308 QV clutch issue

Good morning everyone,

I have an '83 308 GTSi QV, with 38,000 miles on it. Lately, I'm having trouble engaging reverse. For the past 6 months or so, it has sometimes made a grinding noise when engaging reverse. Just on occaision. It seems to be happening more frequently now. The clutch does not slip or chatter and teh car shifts very smoothly into all forward gears. The grinding seems to happen once the car is warmed up. I don't think it has ever occurred when sifting to reverse on start-up. The clutch is original.

Any thoughts? Reverse synchro?

Next, I live in Lexington, KY. I've had the car for about 10 months and have not had any service performed (I had it checked out by a Ferrari dealer before I purchased it). I have all records and it is a solid car. I'd appreciate any thoughts on a good independent shop in the Lexington, Louisville, or Cinci area.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Chris

 

This happens on occasion in my 328. Try putting it into 1st and then back into reverse if you start to get the grinding with your first attempt with putting it in reverse. There was a thread not too long ago explaining why this occurs.

Dan

 

Here are a couple links.

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=167875&highlight=grinding+reverse

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=133601&highlight=grinding+reverse

Dan

 

Thanks Dan. The first link you sent describes my issue to a "T." I'll try the first to reverse method when the car is warm and see how that works.

Boy, the car is fun - and it has been much more relable than I anticipated (knock on wood).

Chris

 

After all the above suggestions and it's still grinding and getting worse,

try changing the gear oil and if that doesn't help have it check out soon.

 

I've heard that grinding in reverse occurs because there is no syncro for reverse. That's why you should always shift into a forward gear, before going into reverse.
There are threads about it, written by the experts here.

 

I had a problem a couple of years ago where the clutch was not releasing all the way. For example, if I was in 1st at a stop light and revved the engine, the car would creep forward. This obviously made it difficult to engage the non-syncronized reverse.

What was wrong was that the clutch disk was not sliding on it's splines. It was more or less frozen in place. This caused it
to always rub against the flywheel. Since we had to disassemble to fix this, a new clutch went in "while we were in there". This was a shame, as the original clutch had about 60% left.

Hans.

 

CCashen,

No problem. I am sure that is what your problem is but if not take the suggestions of the other posters with a gear oil change if problems continue to exist.

Dan

 

I don't see gear oil causing a problem with one gear or even all gears unless the level is low or it's the wrong type oil.

 

Uh, do a search on "MTL". There was a very experienced race car mechanic that posted some info on gear oil and shift quality. Probably not the issue here, however, but you never know.

Hans.

 

No need for me to do a search. I am very familiar with the threads regarding various gear oils. The implication is reverse was not a problem in the owner's car before but now over the course of the last six months or so it begins to grind more and more. Do you honestly believe the gear oil somehow broke down in the last six months and in such a manner that it only only affects reverse gear? And, if that were the case, then it would be a simple matter of replacing the old gear oil with fresh oil of the same type (since there was no problem before) to cure the problem, right?

Having the wrong oil can cause problems with shifting because the syncros may not work correctly/optimally. Reverse gear has no syncro on these cars.

 

Good morning all,

Thanks for all the advice. As it turns out, the first to reverse method solved the issue. My kind of cheap fix!

I'm still learning my way around the car (probably will be for years) and was not aware that it did not have a reverse sychro. All the advice gave me more reason to take a few spins last night. Once I employed the first to reverse method, no grinding whatsoever!

Although I don't post much, I am on this site literally every day. This is a fantastic resource.

Happy motoring.

Chris

 

My '83 did that too. The 1st to reverse helped, but the other gears were soon starting to be affected. Turns out the bushing on the linkage was wearing out. Replaced it & all was well

 

Well, you DID say: "I don't see gear oil causing a problem with one gear or even all gears unless the level is low or it's the wrong type oil. "

I would interpret "all gears" to include more than reverse. In which case gear oil choice can make a significant difference.

But, yes, reverse would not be affected.

Hans.

 

I also wrote: "or it's the wrong type oil. "