View Full Version : Short shift gearstick and reverse gear
I have just fitted (after two broken tools, removing decat and 4 sheared bolts and another rounded nut) a short shift gearstick and gear linkage at the gearbox.
1st and 2nd are very notchy and I simply cannot get reverse gear. Feels like it is hitting the plastic gear housing before I can engage the gear.
I've been under the car for two days now, I dont really want to spend the rest of the evening under the car, but it looks like I will have to or walk to work :(
Wtf could be wrong?
katbloke
14-09-2008, 18:13
sounds like the gear linkage isnt in the correct place, recheck the alighnment perhaps
Thats what I am doing right now. The only way to adjust such a thing I believe is with the Clevis bar, which with 1 person is very hit and miss and I am in no mood for it tbh!
even wirh the clevis bolts loose i cant get reverse at all...
volymmannen
14-09-2008, 20:03
even wirh the clevis bolts loose i cant get reverse at all...
put the gearbox in reverse first then the gearstick, and tighten then try if it works...
even wirh the clevis bolts loose i cant get reverse at all...
put the gearbox in reverse first then the gearstick, and tighten then try if it works...
Hehe, I just did that. Manually pputting into reverse and setting it that way. I got reverse!!! Hooray!
Sadly the gearshifts feel like a sack of shit and I cant get 5th now! Well, at least I know now what needs to be done.
volymmannen
14-09-2008, 20:14
ok...it tends to be some slack where the gearlinkage is mounted to the gearbox.
What brand is the Quickshift? I have a B&M on my Valver and I must say its fabulous! Feels sooooo positive and lovely!
Donsr01 supplied the gearshift. It comes with a shorter gear linkage bit under the gearbox and I think you need to adjust the big gear link to compensate for it as it kinda seems to have messed up the positioning.
PLease dont think I am having a go at Dons there. I am sure the gear shift will be great when I get it working. But I am just saying in my case, I am having a few alignment issues!
hello mate, ive got the same kit on mine :D i did fit the shorter arm to the box but have gone back to std arm now as the gearchange is very notchy and close and was abit of a headache day to day. i was able to select all gears tho without any adjustment to the linkage so im not sure whats gone wrong, my advise is stick with the std arm is the the actual stick will feel so much better :D
hello mate, ive got the same kit on mine :D i did fit the shorter arm to the box but have gone back to std arm now as the gearchange is very notchy and close and was abit of a headache day to day. i was able to select all gears tho without any adjustment to the linkage so im not sure whats gone wrong, my advise is stick with the std arm is the the actual stick will feel so much better :D
Thanks for the info Jay. I was wondering if anyone else had any issues. It is strange as I did not adjust the linkage in any way, I just swapped the parts, so I too am a bit confused as to why it would not play ball!
i had the same problem mate
just swapped he gear stick over and couldnt get 5th or reverse. i havent fit the linkage either!
eventually after some messing about with it i get 1 to 5 (although not sure if fifth is fully engaged :? ) and reverse has to be given some force to engage properly. i will only know if ii have all the gears when i drive it properly, so fingers crossed its ok.
you need to shave a good 3mm of the bottom of the lift up sleeve that allows you to select reverse gear
this is one i modified by removing 3mm and chamfering the edge
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y107/northy_com/DSCN2341.jpg
I am not so sure it is the same design flaw as the B&M. I can easily lift the reverse sleeve over the gearlever housing reverse plate bit.
I think my problem now will be holding the gearstick in place whilst setting the gears. I think I will jam something in to hold it in while I mess about underneath.
right i get u
Doesnt sound too good if u carnt get tge gears. Ive fitted 4 now to differant cars and never had to adjust the gearlinkage
I think if I had left the gear adjustment alone and shaved a bit off the housing itself to begin with I could have gotten reverse, too late now though!
Massive headache at mo and I am off work today, will try to sort it when I feel better...
I am really NOT looking forward to fitting mine now
:cry:
I am really NOT looking forward to fitting mine now
:cry:
If you do, just fit the gearstick first and test it before fitting the smaller gearlink. It sould just be some cars have a setup that's not favourable.
I think I have sussed it now, but it's not something I wanna repeat!
i fitted just the gear stick first without the small linkage and it still wouldnt work!
i think the problem is the angle on the new gear stick, means it changes the position of the arm under the car, thats my thoughts anyway
all i did was undo the sleeve at the gearbox end of the arm and adjust it until i got all the gears, takes a fair bit of time if you are on your own though! which i was!
i fitted just the gear stick first without the small linkage and it still wouldnt work!
i think the problem is the angle on the new gear stick, means it changes the position of the arm under the car, thats my thoughts anyway
all i did was undo the sleeve at the gearbox end of the arm and adjust it until i got all the gears, takes a fair bit of time if you are on your own though! which i was!
