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What's up with my Insignia's gearbox?

I bought my Vauxhall Insignia Estate 1.6-litre diesel from Perrys Main Vauxhall Dealers in Huddersfield in July 2021 which was first registered in September 2016. To date, it has recorded 41,000 miles approximately on its odometer with two previous owners.

I had its annual service and MOT carried out a local garage with an excellent reputation in July 2023 in July 2024 which included supplying new front discs, pads and offside callipers which was completed and paid for on 8/7/24.

Shortly afterwards the clutch burnt out and had to be supplied and fitted along with a dual-mass flywheel completed and paid for on 19/7/24. The vehicle was returned to the garage for bleeding on 25/7/24 due to the poor-quality gear change.

The vehicle was returned to the garage on 23/10/24 with a problem in selecting reverse gear and subsequently first gear without switching the engine off. The manager confirmed this work and any further work relating to this problem would be on a free-of-charge basis under warranty.

Subsequently, the garage has fitted two more clutches to replace those burnt out and a master cylinder during November 2024. Unfortunately, the problem of selecting reverse and first gear still persists, and the vehicle is going back into the garage tomorrow for further investigation.

Have you any suggestion that could resolve this problem?

Cheers, Michael

MICHAEL LAWTON (Huddersfield)

Dec 2024 Filed under: gearbox


Expert answer

Hi Michael,

I don't think we can add much to this other than to say that it sounds like a selector issue, which may have been dislodged or damaged when the work on the clutch was done. However, I'd have expected the gear selection issue to be there from the start if it was that and this sounds worrying like an internal gearbox problem now. 

Unless the garage somehow damaged the gearbox during the work, I don't see how they could be responsible for it, but if they're taking responsibility for fixing it for you then they are in a better position than me to advise you what is causing the issues.

I do hope it gets sorted soon.

Shane O' Donoghue - Complete Car Advisor
@Shane_O_D


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