Rod Shifter Help Needed!

[shosound]

I have a '93 MTX with the rod shifter. My exhaust 'fell' off last week and knocked my rod shifter loose. If I grab ahold of the rod I can freely move it in and out of the tranny almost an inch! When I go in reverse it grinds for a little. My question is what holds this in side the tranny? How do I reatach it? Is there somethign probably broken floating inside my tranny now? Please help me as I know nothing about this shifter.


(Edit Okay I see now, it needs to be able to move a little in & out of the tranny(I said I knew nothing about these). But I still hear and feel grinding inside the shifter linkage(little black plastic box under the shifter) when I move in start to move in reverse gear. This ONLY happens in reverse. What is happening in there?

 

[shosound]

Okay I read the Sticky on fixing the loose rod shifter. I don't see any bolts holding the rod into the tranny still though. I see the bolts on the U-joint but that won't help. Again the whole shaft will move in & out of my tranny.

Does ANYONE have any pictures of these bolts?

 

[shosound]

pics!

Alright, here is the tranny side of the shaft

the bolt in the upper right, is this what I have to remove? Does this bolt hold the shaft in?
that is my drain plug in the lower right if you are wondering


Here's the shifter side

Is there something on this end that should keep the shaft from sliding in & out? I know these aren't the best pics, but I took them in a hurry at work. Is this shaft supposed to move in& out? I wouldn't think so

 

[TYSHO]

If I grab ahold of the rod I can freely move it in and out of the tranny almost an inch!

That's normal, you're just doing it at the rod under the car instead of using the shifter.

But I still hear and feel grinding inside the shifter linkage(little black plastic box under the shifter) when I move in start to move in reverse gear. This ONLY happens in reverse. What is happening in there?

Do you know if you had this problem before? Are you putting it in another gear before trying reverse? Reverse is not synchronized and will grind if you try to engage too quickly without putting it in a foward gear first. Push the clutch pedal down, engage 3rd gear, take it out and go to reverse, all while the clutch pedal remains pushed down. See if this makes the problem go away. If it doesn't, and it popped up with the exhaust hitting the black box, I would check the retaining nuts/bolts for that part of the shifter being held up.

 

[shosound]

I always go into 2nd before reverse, and this problem started the day my exhaust got knocked off by a curb(parking brake gave out) This isn't the normal grind from going straight to reverse and trying to go. This sound is actually coming from the shifter. I might be crazy, let me know if you think so. I am almost deaf and have a hard time finding noises. But I do swear that it is something in the shifter linkage.

 

[TYSHO]

Take off the ****, boot, console cover, then the bolts retaining the actual shifter lever. If it was me, that's what I'd do and check out the actual lever and make sure it's still intact. I never had this problem or know the symptom, but maybe it's all broke inside the black box.

 

[shosound]

alright, thanks. I guess I'll have to tear into it tomorow.

 

[shosound]

well circumstances didn't allow me to get into it today but I have another question for you TY. I have noticed that if I slam on the gas and let off quickly while in 2nd gear ro reverse, that the shifter 'pops' up a little. I am starting to lean towards the idea that my rod shifter isn't going all the way into gear in the tranny. I felt underneath the car and nothing feels loose, but I can easily be wrong. If I want to disconnect the rod system to check on it further how do I remove it from the tranny? Also could this all be caused by a loose tranny mount? where is it to check it?

Support bar is easy, one bolt. But removing the actual shift rod from the tranny. Do I seperate the U-Joint? And if I do, where, cause mine is held together with pins, not bolts and they don't look removable unless I drill them out. Sorry to sound like such a noob, but every MTX I have ever worked on had a cable shifter, this is all greek to me

 

[TYSHO]

I have noticed that if I slam on the gas and let off quickly while in 2nd gear ro reverse, that the shifter 'pops' up a little.

That can be due to worn out subframe bushings and/or motor mounts.

If I want to disconnect the rod system to check on it further how do I remove it from the tranny? Also could this all be caused by a loose tranny mount? where is it to check it?

Remove the shift **** handle, this allows the shifter to drop out of the car with the whole assembly. Then remove the support bar bolt, nut holding the shift rod to the shaft in the transmission [you can see this nut right behind the rubber boot on the transmission in your first picture posted in this thread], and the 2 nuts behind the black box. From there, the shifting assembly will come right out, but you shouldn't need to do this. I would just check and make sure those 2 nuts behind the box are tight and secure, along with the other nut and bolt required to drop the assembly.

The transmission mount is located on the drivers side, behind the tire when looking right at it from the side of the car. You will see it bolted up on the frame by 2 bolts, and is black. I had the bolts for this loose, but never had that problem you are having, just clunking noise when getting on the gas everytime.

Support bar is easy, one bolt. But removing the actual shift rod from the tranny. Do I seperate the U-Joint? And if I do, where, cause mine is held together with pins, not bolts and they don't look removable unless I drill them out. Sorry to sound like such a noob, but every MTX I have ever worked on had a cable shifter, this is all greek to me

The above instructions on removing the assembly should cover this. You don't need to drill out anything, as the shifting rod is held in by a bracket piece with a stud going through the shaft and having another bracket slid over with a nut holding it in place. All you do is remove the nut and slide the stud back and out.

 

[shosound]

I'm still not sure which stud you are referring but I will attempt tomorow. So I can just slide the shaft right out of the tranny right, U-joint and all. I don't see any bracket other than one that looks like a tranny mount, it has a bolt close to the shaft but not quite close enough. It's the bolt in the right side of my 1st picture

 

[shosound]

Well I dug into it thismorning. I think my tranny is going honestly. There is almost no play in my rod system, a really small amount. And even if I go under the car and throw the rod as hard as I can into reverse it still grinds when I go to move. Tranny is the only thing I can see that would cause that. Any difference of opinions would be appreciated. Thanks for the help TYSHO!

 

[TYSHO]

When I go in reverse it grinds for a little.

And even if I go under the car and throw the rod as hard as I can into reverse it still grinds when I go to move.

So is it grinding when you put it in gear, or when you think you have it in gear and try to drive off?

I doubt your exhaust pipe had anything to do with this. It sounds like you have a clutch going out, which is the reason you have a hard time engaging reverse. Do your other gears feel notchy when trying to engage?

 

[shosound]

This car has never ben real easy to find gears in(I have always driven mTX'S) i TOO DOUBT THAT THE EXHAUST DID THIS, JUST A COINCIDENCE ON TIMING i GUESS. (damm caps lock) It grinds when I think I have it in gear and try to move. It moves like it is in gear, just makes a horrible noise. For now I am trying not to use reverse. You really think it'd just be a clutch? I'd figure that the noise is the tranny chewing itself up

 

[TYSHO]

Is it easy to put in gear with the car off? Sounds like the other problem you're having is you think it's in gear when you hit that dead end like feel from the notchy shifting, but it's not actually in gear completey. When that happens, it pops the synchronizer back [moving the shifter back] when you release the clutch and you get grinding. Sounds like it's time for a clutch. Is the pedal stiff?

 

[shosound]

it feels the same to me weather the car is off or on. I have had this car for 2 years now, I am going just as far back as I always have(as far as it goes) The pedal is a little soft if anything. I know the clutch was replaced around 50k ago, but that means nothing. I'd hate to replace the clutch only to find out that the tranny is junk, I've ben there before. How does a clutch make it so that reverse does not engage all the way but the other gears do.