Hello All, This is a photo of the stick on my '78 GTS. There is wear on the stick since it has been banging against the gate for about 27 years. As you can see from the notch, this is primarily from going into and out of first gear. Should I be concerned? I realize it took a long time (34,000 miles) to get this much wear but I would like to avoid the embarrassment of it breaking at an always inopportune moment. Would it be expensive/difficult to do? Thanking you all in advance for your expert help. Yours, Tom Image Unavailable, Please Login
someone cut the stick out to help with the shifting. supposedly this modification helps with the 1st to 2nd shift and will help with the stiff 2nd gear problem when the gearbox is cold. it looks too clean to be from wear. i would not worry about it.
Wow that is a LOT of wear. The shifter shafts have a very hard surface and should last a very long time, longer than 34k miles I would think. Does your car shift free and smooth or is it very notchy? With the shifter in neutral is it "centered" in the shift gage pattern, it should be in the middle between first and second gear and not be against the gate plate. If it's against any part of the gate plate in neutral then some adjustment is needed. I would consider replacing the shifter shaft once everything is verified as okay. I've not seen this problem....hope some others out there chime in here.
That wear does look excessive.I have seen a few companies selling an H gate with the corners machined to make shifting a smoother afare.I know hill engineering do them because I have just ordered one.
That does not look like wear. Someone modified it. It looks like it will hold up for a long time. My 77 has 50k miles and has "0" wear on the shifter.
I have this photo to look at in a few years and compare. That modification suggestion sounds reasonable since the gate is not worn, only the stick. It shifts very smoothly since. Clutch, flywheel, pressure plate and other things new about two years ago. Thanks again for your help and a safe, healthy Happy New Year to All!! Tom
If the width of that groove lines up perfectly with the top and bottom surfaces of the shift gate plate (at the various positions), I'd guess "wear". If, when in the second and third gear positions, the shift lever is biased hard against the slot on the grooved side (or would be if that groove wasn't there), you might need/try an adjustment in the shift shaft linkage (but this is not easy IME). Also, on even a well-adjusted system I believe it's possible to intentionally force the stick over to either side of any slot so it could just be operator technique (if the stick centering sans groove seems good). Regardless, you should wipe a little light lubricating oil around the inside perimeter of the shift gate plate and on the OD of the stick in that area occasionally -- i.e., wiping off all of the oil with a glass cleaner "windex" type product to shine the chrome aggrevates the wear. The top of the shift gate can be oil-free, but the inside edges shouldn't be oil-free -- JMO.
I had the shifter in my 348 break on me TWICE. Both times I was lucky enough to be two blocks from home. It is not a fun time. Especially when your friend is in the passenger seat laughing his ass off. You should change it out for a new/used one ASAP, and make sure that the shifter is adjusted properly. Other wise you may get stranded away from home.
I wonder if adding a metal hardner to your existing stick or welding (cold welding, perhaps) a small collar over it might be in order??
That's a great tech tip. That's the sort of thing that *should* have been in a good Owner's Manual in the first place.
There is no way that is from wear. That was very obviously cut into your shifter with some sort of grinder, like thecarreaper first stated. Just look at the surface of the cut area....it is not smooth and uniform like it would be from wear, it is rough and has many different "levels", where the disk of the grinding wheel cut away a little more in some places, a little less in others. Metal-to-metal wear will smooth and polish BOTH surfaces invloved, NOT roughly cut into one of them selectively. One other point is that the shifter and the gate are made of materials of about the same hardness, so if it were from wear the gate would be worn in an amount roughly equal to the shifter. Unless you have a diamond-abrasive coated gate, I would say this is a modification done by a previous owner! I can't speak to how strong the remaining shifter is or how likely it is to break, though. As long as you are not yanking on it too hard, I would think it will be ok, but maybe you would want to change it just for peace of mind?
Its wear related & I have seen worse so much so it was only looking at a broken shifter that gave it away. Our metallurgy lab found that the shift gate is case hardened carbon steel that is hard chrome plated. The shift shaft is made from a Ferritic stainless steel that is also hard chrome plated. The problem is the hard chrome against the hard chrome - the shaft is in contact the hardest on the one place in the 1-2 and the 3-4 shifts - this is the area that gets the most contact hence the wear. The shaft still remains soft underneath the hard chrome hence once it wears thought the surface, wear is greatly accelerated. If you look on the other side of the shaft you may also see slight evidence of wear but not as great. (4-3 and 2-1 shifts) Steve hit the nail on the head with the suggestion of lubrication. Any lubrication is better than none - I always suggest a little molybdenum disulfide grease as this works best for us. The best bit of advice would be on the back of Ernies experience by making sure you have the means of getting the shift gate off and a set of grips in the boot of the car just in case it does decide to break 100 miles from home! I dont personally think that you will have to worry about it at the moment & providing you lubricate the area and keep an eye on it will probably last for some time. Paul
Paul is absolutely spot-on. My 348 had similar wear. As Paul states the chrome surface is extremely hard and will negate any wear. If the chrome plate breaks down on the shifter, you will get wear as shown. On my 348 I machined a thin walled nylon bushing. Slipped the bushing over the shift shaft and let it float. It acts as a bearing. I also stripped the chrome from my gate, polished the inside surfaces that contact the shift lever and had the unit industrial hard chromed. Eliminates wear and actually allows easier shift action due to reduced friction. Cannot be seen unless you look closely at in the gate. Worked for me for 10k miles and 2 years thus far.
