gear stick disconnected; help

[fredlfb]

i recently bought a 1976 2002. it is fully functional with a little body damage and a few quarks.

the gear stick has become disconnected. on a drive across town, i heard a faint rattling directly underneath the gear stick. i immediately drove it home to investigate what the problem was. the rattling became louder and when i was about 2 blocks from my house, the gear stick became wobbly and was disconnected.

i am not very familiar with car language. i bought this particular car in the hopes of educating myself on methods of fixing and maintaining my own car (along with having a long-standing love of this particular car). when i went to figure out how to go about fixing it myself, i quickly realized that i am almost completely auto-illiterate.

if anyone out there has a suggestion for what the problem may be and the language used to evaluate and fix the problem, i would be so grateful.

thank you

[GreenSwede]

Where is it unattached?

You can get an idea from this picture, but you´ll have to get under there and have a look. A bit of a pain since the exhaust and the drive shaft is in the way. But take a look. Maybe one of the clips holding the lever between the gearbox and the stick came loose?

For more info try a site search on gear linkage.

Good luck!

[fredlfb]

thank you

yes. first thing i did was look under the car and if i knew car terminology i would be able to specify. what i can say is that it seems to be disconnected at a place where a socket-looking piece detached from a bolt.

it comes down from the gear stick handle to a bearing and then a piece is connected to the bearing at a 90 degree angle. at the end of that rod (about 10-12 inches long) is a socket which is not connected to anything.

i cant figure out where the socket is supposed to attach and what i would need to attach it. it is also difficult to see fully because a large cylindrical part is blocking most of the view.

i don't fully understand the picture. it isn't clear which part of the picture is the part that is disconnected on the gear stick.

feedback is helpful

thanks again.

[Guest Anonymous]

I'd bet it is parts 5 and 6 that came apart, but the picture doesn't help much. There is a knuckle joint that is held together by a pin on each end. The pins are held in by a springy collar, cylindrical, that fits over the whole joint. The collar has come off, or has rotated enough that one of the pins fell out and the joint came apart.

[Guest Anonymous]

a little more in hopes that a hundred words are worth one good picture: the joint is what holds a rod from the tranny and a rod from the shifter together. each rod has a ball with a hole through it at it's end. The rods come together inside a cylinder that is 2 or 3 inches long and an inch or so diameter. the pins hold the rods in the cylinder. The collar is slit so it can open enough to go over that cylinder, holding the pins in place. Crystal clear?

[mnicktow]

+1 for number 4, 5 and 6. the clrclip that keeps the pin held in place moves and allows the pin to wiggle out. if you got lucky and the pin is still there push it back into postion and buy a new circlip

[Mike Self]

If the shift lever just flops around as if it isn't attached to anything, it probably isn't attached to anything. On the bottom end of you shift lever is a peg, which fits into a bushing that's welded to the rod that connects the shift lever to the transmission. The peg is held in the bushing with a circlip--bet it's popped off. You should be able to attach a new one with the car up on stands by reaching around the driveshaft and exhaust.

Good luck

mike

[MikeWooldridge]

I think you are saying #10 has separated from #11. That happened to me. If so, I'll post the how- to.

[sislane]

I think you are saying #10 has separated from #11. That happened to me. If so, I'll post the how- to.

Mike, I'd like to see that even if its not his problem. I have a spare assembly that has separated.

Scott

[jgerock]

[BillWilliams]

Scott, Mike may have a trick up his sleeve but #10 and #11 where originally held together by friction between the rubber grommets and the metal/chrome surround. The metal surround begins to spin around the shift lever when the rubber ages and hardens.

[M3M3M3]

thank you

yes. first thing i did was look under the car and if i knew car terminology i would be able to specify. what i can say is that it seems to be disconnected at a place where a socket-looking piece detached from a bolt.

it comes down from the gear stick handle to a bearing and then a piece is connected to the bearing at a 90 degree angle. at the end of that rod (about 10-12 inches long) is a socket which is not connected to anything.

i cant figure out where the socket is supposed to attach and what i would need to attach it. it is also difficult to see fully because a large cylindrical part is blocking most of the view.

i don't fully understand the picture. it isn't clear which part of the picture is the part that is disconnected on the gear stick.

feedback is helpful

thanks again.

the #1 way to help us help you is to take pictures of your problem and post link to them.

[MikeWooldridge]

Scott, Mike may have a trick up his sleeve but #10 and #11 where originally held together by friction between the rubber grommets and the metal/chrome surround. The metal surround begins to spin around the shift lever when the rubber ages and hardens.

No trick. You are absolutely right. I really do not like this shift lever. It's a b...to get it back on, but here goes for those who might face the same problem.

Alignment and placement of the rubber grommet and metal washer are key.

Start by inserting the greased up rubber in the aluminum shift lever (#11 in the diagram), noting the grooves are aligned properly, then place the metal washer in the groove on #11. Mine had become quite loose in the groove and was not staying put, so I carefully crimped the aluminum to hold it in place. This is critical as without it in that groove, the lever will wobble and shifting is next to impossible. Note the position of the protruding pins on #10 and carefully push #11 onto the short shift lever (#10). Once it reaches bottom, you may have to move it slightly to get it the rest of the way on. Don't use a BFH, but tap it into place. You should be able to feel it bottom out when correct. Then check to see that the washer is still in place.

All should be good.

[sislane]

Scott, Mike may have a trick up his sleeve but #10 and #11 where originally held together by friction between the rubber grommets and the metal/chrome surround. The metal surround begins to spin around the shift lever when the rubber ages and hardens.

No trick. You are absolutely right. I really do not like this shift lever. It's a b...to get it back on, but here goes for those who might face the same problem.

Alignment and placement of the rubber grommet and metal washer are key.

Start by inserting the greased up rubber in the aluminum shift lever (#11 in the diagram), noting the grooves are aligned properly, then place the metal washer in the groove on #11. Mine had become quite loose in the groove and was not staying put, so I carefully crimped the aluminum to hold it in place. This is critical as without it in that groove, the lever will wobble and shifting is next to impossible. Note the position of the protruding pins on #10 and carefully push #11 onto the short shift lever (#10). Once it reaches bottom, you may have to move it slightly to get it the rest of the way on. Don't use a BFH, but tap it into place. You should be able to feel it bottom out when correct. Then check to see that the washer is still in place.

All should be good.

Thanks Mike, Thanks Bill-

Scott

[fredlfb]

thank you all. this is extremely helpful information. the picture helps.

now i just need to locate the pieces i need.

so grateful for this forum.