The nightmare continues.......

[RoaminRog]

We have a local garage, that has stayed open during the pandemic because it has the contract to MOT ambulances etc. I phoned them up to see if they would MOT Mimi, our Motorhome.
They agreed to test her last Monday at noon. I had some other things to do on Monday, so I took her in about 10am and parked her in a parking spot reserved for MOT.
At noon, the tester drove her into the MOT bay, but as she was going in, the gear selection indicator on the dashboard was going from first to sixth gear randomly. The tester was alarmed, and switched the engine off. They called me, to see if there was a knack in starting her, and I went straight over there to try to start her.
Mimi has a Quickshift gearbox, and I could select every gear except neutral, but couldn’t start the engine.
So there she was, blocking the MOT bay, stuck, I was not flavour of the month.
So far, I have had two people with diagnostic readers, trying to help. One of them, eventually, managed to start the engine in reverse gear, and they were able to back her out into the yard, where she still is now.
The other chap, managed to get her into Neutral, and I have tried many times to turn her over, but when I turn the key absolutely nothing happens. No clicking from a loose battery terminal, no whirring from a dodgy starter motor, no headlight dimming, just silence, apart from my language of course.
She is going for a ride, on the back of a lorry, in the next couple of days, to the chap who fixed her last time this happened, and fingers crossed he can work his magic again. I am also going to suggest the ignition switch, which may be at fault, but that wouldn’t explain the gears jumping up and down. Large black cloud forming over the Roamin household!

 

[RV2MAX]

It sounds like gear position sensor (switch) . On full autos there is a switch usually on the side of gearbox that acts as a safety inhibitor so that it doesn't start in gear . It may well be a similar system on a quickshift , but have no personal knowledge of these boxes . HTSH

 

[2cv]

Very sorry to hear about your problems Roger. Hope that it’s sorted quickly.

 

[St3v3]

This is sort of familiar, someone on the car forum said this:

Went for my MOT the other day and as with most of us I had not run the car that much lately, the car was parked half on the garage ramp, half off with him testing the lights ect, when he finished he tried to put the auto box into drive or reverse, all the box would do was self revert to park and no movement.

Luckily the problem was soon solved by the machanic who knew that when the battery voltage drops below it's cut off point it will not let the gearbox select a gear, 20 mins on the quick charge and all was well and it went into drive as it should do.

So, just in case, check the engine battery voltage

Good luck!

 

[The laird]

Roger if battery etc all good sounds to me like the inhibitor switch,somebody stated position sensor which is the same
hope you get a fix quickly

 

[RoaminRog]

This is sort of familiar, someone on the car forum said this:



So, just in case, check the engine battery voltage

Good luck!

Thanks Steve, but voltage showing as 12.7v so unlikely to be that straightforward

 

[RoaminRog]

It sounds like gear position sensor (switch) . On full autos there is a switch usually on the side of gearbox that acts as a safety inhibitor so that it doesn't start in gear . It may well be a similar system on a quickshift , but have no personal knowledge of these boxes . HTSH

Yes I’m inclined to agree, but am not the expert. Nothing will be looked at until next week anyway, so it’s going to be a worrying weekend. Thanks for your input

 

[RoaminRog]

Roger if battery etc all good sounds to me like the inhibitor switch,somebody stated position sensor which is the same
hope you get a fix quickly

Thanks Gordon, it’s a good job we are not allowed out in her, otherwise we’d be chomping at the bit to get away!

 

[jagmanx]

Good luck Rog..Hope it gets sorted quickly and cheaply ! (and properly)

 

[Molly 3]

Could it be related to your previous problems

 

[Tezza33]

If the battery voltage dropping causes this to happen but the voltage is OK it could be a bad earth connection

 

[yorkslass]

Hope its an easy fix and not too expensive.

 

[RoaminRog]

Good luck Rog..Hope it gets sorted quickly and cheaply ! (and properly)

Thanks, but I don’t think that ‘cheap’ will be part of the equation.

 

[RoaminRog]

Could it be related to your previous problems

No Barry, I don’t think so. Last time, if you remember, I needed a new clutch, and then found that there was no mechanical way of setting the clutch gap. Numerous guys came with their diagnostic machines, but no-one could get the gearbox to respond.
It was pure coincidence that my mechanic discovered, accidentally, that the Quickshift box was designed by Vauxhall and sold on to Renault.
He downloaded the Vauxhall Diagnostic Tool, and the clutch and gearbox completely reset itself in a couple of minutes.
At least, this time, my mechanic has a starting point and won’t waste any time looking for a ‘Renault’ problem.

 

[RoaminRog]

If the battery voltage dropping causes this to happen but the voltage is OK it could be a bad earth connection

Good point Terry, I’ll mention that to the mechanic. Thanks a lot.

 

[Molly 3]

at least you now know about the Vauxhall trick , hope it's quick fix

 

[Campervanannie]

No Barry, I don’t think so. Last time, if you remember, I needed a new clutch, and then found that there was no mechanical way of setting the clutch gap. Numerous guys came with their diagnostic machines, but no-one could get the gearbox to respond.
It was pure coincidence that my mechanic discovered, accidentally, that the Quickshift box was designed by Vauxhall and sold on to Renault.
He downloaded the Vauxhall Diagnostic Tool, and the clutch and gearbox completely reset itself in a couple of minutes.
At least, this time, my mechanic has a starting point and won’t waste any time looking for a ‘Renault’ problem.

That was the same problem I had with old Snoopy a Peugeot boxer they couldn’t diagnose the fault then a young mechanic noticed it had a VW engine in it, apparently on car/van production lines if they run out of a component due to strikes or whatever they substitute On mine it was a complete engine sub looks like yours too Rog

 

[RoaminRog]

Interesting Annie, but I think it’s only the gearbox, the engine I would say is Renault, but what do I know eh?

 

[paulhelenwilko]

Roger, Hope it gets sorted quickly and painlessly. Your van has done a very good job of convincing me to avoid auto boxes.

Paul and Helen.

 

[Pauljenny]

Sorry to hear you've got problems, Rog... They're part of the Motorhoming adventure.. There to be overcome.
Do you remember that we had similar problems with both our semi auto Renault's.?
The Magneto Marrinelli , hydraulic unit, From Fiat, as fitted to Ferraris,
Has a wear and tear fault on the terminals of the pump servo motor.
We found out that about every 22500 miles, the insulation breaks down , causing arcing to the adjacent aluminium frame.
It can be repaired by re insulating the offending wires
We sold our van at 52000 miles.
Leaving a spare servo unit with the dealer.
It turns out that, very soon after the proud new owner trundled off his forecourt ...
The fault happened again...
Don't let them do heavy strip- down repairs, until they have checked this out
Best wishes,
Paul and Management