RobzWorkz #2: Shifter / shift shaft improvement

Hello again FChat,

As with several owners, I had some oil leakage from the shift shaft area. This emerged after purchasing the car and using synthetic oils. Sometimes introducing synthetics adds to leakage and thus requires intervention...this is part of owning a new-used car. As a result, I decided to improve the seals and the shifter itself. So, I ordered Verrell's quad seals and Delrin silentblock bushings and began the improvement. I also ordered T.Rutlands shift shaft kit which included OEM gaskets, seals and washers for the drain plugs (ebay item).

First thing I did was remove the passenger seat, remove the shift gate, loosen and lift the consoles out of the way. I reinstalled the shift gate for the pics. Pics show removal of forward silent block and shifter assembly.

BTW, I chose to remove the passenger seat since I gained adequate access to all interior harware while allowing me the ability to sit in the car and test the shifter when desired. I also kew that I would be driving the car to test the gearbox afterwards.
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I then disassembled the shifter assembly so as to assess need for repair. I determined that I required a new large conical spring and retainer slip ring clip for the shifter retainer. I determined that the spring that was inside the retainer (the horizontal one) for the shifter was still good. The large conical spring seen in pic 1 had enough corrosion to require replacement. BTW, be careful removing this spring since the polymer retainer, at the bottom of the shifter and retains the conical spring, is EXPENSIVE; mine was strong enough and I didn't need to replace it.

The last pic shows the assembly after I deep cleaned everything.
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As part of improving the shifter assembly, I also cut and resoldered the wires for the reverse light switch. Doing this is always an improvement for electronics, especially if you possess good soldering skills. Be sure to tin the leads prior to soldering. I only had to clean and abrade the connector pins to bring them into good shape.
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Now, the shifter horizontal shaft contained one of the old silent block bushings. I removed it and installed Verrell's Delrin version. The final pic shows the new silentblock after iterating its placement with the small and large sockets and a vise. This is similar to the common procedure for removing and installing U-joints. Note that the final removal of the old bushing required clamping with the vise and hammering through, which is why the old bushing is flattened on one end. I used duct tape on the vise to minimize scarring of the new bushing.
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Now that I had all the shifter parts freshened, I placed the parts on an old cookie sheet for storage while I went to work on the shift shaft assembly inside the oil sump and gearbox. Later, when I reinstalled these, I applied grease, etc.
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The next stage is to drain both the engine oil sump and the gearbox oil sump. Please review Birdman's tutorial on the gearbox oil change for this; it's excellent, and I will not replicate it here. Draining engine oil should be simple; if you can't do that, then please don't consider working on automobiles for any reason!

After, draining both oil types, it is necessary to remove both the gearbox and the engine oil pans. NOTE: there is a thread where Rifledriver mentions that removing the engine oil pan is not required for replacing shift shaft seals; if possible, someone please find this comment for reference and quote it, or correct my ignorance. However, for the 328, the access for the shift shaft seal seat between the two oil pans is at the oil sump side; I could see that, if using OEM seal replacements, one could remove and insert the replacement seal from the gearbox side with a little finger and a tool (I'm not that skilled, but it seems feasible), thus essentially not requireing one to remove the engine oil pan; however, using Verrell's quad seals is much more constraining with regard to installation and would be better inserted from the engine oil sump side. Thus I recommend removing the engine oil pan.

Also, since I had some stripped oil pan studs for both engine and gearbox, part of my effort was to replace them all for both oil pans (ordered from Ricambi...very good quality). Thus removing both oil pans was of benefit.

 

REMOVING THE GEARBOX OIL PAN: this is easy; just remove the stud nuts and loosen the pan. Note that, on the driver's side of the pan, there are three sets of balls and springs with a hole going up into the sump wall for each ball/spring set. Basically, there is a spring and a ball for each hole at different heights from the pan level; one of the flat stands is a small cylindrical piece that will fall out of the assembly; the others are permanent to the holes and should be easily differentiated. Upon reinstallation, each spring is placed on the flat surfaces associated with the oil pan; in other words, the balls go into the holes first. Please look closely at the assembly when removing and DRAW A PICTURE FOR REFERENCE. Picture 1 below is taken from the side with the spring/ball assembly.

When removed, you should see the shift shaft fork bolted on the shaft. This is seen in pic 2 below. The fork serves as the selector/manipulator for the gearbox network. It is recommended to have someone shift the gearbox while observing the gear selections (as well as the synchrinizers); this will enlighten one to the operation of the gearbox.

Also, when I removed my gearbox pan, I saw some "bits" present. We at FChant all agreed that these were bits of pan sealant and thus not part of the gear network...thank goodness for that. After pan removal, remove the old pan gasket and clean the pan and the gasket surface (later, just prior to installation, I cleaned both surfaces with acetone before applying gasket sealer).

Of course, I replaced all the studs here as well; basically, remove old studs with a small vice grip and install the new ones with the "double nut" method.
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REMOVING THE ENGINE OIL PAN: this is a little more detailed than the gearbox oil pan, because two items need to be removed first: the oil temperature sender on the forward wall next to the entry for the shift shaft, and the dipstick mechanism.

All tools for this are shown in pic 1 below, along with the remove engine oil pan. Removing the oil temperature sensor was done with a precise adjustable wrench.

