My 2002 Voyager sometimes feels impossible to get in to first gear and can be difficult in second also.

Clutch was changed approx 20k ago - would a change of box fluid help or are the boxes just like this?

 

Gearboxes are bad for this, the change gets a bit better once it's warmed up. There was a discussion a long while back about the correct oil for the gearbox (and changing it anyway), so it's worth looking this up and making sure you have the correct oil as the latest spec oils destroy the phosphor bronze bushes as I understand it.

If you have a problem engaging first, try coming off the clutch and then back on and try again - something I've found is helpful on a lot of cars, not just the voyager. Also, between the gears, when changing up, pause for half a second in neutral before moving it into gear - this pause allows the input to the gearbox to slow down, and means that the synchromesh is doing less work to match the engine and gearbox speeds.

 

I had this problem with my 2001 2.5CRD, and over a period of six months or so got progressively worse. A faulty slave cylinder was diagnosed and now it has been replaced the gear change is as smooth as silk.
HTH

Regards
Keith

 

Thanks for the reply Keith, what the cost of replacing this - the way the car is going it feels like I'm going to have to replace everything!

 

I'm told that it is recommended that you replace the master cylinder as well when you replace the slave cylinder so I did this. I am not sure if this is necessary, maybe someone else can advise.
However, the costs...

Slave cylinder, £73.46
Master cylinder, £150.60
Labour, 1.5 hours (£66.00 in my case)
All subject to VAT of course, giving a total of £340.00

Hope that helps
Keith

 

If the clutch is taking very close to the floor then it can be either slave/master as already stated or the clutch fork is worn. If however it takes at around midpoint then you have a knackered gearbox. If the latter is true then an immediate oil recharge with the CORRECT oil may be worth a shot. Also there was a recall on some of the earlier CRD's because of a gearbox issue. Check whether or not yours was affected and if so check that the job was done.

Also when they changed the clutch what oil did they put back in the box. If you took it to an independant chances are they may have put in gearbox oil. You can tell because it will have a heavy sulphur smell. If so go and ask them to buy you a new gearbox as this will almost certainly have screwed up the synchro hubs,

 

Just as an extra to glowplugs post, I mostly use a local small garage to do my servicing, but I always supply the oil, filters etc - that way I know that what is going into my car is what I want, and not what they think is best.

 

Just one last thing. Worn engine mounts have a very detrimental effect on gear changes. I have recently bought my second Voyager. My first was a short wheel base 2000 model and the new one is also a 2000 model but a Grand. On both the mid section mounts were shot i.e. the rear and front ones. Changing these alone made a huge difference. Now although mine uses the older non-CD engine both engine blocks are essentially the same as mine was the template upon which yours was built. As such I would surmise that mounts would be as much an issue on the newer cars as with the old.

Best of luck and please let us know the final resolution as this will help others.

 

Happy days! Bought 5 litres of Mopar ATF 4+ from the dealer (£45 ) and after about 200 odd miles of driving it really does feel like new - no sticking in any gear and very smooth changes - remember before I had to force it down in to first so has made a huge difference.

After getting all the small issues sorted out I'm really enjoying the Voyager now - only regret was not buying a black grand voyager and ending up with a silver voyager instead!

 

Sounds like the guys who did the clutch put the wrong oil in. Well done and remember change the gearbox oil every 18K miles.