Ant Tech Minded Folk Here On The Spacestar Forum? Options

[pdhealy]

My wife recently bought a 2000 1.3 Spacestar GLX (77k miles), and there are a few questions I need advice on:
1. First gear can be difficult to engage - any known issues?
2. If the standard radio cassette is replaced with an aftermarket (Blaupunkt) unit, what info will be lost from the multi display (temp, fuel economy) on the dashboard? Is there a way around losing this info?

[Lewiman06]

if your having trouble engaging it could be your transmission syncro's. that calls for a rebuild.

and if your multi display and cassette are different units (even if they are next to eachother) then you should be able to wire it to make them all work. but i've never been behind one of those stereo's so thats not a for sure answer.

oh, and a little more info on how its hard to engage. does it just not go in, like excessive force? can you put it in just fine when parked. does it grind when you put it in when shifting from reverse to first? any more info would be great.

hope i helped.

-mike

[pdhealy]

Hi Mike, Thanks for your response.

It's difficult to engage first gear when stopped. Sometimes when you think you've got first, when you release the clutch it grinds because it has not engaged properly. By selecting second, and then going for first, it usually works better.

When the car is moving, all other gears are easily selected. The only thing I can think of is that the clutch bites quite late in its travel - do you know if it can be adjusted?

The MF displaay is a seperate unit on top of the dash in the centre - it acts as the display for the factory stereo, and it also shows outside temp, fuel economy data, and time. On the stereo, there is a display button, which allows you to toggle between different economy data on the display. I've had the stereo out, and the MF display is connected to the stereo. The connector seems to be specific to factory stereo, so I'm guessing I would lose the economy display functions by fitting an aftermarket unit.

[Lewiman06]

it definitly sounds like your first gear syncro is going out. you gotta get that before you ruin your flywheel/clutch. i let mine go for a while and had to get a new clutch and flywheel (another 500 bucks spent) so i'd take it to a tranny shop and have them check it out.

and as far as your stereo goes, they may make an adapter for it. i'd search around on ebay and crutchfield to see if they make one. if they don't make one then there is probably a way to wire it without messing up your display. good luck

-mike