Reverse gear annoyance...

[vdubgirl]

Hi guys, first time posting here so please be gentle! I'm hoping someone has any knowledge or advice when it comes to working out what the issue is with my 9n.

So basically there have been a few occasions now where I have tried to put my car into reverse and had it where it just won't go. I have to put it back into neutral, take my foot off the clutch completely then put the clutch down again before it will go into reverse. I'm not having any other issues engaging any other gears, and I never have this issue when putting it into first (yet). I'm curious as to whether this is either a gearbox problem or a sticky clutch issue?

I've had the car for around four months and have slowly been going through it, but I would say this issue has only arisen within the last month or so. It only ever happens when I come to my car after it being parked up all night too, but not every single time. I'd probably say if I was to reverse out of my driveway first thing in the morning 5 days a week, it might not go into reverse first time maybe once or twice over the course of those five days.

It's a diesel so obviously, I wait for the glow plug light to go off the dash before firing it up and I always let the engine run for a bit before setting off. It's not like I get straight in and drive off without letting the oil to circulate around, so I'm more inclined to think it's an actual issue with the car rather than it just being a result of the polo being sat up for 10-12 hours.

Has anyone had this problem before and resolved it? Any advice will be appreciated! Thanks!

[littlepolo]

Year and mileage?

[vdubgirl]

Year is 2004 and it has 125,734 miles on the clock.

[littlepolo]

Not a particularly high mileage.

Is the history of the vehicle known?

I drive an auto so have no experience with the manual Polo. However, it does sound more like a potential gearbox problem rather than clutch if other gears engage OK. Also wondering about the gear selector and if that could be problematic (some older cars I used to drive had such problems due to the linkage).

I'm sure an expert will be along shortly.

[vdubgirl]

Not a particularly high mileage.

Is the history of the vehicle known?

I drive an auto so have no experience with the manual Polo. However, it does sound more like a potential gearbox problem rather than clutch if other gears engage OK. Also wondering about the gear selector and if that could be problematic (some older cars I used to drive had such problems due to the linkage).

I'm sure an expert will be along shortly.

Thanks for the reply! I'm being blunt the car has been neglected. The guy I bought it off couldn't tell me anything about the car except 'it's fast mate' and that was literally his only selling point.

It looks like it's been used a project car that hasn't really taken flight. I bought it super cheap so I'm not expecting much from it tbh. It cost me £290 to get it through an MOT (the anti roll bar linkage was on it's ass at both ends, needed both front shock absorbers replacing, new tyres all round, rear discs and pads replacing etc) it would of cost me ALOT more if it hadn't of been a friend of a friend I'll tell you that.

I've got it scheduled in for a cambelt change, it's had it's alternator belt replaced already along with the usual (heater plugs, oil & filter etc)

The car has zero history so I'm having to create it basically. The gearbox does feel clunky but I've only ever driven Landrovers before this so it's something I'm personally used to, but not sure if it's normal for a 15 year Polo?

This is my labour of love, I have lots of plans for this car so just trying to sort everything out mechanically before moving on to it's exterior/interior.