406 HDI wont engage gears

[acefactor]

Hey guys, just wondered if I could pick your brains?

I could be potetially offered a very cheap 406 HDI from my brother. He recently had the clutch replaced by a garage and is now having issues engaging gears after he has been driving. For example if he has been driving on a dual carriageway and then comes off on to a slip road and stop at a roundabout or traffic lights the car will struggle to go back into a gear from neutral, almost like the gears are blocked off? He's taken it back to the garage that replaced the clutch and they said he now needs a new gearbox, but could not tell him what the problem was...

I've spoken to a mechanic friend of mine and he seems to agree that it does not sound like a gearbox fault and I can select all the gears from cold myself when in the car. Sadly I cannot enlist the help of my mechanic friend so if I get the car it will be a diy job.

Are there anythings to try or any likely faults to check out first? I'm very interested in taking the car on as my brother is talking about scrapping the car and it's only done 130k which it not really anything on these engines or gearboxes as far as I know.

Any help will be greatly appreciated!

Adam

[lozz]

iwouid check to see if the gear box as got oil in it,
and check the diff seals for leaks,

[acefactor]

iwouid check to see if the gear box as got oil in it,
and check the diff seals for leaks,

Is that a Haynes manual look up, or are there any links on the site?

Many thanks,

Adam

[lozz]

Lost me there fella,

Haynes,

nah mate, just hit the forum search button and all the info you need will be available,

no need for a Haynes on here

[jasper5]

Sounds like a clutch problem, but if it's a "pull" type clutch then engaging gears can be difficult for a little while until the clutch beds in a bit.

[acefactor]

Sounds like a clutch problem, but if it's a "pull" type clutch then engaging gears can be difficult for a little while until the clutch beds in a bit.

Do you mean under the same circumstances I've mentioned, or just in general use? Because the car will engage gears fine when first started and driven, but then after some distance the problem occurs.

Thanks,

Adam

[jasper5]

Sounds like a clutch problem, but if it's a "pull" type clutch then engaging gears can be difficult for a little while until the clutch beds in a bit.

Do you mean under the same circumstances I've mentioned, or just in general use? Because the car will engage gears fine when first started and driven, but then after some distance the problem occurs.

Thanks,

Adam

Is the biting point of the clutch near the floor? If it is then the clutch needs to bed in a while. If it's high up then there may be a different clutch problem.

[mjb]

I'd try bleeding the clutch hydraulics first

[acefactor]

Thank you so much for all of your replies so far, they have given me a great place to start. I've also been browsing through the Knowledge Articles on the site and noticed the fix for the drivers side switch which will be useful as the car has that issue as well! I should be picking up the car from my brother some time in the next week, so I will report back with my progress.

Thanks,

Adam