Loose Gearstick...

Stani1029

Club Member
hey there, ive been having a problem with my gearstiuck lately...it seems really loose and wobbles alot, when its in gear you can shake the gearstick side to side maybe by an inch or so, ive checked underneath the car and the rod that goes from the gearstick to the gear linkage bit is very loose but the bolts seem nice and tight...any thoughts or people with the same problem???

thanks :grinning:
 

squarepants

Ex. Club Member
could it be that the gear lever bush/bushes is worn? (were it connects to the gear linkage shifter thing) just buy a new bush/bushes or get a short shifter.
 
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Stani1029

Stani1029

Club Member
is it costly?? and can i check it by taking off the metal plate underneath the rubber gaiter??

how good is the short shifter??
 

squarepants

Ex. Club Member
i think you will have to get under the car to look at it, you will have to un bolt a bit of your exhaust system (down pipe area, cat. the heat shield may be in the way aswell) and take out the gear selctor rod. then take out the gear stick itself and replace it.
 

squarepants

Ex. Club Member
if its the bush on the shifter itself (were the bolt goes through at the bottem) a short shifter will sort this problem out as it will have a new bush onit lol, or just replace the standrad one with a new bush. as ive said above iam not 100% this is the problem but it could be a case of a worn bush that makes it feel lose! its worth cheaking.
 

Paul H

Ex. Club Member
I had a loose gear stick once on my K10. I don't know how similar the attachments are. It might be worth getting checked out. It got really sloppy. It seemed alright and then the pin came out of the fork arrangement and it disconnected. I was in first gear and obviously couldn't change gear. The RAC man came out and tied it with a sack tie as a temp measure. I took it to the chap who does the servicing. He had to re-drill and re-tap. He only charge me £40. I don't recommend letting the gear stick come completely detached from the tranny. It wasn't nice.

Hope this is useful.

Paul:k10:
 
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Stani1029

Stani1029

Club Member
I had a loose gear stick once on my K10. I don't know how similar the attachments are. It might be worth getting checked out. It got really sloppy. It seemed alright and then the pin came out of the fork arrangement and it disconnected. I was in first gear and obviously couldn't change gear. The RAC man came out and tied it with a sack tie as a temp measure. I took it to the chap who does the servicing. He had to re-drill and re-tap. He only charge me £40. I don't recommend letting the gear stick come completely detached from the tranny. It wasn't nice.

Hope this is useful.

Paul:k10:

maybe ill check this out tonight then...doesnt matter that much if it snaps because my cars goin off road for a few months :) thanks for the help
 

Paul H

Ex. Club Member
No problems! good luck anyway. I expect you have a similar arrangement with an actuator rod which is forked and then pinned in place to the part that joins the gear box. It's a pin anyway, not a big job. I have to have my sill welded. Any similar experiences?
 
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Stani1029

Stani1029

Club Member
yeh actually, had to get it done for an MOT and a part of my crossmember, had it re-MOT'd and they found the newly welded bit had holes in it, i had it re-welded and it passed...how bad is your sill???
 

Fordy

Ex. Club Member
i bet the gear lever return spring has come off or snapped, if the lever over to one side then thats a normal sugestion it's the spring,

if its not the spring check the tightness of the linkage bolts you want them tight but not really tight or the gear lever will be rock solid and be hard to move
 

Paul H

Ex. Club Member
yeh actually, had to get it done for an MOT and a part of my crossmember, had it re-MOT'd and they found the newly welded bit had holes in it, i had it re-welded and it passed...how bad is your sill???

The near side inner face is pretty much gone at the back aft of the floor pan. All K10's seem to be welded there. The bottom of the sill has a couple of small holes at the bottom. It's where the water splashes on it, you can't see without lying underneath or ramping and it's difficult to clean. I think that part of the sill is almost redundant, i.e. if the whole thing was ground off the car has a proper chasis over the back, but it is an MoT fail point. Also a nasty little patch in front of the upper passenger door hinge. Not really critical, but they could say it's within 36" of the pillar if they want to split hairs. Mek says sill should be easy. I would like to do it, but I'm slightly scared I'll blow meself up!
 

asdame

Ex. Club Member
my gearbox used to have trouble selecting 1st/2nd from worn bushes near the gearbox end.

i just lathed my own bush back at uni's machine shop from some steel rod i found there. cheapas chips
gear selections perfect now
 
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Stani1029

Stani1029

Club Member
The near side inner face is pretty much gone at the back aft of the floor pan. All K10's seem to be welded there. The bottom of the sill has a couple of small holes at the bottom. It's where the water splashes on it, you can't see without lying underneath or ramping and it's difficult to clean. I think that part of the sill is almost redundant, i.e. if the whole thing was ground off the car has a proper chasis over the back, but it is an MoT fail point. Also a nasty little patch in front of the upper passenger door hinge. Not really critical, but they could say it's within 36" of the pillar if they want to split hairs. Mek says sill should be easy. I would like to do it, but I'm slightly scared I'll blow meself up!

well if u know how to weld then go for it lol i wouldnt have a clue to be honest, im looking to put brand new sills and a crossmember and that :)
 

Swiper

Ex. Club Member
Club Member
i think you will have to get under the car to look at it, you will have to un bolt a bit of your exhaust system (down pipe area, cat. the heat shield may be in the way aswell) and take out the gear selctor rod. then take out the gear stick itself and replace it.

lol i know thats what you have to do to put a short shifter on!

removing a piece of exhaust isn't needed to fit a short shifter ;), and it'll most likely be the bush at the g/box end of the selector rod.
 
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Stani1029

Stani1029

Club Member
well now the gearstick is stuck in 1st gear lol at first the whole gearstick kinda slumped down and wasnt able to go into 2nd, 4th and reverse and then it all stuck and in 3rd gear so ive nearly burnt out my clutch, i eventually got it into neutral but had to get the car home...i was able to select 1st gear and make my way home at 10mph with the hazards on, is this the bush then??? and does the selector rod connect into the gearbox or at the gearstick?? thanks :)
 
well now the gearstick is stuck in 1st gear lol at first the whole gearstick kinda slumped down and wasnt able to go into 2nd, 4th and reverse and then it all stuck and in 3rd gear so ive nearly burnt out my clutch, i eventually got it into neutral but had to get the car home...i was able to select 1st gear and make my way home at 10mph with the hazards on, is this the bush then??? and does the selector rod connect into the gearbox or at the gearstick?? thanks :)
Have you figured it out? What was it?
 
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