grinding into reverse

[doradox]

Most all manuals do not have a reverse synchro. Therefore you should shift the lever into first before engaging reverse. This matches the speed of the transmission to the speed the engine is spinning.

Not even close. In gear, at a standstill, the transmission isn't moving at all. Nothing is turning. The engine is turning but the input shaft is not. That's why the clutch must be pushed in in order to idle at a stop. At a standstill shifting into any gear stops all movement in the transmission.

You should really throw it into first and not "any forward gear" though because reverse and first are the most closely matched ratios. You don't have to move the car forward in gear, but you can. Just going through the motion will shift the fork and allow the first gear synchro to do it's job. You shouldn't need to 'quickly' shift into reverse either. Normal speed will do.

Any gear is fine. It just has to stop the gears from turning. There's no reason first is "better" than any other. They all stop the gears from turning so there's no "matching" going on.

If the clutch is dragging and you slowly shift from a forward gear to reverse the input shaft may begin to spin again and grinding will result. If the clutch isn't dragging then feel free to take your time.

Steve

[jorde]

i wasnt taking credit for it, , just suggesting it to samzhot240 since no one had. I'm new to z's and not a mechanic by any means so I figured I would throw in my two cents to see if i could help him out.

[doradox]

i wasnt taking credit for it, , just suggesting it to samzhot240 since no one had. I'm new to z's and not a mechanic by any means so I figured I would throw in my two cents to see if i could help him out.

It's good, your description was more complete and spot on.

Steve

[samzhot240]

wow thanks for all the tips this should keep me busy for awhile in a good way. the car has always done it ever since i bought it and i can't say for sure how many miles except that i assume it is 180,000 and hopefully not 280,000. i have gotten it in reverse using the first to reverse method i just honestly didn't know if it could be bad for anything so i tried to limit it. I am pretty new at this stuff as well so all the advice is very welcome also if anyone out there knows of anyone that sort of specializes in Z's in like the Central NY area please leave me a note, i don't really trust taking it to the locals.

Samantha

[Pop's Z]

Hi Samantha, FWIW, when I first got my '73 it, too, ground going into reverse. The original owner said he couldn't figure it out. What I did was to make sure the clutch pedal distance from the floor was up to spec (there is no adjustment on the slave cylinder on later models). It was not and after I adjusted it to spec (in the service manual) using the adjuster that attaches to the pedal up by the firewall the problem went away never to return. Good luck, it requires some serious contortion of the body to do.

Cheers, Mike

[samzhot240]

Ok so there is adjustment on the pedal itself? because neither my father or i could find any kind any we actually tried changing the hole that the master cylinder piston attaches to but it didn't help at all. My dad really felt being able to adjust the throw on the pedal would make a difference but we couldn't figure out how.

[sblake01]

This is the procedure for a 280, I'm sure the 240 is similar:

http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showpost.php?p=287462&postcount=7

[samzhot240]

It's fixed finally! With a little custom work on my dad's part we made a small extension for the rod to where it connects to the pedal in order to give the piston on the slave cylinder more throw and finally got dome results.

[doradox]

It's fixed finally! With a little custom work on my dad's part we made a small extension for the rod to where it connects to the pedal in order to give the piston on the slave cylinder more throw and finally got dome results.

Sounds good. Just make sure you still have some pedal free play. If the throwout bearing is in constant contact with the pressure plate it will prematurely wear the bearing out.

Steve