Floppy Gear Lever

suffolkpete

Member
I was out this afternoon and all of a sudden, just as I was changing from first to second the gearlever went all loose and I found I could wave it about without it doing anything useful. After a bit of experimentation, I found that by pulling up on the gearlever, I could change gear, albeit in a rather hit and miss fashion. What has happened is that the lever has dropped and fallen right through the remote shaft bush. The plastic(?) bush that the lever sits in seems to have disintegrated and the little plastic blob on the lower end of the lever seems a bit chewed. What do I need to fix this? I seem to recall that there are two types of lever, one like mine with a plastic "blob" that runs direct in the metal bush on the remote shaft and a metal "blob" that has a plastic insert in the remote shaft. Are these interchangeable? The car is a 1974 2200SC.
 
The gearlever sits in a spherical seat 571933 below (V8 shown, but the same)

http://www.rover-classics.co.uk/images/ ... ly_jpg.htm

If the gearlever has a plastic acorn on the bottom it runs directly in the selector rod, if the bottom of the lever is steel, then there is a plastic bush in the selector rod. The gearlevers/selector rods are interchangable as pairs. 2200 should have the long gearlever.
 
Thanks Harvey. One thing I'm not clear about is how to determine whether the "acorn" is worn. Should it be able to pass through the bush on the selector rod? If it needs to be replaced, do I have to replace the complete lever?
 
The normal problem with the plastic acorns is that they fall off altogether, and then it's a new gearlever unless you can make something to do the job. They don't normally wear much when they're there. I can't say I've tried to push one all the way through the selector rod, but if there is a lot of play then it wants replacing. You won't have a bush in the selector rod unless there's a mismatch of parts on yours (assuming you have a plastic acorn) if not then I'd say the metal acorns don't wear at all.
 
I had this happen to me on the maiden trip after purchasing my TC in the next state. The plastic Socket had worn completely out. Still managed to shift it and get it home
 
The problem I have now is that there is a loud irritating rattle from the gear lever at certain speeds which stops when I rest my hand on the lever. I have no difficulty in selecting the gears. Is there something else in the mechanism that needs replacing and if so can I get at it without removing the gearbox?
 
i have the same problem a rattle / buzzing. I have replaced the linkage bushes and also the part you have just replaced the white plastic cup. I also made and added a spring loaded nylon damper to drag on the selector rod.

IMG-20130202-00055_zpsbb4c7ca1.jpg


The gearshift is excellent, the buzzing only starts above 50-60mph. As you say if you put finger pressure at the base of the lever ( through the gaiter) it stops. It's bloody irritating though.
 
Don't know if this will help your problem, but when I replaced the plastic socket, I coated it thoroughly with heavy silicone paste to reduce wear and eliminate vibration.
 
instead of opening a new thread i want to use this for discribing my problem:

gear selection was never precise since i purchased the car...gearlever is a bit floppy, but not extreme. what i regonized is that selcting 1st and 3rd gets worse when engine has warmed up. its even so critical that engaging 1st from neutral is impossible (like its blocked)

reverse is always fine!!! (more or less the easiest "gear")

first i thought...ok...clutch mechanisam...checked for extraordinary play: none. bleed hydraulics several times (normal bleedig, reverse bleeding, bleeding with blocked release lever)...no improvement.

recognized when i shift very slow and try to find the correct "lane" where the 3rd is located the gear falls-in easily.

this let me think that my shift mechanism is worn.

so now what i need to do first? and what do i need to do next? please dont tell me the gearbox needs to come out....
 
V8 4 speed manual I presume.

When you have the difficult engagement, have you tried switching the engine off to see if that improves matters. If so it's either that the spigot bearing running clearance is too tight, or the clutch pedal height and linkage isn't set correctly. The former needs the box to come out unless you're prepared to run EP90 in the box instead of 20/50. The linkage is all external.

The play in the lever and linkage could be the lever itself, the spherical seat it sits in, the bushes in the selector rod, or the selector striker lever, all or any of which could be worn. The box doesn't have to come out to fix any of the above, but it does have to be dropped down enough at the back to reach over to remove the remote if it's the selector rod bushes or the selector striker lever at fault.
 
as nobody touched clutch pedal height and its linkage and the problem gets worse the more milesd the car collects (and the more sloppy the gear-shift feels) i think foirst step will be removing centre console check spherical seat of shifter. than i need to figure out how to drop the gearbox. i guess for tilting the engine/gearbox downwards, the radiator needs to come out for that? or is it enough to remove cooling fan?exhaust needs to be disconnected too?
 
than i need to figure out how to drop the gearbox. i guess for tilting the engine/gearbox downwards, the radiator needs to come out for that? or is it enough to remove cooling fan?exhaust needs to be disconnected too?

Exhaust front pipes and propshaft off, disconnect speedo cable and reverse light wires, remove air cleaner and horizontal throttle rod, disconnect top hose at rad, then turn the fan so that the widest gap between two blades is at the bottom, that way the fan will clear the rad there, and the top blade will hit the fan shroud as you lower the engine back so you don't tilt the engine too far. If you do go too far back it will break the petrol reserve tap. Then support the back of the box, remove the gearbox mounting and lower it down. Then reach over the top of the box from the back to remove the remote. And if I haven't forgotten anything, that's it.
 
any chance getting a 2nd hand remote somewhere? so i could refurb that in advance, as my time on the ramps would be limited and the car needs t be repaired as quick as possible.
 
that would be fine! so please figure out the transport costs.

what came up my mind:

has anybody tried to drill / cut inspection holes in the propshaft tunnel, in the area where the remote fixing bolts are located?

so I could remove the bolts from inside the car and remove the remote without tilting engine/gearbox? tilting the box is only necessary to get access to the bolts-right?
 
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I think you would still have to tilt the engine to get the remote out. You can check the bushes by looking up into the remote from under the car. I wouldn't bother trying to source a second hand remote, it only takes a few minutes to change the bushes once you've removed the remote.
 
but at least i do not need to tilt it as much, i guess....so maybe less parts to be disconnected.

anyway...i prefer the spare-remote way...so i can improve the remote by adding an extra guiding and in case something else would be damaged (like worn selector rod ) i would not get into trouble....as said, i have only limited access to ramps....so once the remote is out i may have, lets say, max. 15min time until i need to start re-assembling.

@harvey: please check if you have a remote available.
 
probem found....my car has the plastic /rubber acron type end on gear lever.....half of it was gone.

now the question is:

can i use a metal type acron, but WITHOUT plastic bush in selector rod eyelet, as i do not want to machine the eylet bigger for using te plastic bush?

it might be noisy, i know (metal to metal )...but are the diameters of the plastic acron and metal acron the same?
 
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