E30 Zone

Hi,

In addition to my electrical issue I posted up this afternoon I have now realised things might be more serious than I thought.

I know the car was shunted or pushed from behind whilst in gear when I was on holiday. When parked I did think the gears felt 'different' when I was trying to figure out my lack of voltage to the starter motor.

I just noticed that the gearstick won't stay in 3rd on its own (the gearstick immediately slips back to neutral) and barely stays in 5th and 1st (both forward of neutral of course) which feel far 'shorter' than previous to the accident, if that makes sense....sigh.

Any ideas what this might be? I feel as if things are becoming seemingly terminal, which is an enormous shame.

Thanks for any help.

Pauly

Check your engine and gearbox mounts, and that the bar between gearbox and the bottom of the gearlever is straight.

As above! You've almost certainly sheared the engine mounts, and possibly the gearbox mounts. Basically, very little is stopping your engine from falling out, and your fan is dangerously close to the radiator!
If the mounts do turn out to be good, the other thing that sometimes happens is that the rear end of the gear selector rod (fixed part) pulls out of its locating grommet, but this usually results in the gear lever dropping downwards.

Crickey - I feel like an idiot - so focused on the back end of the engine bay that I didn't even look at the front - you are exactly right.

The engine has shifted about as far as it can go forward and I cannot even see the radiator as the plastic around the fan is pressed up against the metal behind the grill...great.

So - honesty from you please - what are my options here given that:

The back of the car is dented.
It isn't worth more than £600/£700.
It was in prime mechanical condition (brand new brakes, new clutch, perfect interior <100k miles).
I have very little mechanical savvy (clearly!!!) and no tools to change the mounts myself.


Am I looking at tearing this thing apart?

Changing the mounts is an easy enough job - all you need is a jack and a bar of some sort to lever the engine back into place.
Can't comment on the rear damage., as I've no idea how extensive it is.

Okay, I was more concerned with any other mechanical damage that might have taken place - the rear is not extensive but obviously the whole thing got a push strong enough for this to occur.

Chances are your mounts were just about shot before the shunt!

Well, thanks for the help. I shall see if anyone is nearby who can help and if I get that sorted I can start to figure out why it isn't turning over.

I would check the wiring going from the bulkhead to the engine/starter. Clearly things have moved appart in there.

Main engine to car body earth lead is quite likely to have been sheared.
Goes from RH engine mount arm to the front RH chassis rail.