The gate is also worn on the "inside" corresponding to the wear on the stick. I got another possible situation. Did someone do this to accomodate the part that aligns the gears in the transmission? I realize the only way to tell is to get into the transmission and check this alignment (Yikes!!$$$) Does anyone else think this is a possibility? Thanks again for all your help!!!
i really REALLY think that someone trimmed your shifter for clearance to aid in smooth shifts. buried in the archives are several threads that show THIS EXACT MOD. the comments are in threads related to the " quick shift gates" and show both shifters and the metal gates opened up to facilitate shifting. if you have to pull on the lever hard enough to break it, even with a cut out in it, something is wrong in your transaxle. i service and repair military and business jets. i have a great deal of experience with metal fatigue and stress failures. there is NO WAY a properly working trans would require enough effort to allow you to break off the lever unless there was: 1 ) a casting flaw in that run of levers, 2) something bad wrong with the linkage / internals. even cheap metal that thick would take YEARS to break. i mean no disrespect, but i cannot believe that is from "wear". if it is, i will stick to Lambos and the really old Ferrari's. best. Michael
Grinding down the stickshift (which requires getting under the car to replace) rather than grinding down the gate is less than optimal (I'm being kind), but people do that sort of thing. To me, the front cut on the stick shift in the photo, if you look at the bottom, appears to be almost 90 degrees. But the stick shift rotates/leans, so you wouldn't get a 90 degree angle from wear. Thus, for the front notch, I'd suspect cutting. The sides could be wear or grinding. If wear, there should be metal flake dust residue all in the shifter box for quick visual confirmation. One would expect that a deliberate dremmel-grinding would have had a rag to catch such flakes, though. So if there are no flakes and no evidence of cleaning, then I'd say "deliberate" cut/grinding for the stickshift lever in the photo above. If there are flakes visible in the shift box, then I'd guess natural wear on the sides. Still, it's worth putting a little white lithium grease on your shifter and gate (or a collar). Perhaps even a little metal-hardening compound might be in order, too (for that shifter).
There must be someone out there really busy doing this mod to these shafts - I have seen at least a few hundred like it all in various degrees of depth!! I cannot really say anymore than I have - I work with these parts of the car all day long and have never seen anyone purposely modify the shaft to look like the wear pattern that I have seen over the years. I have however seen at least 6 snapped shafts due to wear against the shift gate. Have another close look at the picture and you can even see the small pieces of swarf resting on the area below - look even closer and you can see the shards of swarf still attached to the top of the groove - were did that come from if its not wear? Next time you see a 330GTC or a real early Dino that has a decent amount of miles - have a look at the gate & shifter - a 15-year-old car gate & shifter will look relatively new compared to these!! Tom - have a look at the left hand side of the shifter where the reverse lockout on the gate hits the square part of the shifter - you can even tell from the photograph you posted that even that area is badly worn - again its the same problem. Just out of curiosity - do you have to push down on your shifter to get into reverse? Paul
I agree that the metallic residue looks like wear. The notch just looks so well defined as to make me question if all of the damage is wear, or if perhaps some was drimmelled.
i have had in the last year or so : a 74 dino 308gt4 vin *09562* a 76 308 gtb vin *20433* a 78 308 gts ( with 68 ,000 miles ) vin *23785* and now 2 older Lamborghinis. not one of them had any sort of wear that is displayed as shown in your pics. i will be the first to say i could be wrong and it could be a issue limited to 348's, perhaps your car is right hand drive ??? i would have no experience with those either. but with all the vocal 308 owners on here, we would have seen or complained about worn out or broken shifters by now. i just hope it doesnt break, i would hate to visualize that happening on a spirited drive. perhaps caution is the better course and a replacement shifter lever should be sought. that way you can let us know if the new one starts to wear also. guess i should stay out of here for now on and stay in the lambos section.
the wear shown I have seen may times on severly track driven ferraris. mostly on the 355/348 challenge cars. It has not been modified, just worn through the protection in the chrome and into the softer inner metal. You should concider replacement soon before it breaks off. best regards, Jim
