no drive in any gear

[Mark Morgan]

Hi All, I have no drive in any gear, I have adjusted the gear selector linkage and bled the clutch. The clutch pedal feels light but not too soft. There is a small rattle sound coming from the transmission when in gear but I can't tell if its coming from the clutch or gears. it goes away when the clutch is depressed. I can also select any gear without depressing the clutch when the engine is running with no grinding. I can spin both driven wheels freely when in gear with no noticeable resistance. The gearbox is original to the car but the engine was swapped and installed this week. its a 2011 2.0l cdti and its driving me crazy

[lizzard-t]

So when you swapped the engine did you inspect the clutch and flywheel ?
Cos to me it sounds like the clutch is at fault.
check your driveshafts as well to make sure they are inserted into the output shafts

[Mark Morgan]

Hi lizzare-t, The clutch and flywheel both looked ok however I did have an issue with them fouling on the bell housing when first installed. This was resolved with a set of genuine vauxhall clutch retaining bolts. With the engine and gearbox out of the car I could hand crank the engine and could see both drive shafts turn, but that was all I could do because I had no way to actuate the clutch. Do you think the clutch is stuck in the disengaged position? How can I check?. is it easier to drop the gearbox out the bottom or pull the engine and gearbox out again.

[lizzard-t]

OK so the way you are explaining it to me is ...........
1) you can select gears with the engine running and makes no difference.
2) when Clutch pressed down you can hear a rattle
3) you can turn the wheels freely when in gear
sounds like the clutch is permanently engaged.
What engine was in there ( ie was it a 140 or 160 bhp ?
What engine replaced it ?( ie 140 or a 160 bhp ?
Was the CSC Blead before putting gearbox back on?
if the driveshafts are fully in and the snap rings are in place then its clutch.
You will have to remove gearbox to ascertain the problem. Rather than complete engine removal

[Mark Morgan]

Thanks lizzard-t
1) you can select gears with the engine running and makes no difference.
Correct
2) when Clutch pressed down you can hear a rattle
No, I can hear a rattle when in any gear with the clutch pedal up.
3) you can turn the wheels freely when in gear
Yes, with the car raised I can turn the wheels by hand in any gear with the engine running.
sounds like the clutch is permanently engaged.
Yes, no physical connection between flywheel and Transmission. As if the clutch pedal was permanently pressed down.
What engine was in there ( ie was it a 140 or 160 bhp ?
Don't know
What engine replaced it ?( ie 140 or a 160 bhp ?
Don't know
Was the CSC Blead before putting gearbox back on?
NO
if the driveshafts are fully in and the snap rings are in place then its clutch.
You will have to remove gearbox to ascertain the problem. Rather than complete engine removal.
is it easier to drop the box out from the bottom.

[Mark Morgan]

quick update, I have readjusted the gearstick linkage. No I get a lot of rumble when in gear with clutch pedal out, it goes away when clutch is depressed. The noise starts at the expected biting point on the clutch and gets faster and louder the lower the gear selected. Also now more difficult to put into gear unless clutch is depressed. I'm leaning towards drive shafts or broken transmission selector gears. how can I test.

[Mark Morgan]

I've looked under the car and can see that the short drive shaft on the passenger side has a leak at the diff and I can see approx 10mm to 15mm of the splined shaft that I presume should be fully inside the diff and should not be visible.. would this cause my symptoms.

[lizzard-t]

Take the driveshaft out see if the snap ring is there if not then you have to find it or order .
then fill up with gearbox oil.
And test .
Also the mor worrying thing is that you don't know what power engine came out and what power engine you put in
See the 140 and 160 have different gearboxes
The 140 has m32
The 160 Has f40 gearbox , different flywheels different clutch kits.
have you got the registration documents for the car ?

[Mark Morgan]

I still have both engines, can I find out from the engine numbers. as far as I can tell everything is visually identical on both. The gearbox is an M32 and was original to the car.
I will pull the drive shaft out as soon as I get home.

[Mark Morgan]

Is the primary output shaft the same on the 140 v 160 hp engine. (same amount of splines etc)

[lizzard-t]

So the original is a 140
the maps are different so as long as you have kept the original ECU and other modules then all should be OK.

[Mark Morgan]

lizzard-t Unfortunately it's raining over here and I'm working on my driveway so can't remove the driveshaft yet. However,I think I might have found the issue. Is the plastic spacer supposed to go on the wheel end of the short drive shaft because I was confused and put it on the transmission end of the intermediate shaft. My guess is that this would cause both shafts not to locate correctly. what do you think.

[lizzard-t]

To be honest I'm not that ofay with the insignia drive shaft .
But there should be a snap ring on the spline end at the gearbox and as it suggests it snaps in keeping the shaft in the gearbox.
If you can just pull the shaft out then that's the problem .

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