Lancia Motor Club

From stuff I've picked up on t'interweb I'm aware the series three Fulvia gearchange is not perceived to be as good as the earlier 4 speed 'box. The change on my car is baulky when cold but soon improves after a few miles of driving. When it's fully warm the change is acceptable but far from slick. My question is this; are there any external linkages which are prone to stiffening up and which can be fettled or is the series 3 gearchange.
On the same subject the clutch on my car is nice and light and although I can't detect any drag it crossed my mind it could be failing to disengage fully. Has anybody come across this ?

Try running some light oil down the gearstick under the rubber gaiter. It made a big difference to one of our 5 speed Fulvias way back when.
Chris

Second can be baulky until warm, although I've recently noticed mine no longer does this. Not sure if this coincided with a gearbox oil change.

Thanks Chris, That's my favourite type of technical solution! I'll give it a try. ;D

There are also two (I think) greasing points tucked away down there.

It's always worth changing the oil in Lancia gearboxes if it hasn't been done for a while.

Same as S 2 five speeders. Use mobil 90 grade fully synthetic in the box. As Stan says check the grease points and make sure the stick is greased under the rubber gaiter so eveything is nice and slick. Also if the change is sloppy look for wear in the remote control rod nylon bushes (1 at each end) . Also there is a centering spring on the front of the remote which sometimes has broken and this can effect the feel of the change a lot. Doubt a dragging clutch....

I hope Tim will not be disappointed if I disagree with his oil choice. Following the advice of the late Barry Waterhouse, for many years I have always used 75W-90 oil with clear improvement in the gear change, especially 2nd. The S2 gearbox has 2 grease nipples that should be used to improve gear shifts but they are normally forgotten. The front one is difficult to reach unless the big water collecting box is removed. I have fitted a grease nipple with an angle that can be reached with the flexible hose of the grease gun. When replacing the oil, both drain plugs should be removed.Andrea

Andrea is correct as my recommendation was only partial and I should have said Mobil 1 SCH 75-90 fully synthetic. Am away from my cars at present so was doing this from memory - not very well so apols. My recommendation came from Omicron so it is good to see agreement between two great Lancia houses.

Many thanks for all the advice, extremely useful and interesting. All I need to do now is find a spare hour...easier said than done at the moment!

A very slight word of warning :-  the rear of the two grease nipples, i.e. the one hidden by the rubber boot, simply feeds grease to the threads of the pivot bolt that screws into the rear of the alloy casting.  This is the fulcrum point for the side to side movement of the gear lever.  There is a risk that the applied pressure of the grease gun may simply 'expand' the alloy of the threaded area, which in turn loosens the threads, and creates even more play in side to side movement of the gear lever.  Much better to remove the lever from the yoke end of the pivot bolt, remove the bolt, and refit with some moly grease or the like, which might last the lifetime of the car.  The front grease nipple feeds the ball and socket of the drop arm into the gearbox.  Full synthetic 75w-90 is the way to go.

Regards - Roddy