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In the last couple of months my gearbox has been acting up.

Sometimes first and second are really hard to push into, and trying reverse often results in the classic grinding of gears.

Bizarrely, it's almost completely random. I can easily pop it into first to go off, drive a few miles, up and down 3rd to 5th without problems, then try to drop to 2nd to enter a road and suddenly it's a real effort. Then I have to quickly engage reverse as fast and hard as possible to park.
The opposite is true as well; It will suddenly start really stiff, even if fine one the last drive, and gradually loosen up with no complaint from reverse when I come to park.

Or any combination of the above.

Today I went to Tescos after work and when I pulled up to back into the space, it simply refused to engage reverse. After spending 30 seconds with some guy watching me shave bits of my gears off in short bursts, I stopped the engine and slotted it in (which was perfectly smooth...) and started in-gear.

When I got home, the same happened (or at least I tried once) so I double declutched. A small amount of grinding, but it popped in.

Any ideas?

This is a 1997 2-0 petrol? I think that'll be a cable clutch (correct me if I'm wrong) so no hydraulic issues.

It sounds rather like the clutch isn't disengaging, erm, sometimes

If it goes into gear easily with the engine switched off then it is definitely a clutch fault...most likely the pressure plate is damaged or a spring on the spinner plate has broken.

steve_earwig wrote:This is a 1997 2-0 petrol? I think that'll be a cable clutch (correct me if I'm wrong) so no hydraulic issues.

It sounds rather like the clutch isn't disengaging, erm, sometimes

Yup, R-reg. Clutch has always been heavy and/or the pedal heavy/creaky.

The floor mat would often slide forward, and ended up curled back on itself, which when it was forward impeded the pedal.
However I still think there is a cable or clutch issue as I'm sure I'm still pushing further down than I think I was before.
I don't get any slipping (I think) so I think the clutch itself is OK.

If your biting point is lower down than it was then replace your cable...If after replacing the cable you continue to have gear selection problems then your clutch is faulty...doesn't matter if it isn't slipping as it could be dragging.