2001 Vauxhall Corsa gearbox

Could be linkage worn or this from another Corsa forum , if not that , could be internal

" Well for a start, take the linkage you've bought and get the gearbox turret off of it, you don't need that, as you are going to attach the linkage to your gearbox, which of course has its own turret already. (The turret is the part with the selector fork poking out of it on the top of the gearbox. The big metal bit on the right of your photo up there ^^)

The part that's more than likely broken or failed on your old linkage is the plastic part shown in that pic (the plastic bar poking upwards).

That part should be clipped onto the ball joint that's on the bent part of metal (lower left in that pic ^^)

After you've done those two things (undo linkage from selector fork and connect plastic rod to the other ball joint) then it's ready to fit to the car as one complete unit.

Easiest method of changing the linkage is to remove the rear/lower gearbox mount (as the linkage sits in the top of it on its bushes). Before doing that you'll need to unbolt the pinch bolt that holds the linkage onto the output rod from the gear shifter (comes out of the bulkhead, roughly in the middle) its a single 13mm bolt, just undo it a bit so its loose and the linkage will slide off the output rod. You'll also need to tap out a securing pin that secures the other end of the linkage into the selector fork on the gearbox turret. This is fairly simple to do, just hit the pin out and the linkage comes away from the fork.

Once you have the two ends of the linkage disconnected, all thats keeping it in there is the fact that it sits in the top of the gearbox mount. Wedged in tight with bushes. So, removing the gearbox mount (with linkage attached to it as one). Support the engine and gearbox from the bottom with a jack just to take the strain off the other two mounts when you undo the rear mount. Get under the car, back of the engine you will see the rear mount. It's held onto a rubber mount thats bolted to the underside of the car, leave the rubber mount on the car and just unbolt the main arm of the mount from the gearbox (2 bolts) and from the rubber mount (1 bolt). From memory i believe the lower bolt that holds the mount to the rubber part is a 16mm and you'll need a spanner and a ratchet/socket as the nut on the other side will just spin. The other two are larger, 19mm i believe, you just need a spanner for these as they bolt straight into the side of the gearbox.

3 bolts out and the mount will fall on your face most probably, along with the linkage, lol. Pull it out and take it indoors for inspection, the fault may be obvious. Well, you better hope its obvious, or else the problem is likely inside the gearbox, unlucky. To get the linakge off of the mount, you'll need to prise a securing pin out of the middle of the bushes, once you do, the linkage just pulls away from the mount.


Continued below .

Refitting is the opposite of removal, take note (or lots of pictures) of what it looked like before you took the old one off, as you need to be sure you're putting it back right.. Once you fit new linakge to your mount, take it under the car and feed it up, you'll need two people to do most of this job, lol. Dont worry about the linakge and where it is until you get the mount sorted again. Line up the holes and bolt it back in, the lower mount bolt hole, the one that goes into the rubber mount, is elongated, so there is 3/4in of play in where you can put the bolt, best bet is to do that one up first, but loosely so it can move, then try and line up the other two bolts, get them so they are going in and then tighten up the lower mount. DO EVERYTHING UP TIGHT AS FOOK HERE.

You'll now need to set the linkage back up. Jump in the car and pull up the gearstick gaitor, push the gearstick to the left and you'll notice two holes line up (one in the stick and one in the plastic housing) align them and shove a 5mm drillbit or an allenkey or something through them to keep the gearstick aligned there. You also need to pin the selector fork on the gearbox, so it is in the same reference position as where you've pinned the gearstick. Still making sense?? Lol. Head to the gearbox and from the top you'll see the fork itself, goes into the turret, slightly to the right of where it goes into the turret theres an orange-ish plug, this plugs the hole that you need to pin. Pull the plug out (dont lose it, lol). Now grab hold of the selector fork, pull it out of the gearbox, as far as it will go (towards rear of car), then push it into the gearbox as far as it will go, you'll notice it has 3 notches in its movement. You need to put the fork in the middle notch, this is neutral. Now grab another 5mm drillbit or similar, and push it into the hole that you just unplugged on the right. Whilst pushing the drillbit in (it will hit a solid surface about halfway) you need to twist the selector fork to the right as far as you can, as you twist it to the right the drill bit that you're pushing against will slip about 1/2in or so further into the hole, let go of the selector fork and it should stay where you left it. The drill bit is holding the fork in the same position that you have pinned the gearstick inside the car.

Next step, insert the end of the linkage into the selector fork, and put the pin in to hold it there. Get under the car and the other end of the linkage should be inline with the output rod from the bulkhead. Push them into each other as far as they will go and do up the 13mm pinch bolt as tight as you can, you don't want this coming undone.

Get in car and take the pin out of the gearstick so its free again. Go to the top of gearbox and take out the drillbit that was pinning the fork so it too is free again, ti should click back to the left so it's in its home position in neutral again.

Get in car and test to see if you've got all the gears.

Pour yourself a stiff whiskey as it's a **** of a job and you've done well if you complete it. I personally, hate linkages.