I think you're right with the gearstick changing the selection. I just set it up to what I thought was perfect but when trying to drive...still no reverse. It feels like it is in reverse but it isnt....still.... :(
that sounds familiar - is it you can lengthen the rod to see if that helps ?
i did that, and also twisted it a bit as it seams to sit cock-eyed with the new gear stick?!
I've put some extra length on, and twisted it both ways. One all I could get was reverse and 1st/2nd. Most of the time I can get all but reverse. Damn fiddly, I am still at it as we speak...
be interested see how this works out. i will be swapping the short shift off my williams onto the turbo this weekend and i think i'm going to swap the linkages aswell and pray for no issues :?
just to clarify, praying does not help! :( lol
and pleading with it doesnt work either, i literally begged it to stop messing me about or i was going to throw it into the windscreen!! :evil:
I am at the 'set fire to car and run naked through the streets' phase now. Been at it for 3 days and I CANNOT get all gears to work.
Swapped back to original gear link now but still no joy.
i had a few probs with the b&m, but was same as northys ..i however, chose to take a bit off the plastic stop fitted to the floor of the car.
northy decided to go another route tho, after id told him what the probs were. works fine both ways.
after fitment the gearchange felt a lot more positive, not 100% sure its any quicker to change but u dont have to move ur arm as much lol.
still...4 years and its never let me down ;)
gets fookin cold in winter tho. hehe
Right.
Decided I was being a newb and started measuring the rod position at tiny increments. It started to get closer and closer, and with the front jacked up I could start the car and try to get all the gears (reverse being the worst).
Finally, the lifting sleeve stayed up and it crunched a bit in reverse but went in! Hooray!
1 test drive later and I can get all gears, PHEW! It jumped out of reverse once so it still needs a tiny adjustment (like a twist in the rod by a max of 0.5mm) and it will be spot on!
Spotted that I need a new dogbone mount as well...anotehr job, anotehr day.
Thank God that's over!
OK, the short shift feels great now...very slick.
This one does not suffer the design flaw of some B&M's. Dons kit is fine, but as I found out it needed to have the gearshift adjusted.
Now, I think I didn't expect the adjustments I was making to make such a huge difference to the gear change, but I have learned a lesson here: Even a tiny adjustment of the rod can completely screw your gear selection.
For people planning to fit this, and you find you have to adjust the gears, please note the following:
1. Clearly marking the adjustable bar and gear link rod in relation to each other makes life a lot easier and you'll be able to work out which way to adjust a lot quicker (my first mistake!)
Good luck :D
2. Before you do anything test 5th gear is accessible and reverse. It may be that you can only get 1st and 2nd through lifting the reverse gear sleeve on the lever.
3. Bear in my that even a 1mm change in either direction on the adjustable rod makes a noticeable difference to the overrall gear selection, as such, only make small increments in each direction, testing the gears as you do each change.
4. If you choose to change the smaller link bar, be very careful with the plastic balljoint holder and the small circlip. They are fragile!
5. Make sure you have plenty of latex gloves...got through about 30 pairs doing this.
Mick fitted mine and had bother too :( gotta put standard one on for now will have more time to play with it lol.
glad you have it sorted, did you make a note of the original position so u can reset it to standard
glad you have it sorted, did you make a note of the original position so u can reset it to standard
Nope, and my OE gearstick is beyond repair now :(
I am going to have another go one day with the short link to gearbox as I am wiser on the settings now...
Just an update: Fitted new dogbone. Looks like the old one was very badly worn, probably didnt help me when fitting the gear selector in the first place.
Fitted new doggybone, now I can't get reverse again lol.
I suggest if you have a worn dogbone, refit a new one before fitting the shifter!
busterhymes
02-10-2008, 10:34
the williamsclio site should have a trophy made to be given to the person who thru all adversity and bloody bad luck got the job done and can i nominate wobba as the person to receive it i have read all his threads and its proved a cracking read but he always gets it done nice one m8 :) :)
:goodposting:
agreed, he's a stubborn little bleeder aint he :wink:
busterhymes
02-10-2008, 11:25
def that and hes a soft southerner as well must have northern ancestors way back :lol: :lol:
:wink:
on the plus side, i swapped my linkages between williams and turbo last weekend, both slotted on and worked fine first time, no adjustment :P 8)
lol thanks lads! I am under the car as we speak trying to get all my gears sorted again before the rain!
ARRRGH it is annoying but I am soooo close now! Just taking a gander at the track rods too. No idea what to do but I'll give it a go.
Right, well I have just finished with setting up the gears again and I am happy to report: I can get reverse again!
It is better than it was before. I think I could get it perfect, but the adjustment needed is so tiny (about a 5th of a mm) thats it is very hard to do! I pushed the clevis bar into the gear selection lever a bit more too, by about 3/4 of a cm.
Its much easier when you have done it before :)
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