Rod shifter ??? Ball and socket

[SHO me the $$$$$$]

Been reading through the past posts and the references to a "sloppy" shifter is all I see related to the "Ball and socket" replacement. My problem is this.... First gear, and all top gears are no problem... but bottom gears esspecialy 2nd seem to travel too far and almost contact the steel floor plate... definetly hits the plastic cover........ BUT, it's like it has two positions, if I am very gentle, I can shift into second gear and in the first position, or click, and the distance between the steel looks to be about right. I can then pull it again a little bit further... second position. This is not the case with the upper gears. Any idea where I should look first ???? Thought I would ask here before getting underneath tonight and wasting time searching for something that is not known.

Thanks in advance to all that can offer assistance.

 

[Shoaz]

Make certain that everything is intact and tight at the connections at the tranny. Once in a while the boss where the stabilizer bolts to the tranny gets broken, and that might lead to what you're seeing. In any case, if the stabilizer rod and the shifter rod are tight at the tranny then check the fasteners at the shifter end (the main ones are two nuts underneath).

If it's none of those then you can check the play in the ball and socket pretty easily.

 

[SHO me the $$$$$$]

Thanks Shoaz..... I will be checking that as well as the actual stabilizer rod, as it rotted thru a couple years back.... I splinted it with a couple pieces of angle iron and 3 clamps ! (could fine a replacement at the time.... even on here) Has held quite nicley and I dont think that is the culprit...but ??? I dont drive her real hard and the last time I was underneath (fixing rotten brake lines) I looked atn the tranny in particulr because I thought I saw a leak.... not. Thanks again ! Just wanted to make sure it wasnt something obvious before I get into it.

Scott

 

[93MTXSHO_STUD]

i dont think it has to do with the ball and joint on the rod shifter. I have a little slop in my shifting so i took it completely apart and cam to a conclusion that it was the problem. I am leaning my towards the u-joint near the tranny that provides the unwanted slop. I havent tested this though.

 

[rktmn]

One of the biggest culprits of a sloppy shifter is the rubber bushing at the tranny input shaft and shifter rod. All you need to do to coonfirm this is to get under your car, grab the shifter rod and shake it. If the rubber bushing is worn, the shifter rod will move all over the place

If you have the original rubber bushing, it will probably be worn out.

I have experimented with several different materials to replace this bushing, aluminum, polyethelyne and delrin.

Here is a link to the aluminum bushing installation on my SHO.

http://groups.msn.com/JoseAFernandez/atxshoswaptomtx.msnw?Page=2

I have since stopped making the aluminum bushing, and I am now using Delrin.

My Delring bushing will take out all the play at this conection. It will tighten your shifts and make them more precise.

There is another rivet at this connection which will also create some shifting sloppiness. I plan to address this one soon.

Check it out.

jose

 

[SHO me the $$$$$$]

Thanks again ! The big question is the fact that it seems like it has two positions.... not as much sloppy and only the lower gears (2-4-R) The car is totally original so I'm sure all of that is my proble... I will know more this weekend !