Sideways

[mmt 14]

Hi Guys, 

Gear stick needs some adjustment. It has too much movement sideways. Ie. When I try to find 2nd I move the stick too far sideways and find notning. Is there a Way to adjust (limit) the sideways movement. Previous Owner installed adjustable rods and I suspect that they are out of bounce. Be gearbox. 
 

thanks. 

/m

[Ozymandis 96]

The rods are adjustable as standard, the short one does the side to side adjustment.

[mmt 14]

Thanks. I’ll shorten the shorter rod. 

[Ozymandis 96]

Make sure the top hat bushes in the bellcrank arent massively worn and the shouldered bolt holding it all together is tight.

[mmt 14]

Not sure which parts you mean? 
 

Thanks. 

[welshpug 1,620]

The L shaped bit on the subframe.

[Rob_the_Sparky 9]

Or the ball joint on the subframe has not come loose.  That is very common and results in terrible sloppy feel

[mmt 14]

Thanks G. I’ll check the L bit for wear. 
 

the Ball on the subframe is all tight. 
 

Could the long rod from the Stick cause any wobling problems? It has been replaced with a rod with a rod end bearing. And looks a bit dodgy. 

 

[Anthony 1,000]

On 7/18/2022 at 12:14 PM, mmt said:

Could the long rod from the Stick cause any wobling problems? It has been replaced with a rod with a rod end bearing. And looks a bit dodgy. 

 

The long gear rod underneath controls forward-backward movement (e,g. from 3rd to 4th) and rarely causes problems with slop in my experience.

 

Sideways movement is controlled by the shaft that's attached to the gearlever at one end (with a pair of bushes and a bolt) and the ball on the subframe at the other, pivoting on the ball and transmitting the movement via the shorter of the two underbonnet gear rods.  If the slop is so bad that you're struggling to find gears, and you're sure that the ball is tight on the subframe, then it should be easy enough to find by getting someone in the car to wobble the gearstick left and right to the limit of the slop while you check the various elements to find where the play is.

 

If it's just that the gear lever is not centralised and sits too far to the left (i.e. 3rd is where 1st should be, 5th is where 3rd should be) rather than there being too much slop, then adjusting the gear rods should allow you to centralise the stick and give you sufficient movement to give you access to the 1st-2nd part of the gate.  I don't have the standard measurement to hand, but someone should have and I would imagine that it's been posted numerous times in the past.

[mmt 14]

Thanks Anthony- great instructions. I’ll have a go. Already changed the plastic bushings on the stick. Will also change the bushings on the L bracket. 
still believe that the long rod under the car needs some attention though. The L bracket end of the rod has been replaced with a cheap rod end. Hope to pin the culprit(s) soon. 
 

thanks again.