an early car have problems with the connectors onto the gearbox, these decay and make engaging gear and moving across the gate very tough.

My 1997 20VT has this issue and Joe replaced the original nylon units with his brass inserts (he’ll be doing hip replacements next!!!), jump on to the FCSS site and search for Erol and you’ll see the comments and pictures

This sorted my stiff gearstick it’s now slick as ever. Joe reckons cars that are not used much are more susceptible to this than ones used regularly

HTH

Cheers gents for your responses. I was able to nurse it to a local garage near Northwich today in 3rd and he's an ex fiat coupe owner so hopefully he'll be able to sort without too much hassle. Injector light came on as well for the first time as well - grrreat .. Just noticed it's my 666 post as well

Well the garage has traced it to the master cylinder and I suppose the signs were there; low peddle that was getting lower plus I noticed there was dampness in the drivers foot well probably from the leaking hydraulics. Anyway part ordered and hopefully soon back on the road ..

G-man, glad you got it sorted. Think i’ll have to check my master cylinder for a leak as did also have a wet footwell the other day but assumed it was the matrix which was now replaced. Mine just plays up when it’s freezing weather!!