Talk Morgan Forums Thread Like Summary - Gear Shift Rattle

Hi all…

Looking for some advice if I may.

Our 1996 Morgan Plus 4 has developed a noticeable rattle of the gear shift in 3rd gear position.

It only occurs in 3rd gear, no other gear is affected (yet?).

It occurs from about 2500 to 3000 RPM, after which it clears.

The car has the 2ltr Rover T16 engine if that helps, and is fairly low mileage, circa 21k.

I’d be very grateful for any advice but particularly keen to hear from anyone who has had the same issue, and what you did to resolve.

Many thanks in anticipation.

Regards

Gwyn

Hey all…

It’s been a long time coming but just to close this thread out to a successful conclusion, happy to report back that having followed up on all the steers and advice given, I exposed the gearbox and found the problem to be the gearbox bushes. The old ones had completely disintegrated!

The cup and the little bracket was fine.

I am especially grateful to DirkM for his steer towards the ‘gear lever touching the propshaft’, thread - the images there were very helpful, and to all who suggested consulting GoMog, which I did, and found very helpful.

The job itself was a bit fiddly and time consuming but straightforward enough when I knew what I was doing - hardest part was getting the transmission cover back in place, which needed the removal of the hand brake lever, and then getting long bolt securing the gear lever back in and tightened up. My gear lever is driver side, so that was very awkward.

But, job done now, and the gearbox sounds sweet as a nut, no rattles, and is crisp and precise in operation.

Thanks again all.

Gwyn

Hey Dirk,

Thanks for the heads up! I’ve just had a look and you’re right, the thread and photos are very useful.

For my part, I’ve put off doing the job for a few months as I’m busy elsewhere (house renovation!) and it’s not that bad - I may try your temporary solution in the meantime though.

When I do get around to looking at it, I’ll post again.

Thanks very much 👍.

Cheers Gwyn