I’m really enjoying riding my ex-museum collection T3 and the mileage has rocketed up to a heady 3,500. The engine has loosened up nicely and it just purrs along. Bliss. Well almost. The only thing that is proving a bit of a challenge is the gearbox. First, second, fourth and fifth gears are fine but the change up into third seems different from the rest, almost a double action, the first movement to engage it, the second to snick it in. Is this normal on a T3? I rode an Eldorado in the States a while back with a five speed box and each gear-change seemed the same.
Nope, not normal, if your not happy to open it up yourself, recommend NBS
bigsunburst, my LM111 was identical for the first 10-15,000 miles.Change from 2nd up, then change up again and into 3rd.Coming down the box was fine.After 10-15,000 miles either I forgot it was happening or it all was run in.
Third on my T3 has always been a bit of an issue. I usually find a neutral changing up from 2nd. I’ve just decided to live with it. Best of luck.
Many thanks for the responses. Given your experience Ian, I’m going to persevere. The box does seem to be loosening up a little. I think the “problem” is probably psychological. All the gear-changes are pretty Honda-like, apart from the up-change to third which needs some conscious care. It is interesting that it is a double shift whereas all the others are a single action. I am sure an expert could explain it in terms of pawls, dogs or synchros.
If I remember rightly it’s a long throw from 2nd to 3rd, and when I had to pay attention to my S3 box (same as yours) it was the selector fork that did the throwing of the dog that was worn out and needed replacing, if you get my drift…
My Spada is the same, when changing up into 3rd, I can feel 2 notches as the various parts engage, rarely does it miss a gear You just sometimes need to hold the lever up a fraction longer or give it a bit more of a push to get things in place, and mine has done 31K.
Yes it does sound familiar! Like Italianmotor says it seems to need more “oomph”. Are you sure the pedal is travelling up far enough? Before I changed my box, the previous one had a longer gearbox change lever than what came fitted on the replacement one (which came off of a Cali III), I think maybe 'cause it also had short homemade pedals. Nevertheless I used to get falsies 2 to 3, and also 4 to 5 as well. But then again, that box were “a bit tired” shall we say. But in hindsight I wonder if it were exacerbated by the longer lever. (?) Certainly after the footgear was changed to off-the-shelf T3 items, requiring a longer movement. The Cali III box is brill tho. So far! Problee 'cause only done 16k.
Appendix: Just remembered the falsies were aggravated by “chasing” up the clutch cable slack when it warms up (clutch cable play increases) in the vain hope of therefore still being able to get it into neutral at a standstill once it’s good and hot; I don’t do that any more, there seems to be a “sweet spot” where “correct” nominal clutch cable adjustment gives the slickest gear changes, so I leave it there. I also now use Comma 85W-140 gear oil with a hint of molyslip.