Too good to be true?

[PM0077]

A colleague informed me that one of his work mates who works offshore has a manual 3 litre surf (m reg and I'm presuming it's an ssrx as it has the underslung spare but am not too precious to be corrected if needs be ) for sale. I haven't had the chance to look at it yet but he tells me that first gear slips occasionally but is fine if you hold it in with the gear lever, could be something to do with a synchro mesh something or other. I realise that it's not much info to go on but has anyone had this problem and has it been costly to fix?
He's only after £800 for it hence my excitement and my colleague tells me that the bodywork and underside is in fantastic condition with only small spots of corrosion on the bumpers, I understand that the low price makes this sound too good to be true but the owner is far from short of a bob or two he just hasn't the room to store it. Apologies if this doesn't make a lot of sense...
Any help info will be much appreciated

p.s It's burgundy
Paul

[MWS]

Hi Paul. Synchromesh problems usually manifest themselves as " crunching " whilst selecting gears. This is usually down to wear on the synchro rings, or damage to the tips of the dog teeth on the gears. Jumping out of gear is more likely caused by excessive wear on the side edges of the dog teeth on the gears, and corresponding wear on the slots that they sit in, within the synchro hub. On occasion, it may also be due to wear on the selector forks, not allowing the dog teeth to fully engage, deeply enough into the hub. unfortunately, only a full stripdown will give you the complete answer. Hope that helps.......

[PM0077]

Hi Paul. Synchromesh problems usually manifest themselves as " crunching " whilst selecting gears. This is usually down to wear on the synchro rings, or damage to the tips of the dog teeth on the gears. Jumping out of gear is more likely caused by excessive wear on the side edges of the dog teeth on the gears, and corresponding wear on the slots that they sit in, within the synchro hub. On occasion, it may also be due to wear on the selector forks, not allowing the dog teeth to fully engage, deeply enough into the hub. unfortunately, only a full stripdown will give you the complete answer. Hope that helps.......

Thanks for your response, i did a wee search but most of the related posts were from 2004 or therabouts bit did mention worn bushes etc. I guess the only way really is to have a good look at it myself and see whats what. I only hope i can remember what to do with a manual as ive not driven one in years. At least if it does need work i have somewhere to store it as id hate to let it slip by at that price.

Cheers
Paul

[NiftyNev]

Probably just worn bushes in the gear selector. Simple fix.

Nev

[PM0077]

Thanks nev, i'm hoping so. I'll hopefully get a look at it this week.

Paul

[TonyN]

Probably just worn bushes in the gear selector. Simple fix.

Nev

This has my vote.

[MWS]

Probably just worn bushes in the gear selector. Simple fix.

Nev

That's fair comment, Nev. I was In too much of a rush to think " internally", rather than "externally". any "slop" in the selector mechanism will have a similar effect to worn selector forks. ie, the gear not fully engaging. Like you say, "simple fix". Hope it's that, for the sake of the OP.