[MikeN]

Paul, I had the same problem when I bought my A40 just before lockdown. If you look at the way the gear change lever connects to the gearbox you will see that there are 2 aspects to how it works.

The up and down movement of the lever works all the links that you see under the bonnet while the back and forward movement works a push and pull cable a bit like a very thick Bowden cable that curls under the gearbox and connects to a lever there. I think you should look at this area first. Under the gearbox you should see a couple of lock nuts that hold the cable outer tube. The thick cable passes through them. You need to adjust these nuts so when you operate the lever it pulls the cable through a bit more. After doing this you may find that you end up with reverse, 1st and 2nd but lose 3rd and 4th. This just means that you have overdone it and you need to slacken it back a bit.

You can also make this same adjustment by slackening of the clamp that holds the end of the cable and pulling it through with pliers then re clamping it. Again, if you pull it too far you might  lose 3&4.

Mike

[MikeN]

I would think that if you had clutch problems the gear selecting would produce a lot of crunching , and grinding noises? I think that a light clutch can only be put down to springs on the pressure plate maybe broken. Does it slip under load?

I finished ( literally yesterday)  a rebuild of my pickups engine clutch and gearbox. Setting up the selection is a bit tricky until you get your head around what’s going on. I found at first that I could only get either  reverse  first and second, or, 1,2,3,4 and no reverse.

(The adjustment is made with the push-pull cable that passes under the box)

I’m surprised that you can get reverse 3,4.

To get from reverse gear  to 3/4, the gear engagement lever has to pass through 1/2 selector fork on  it’s way to 3/4 selector fork.

So it should be in there somewhere.

If anyone is interested i will describe all that I found wrong with my gearbox and how I rectified it.

Mike

[MikeN]

Thanks Pete.

[MikeN]

Thanks Dave,
I have spent the day re working my exhaust as I now realise it was all wrong. It had a small silencer fitted under the floor of the cab. I have now fitted a larger silencer in the correct location under the rear cargo deck. Took it out to do the weekly shop. It’s a lot queter in the cab now.
Also, you can get a lot of shopping in a pickup.

[MikeN]

Dave, thanks for replying. Since posting this question 2 weeks ago I have:-
a) obtained the correct manual for my year and it makes more sense now.1954.
b) Had my distributor rebuilt by the “Distributor Doctor”
c) found out that I do indeed have a Somerset engine.
d) bought some Champion N5C spark plugs which cross reference as equivalent to N8’s . Are these Ok?
e) Also exchanged my carburetor for a refurbished one from the “carburetor Hospital”.
f) today i bought a Somerset differential to replace the pick-up low ratio item.

• This reply was modified 5 years ago by MikeN.

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