Removing the oil dipstick was more involved, however, it was easier after I percieved some insight. Review the diagram in the last pic. Basically all you need to remove is the dipstick housing (#14: two items: the screw from above at the timing belt cover, and the hex joint at the engine sump. You DO NOT NEED TO REMOVE ITEM #36); you can use a bit of hose to remove pipe #16 as shown in pic 2 and 3 below. After the pipe is removed, you can remove the hex nuts for the oil pan. HOWEVER: I found that I needed to remove the center rearward stud in order to fully remove the engine oil pan. Take your time here, and draw/remember everything!. The 4th pic below shows the stud I had to remove...it's the longest (i.e., removed and loosely reinserted) one.


NOTE: the shift shaft does NOT need to be removed to remove the engine oil pan.
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Now is the time to remove the shift shaft itself. First you need to remove the bolt through the silentblock just forward the engine oil sump. Then you can remove the boot at the sump itself.

Also, since I removed the shift shaft at the shifter and the shifter itself, I had plenty of room to move the loose shaft well into the interior. Pics 1 and 2 show this. This provided PLENTY OF ROOM to remove the shift shaft from the sumps. I also found that this was enough space to reinstall after installeng the new seals (several threads emerged with mitigation techniques for creating room for the removal/installation of the shift shaft; these ranged from setting the shifter in 2nd gear to relaxing the engine by loosening an engine mount; thus if you will remove the shifter in the interior and clean it--which is a good practice--you should be able to make room for the removal/install of the shift shaft itself; this also preserves the intermediate shaft adjustment at the turnbucle).

The last pic shows that I marked the fork end of the shift shaft so as to be able to reinstall the shift fork close enough to work the gearbox (I did adjust later with a friend anyway).
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After removing the shift shaft, I removed the old silent block and installed Verrel's Delrin bushing. I used the same method (similar to conventional removal and installation of U-jounts) described before.
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The next step was to remove the old shift shaft seals and install Verrell's quad seals. To remove old seals, I just use needlenose pliers...just pull on rubber only; try not to touch metal. Some have chosen to remove the thrust washers; I decided mine were installed strong enough not to remove.

The first pic shows the seal between the engine oil and gearbox oil sumps. You can see the thrust washer in front. The third pic is a close up of this. The same configuration exists outside the engine oil sump, but is difficult to photograph.

The second pic shows the access holes through the forward wall of the engine oil sump viewed from the sump itself (looking forwaed). The larger hole is for the shift shaft; the smaller is for the oil temperature sensor.

The last pic is of the removed OEM seal and placed on a socket of like size (you will need to improvise here since sockets vary in outer diameter). Next to the seal/socket is the cap for the engine oil that I used for soaking the new seal.

To install Verrell's quad seals, soak in engine oil and then insert with modest effort into the seal seat (behind the thrust washer of course); this may take some repetition so try not to cut/scratch the seal. Once it's in, it will settle in a little.
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Once the seals have been installed (it feels like magic until you actually do it), then it's time to reinsert the shift shaft. This can pose difficulty since the quad seals are too narrow to simply insert the shaft. Thus you have to utilize a properly-shaped socket to assist with the insertion. Basically, use a socket that is as wide as the shift shaft at maximum diamater and tapers enough so as to enter the inner diameter of the seal. Then apply significant pressure (apply lots of engine oil to the surfact to minimize friction and pressure) to insert the shift shaft.

Pic 1 shows inserting the shift shaft with the proper socket (you will have to inspect your own sockets for this since you are using outer diameters vice inside distances which are what is used to identify the socket size...spend quality time determining proper socket size).

Pic 2 shows the shift shaft having been inserted from outside the engine oil sump.

Pic 3 is just a "cute" pic showing the socket used.

Pic 4 shows full shift shaft insertion prior to installing the shifter fork (this pic looks reversed because it was taken upside down).
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After inserting the shift shaft, it is time to reinstall and torque the shifter fork. Basically, I set the fork as it was when I removed, using my markings on the shaft as a guide. This is the first iteration since, after I reinstall the shifter mechanism, I will have a friend shift the car so that I can inspect and optimize the position of the fork for proper shifting. Installing the fork at the known mark position is a good first cut at installation.

Since I could not discern the applicable torque from the manuals, I used the "un-torquing" value as a guide when I un-installed it...basically, 20-24 ft-lbs was what I used to torque the fork to the shift shaft. This process can be seen in the pic below.
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After installing the seals and the shift shaft, I installed the rubber boot at the sump. I also replaced the rubber boot going into the interior space from under the car. It was difficult to install this boot since it would not expand to the size of the fork; so, I sliced it enough to expand it and installed it and used wirewraps to hold it together to protect from debris entering the interiorr; I felt this was sufficient for protecting the shaft and the interior (my experience says that you will have to disassemble the intermediate shaft adjustment bolt turnbuckle to install an unaltered boot, which I felt was overkill). I then reconnected the intermediate shaft by bolting in the Delrin silent blocks.

Before reinstalling the shifter assembly, I applied lithium grease to the large conical spring and inside the spring-loaded snap ring retained shifter retainer. Inserting and retaining the shifter was a bear to do, but persistence was rewarded herein.

After all was installed, I had a friend shift the gearbox while I adjusted the fork and monitored for proper shifting.
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As I was removing the dipstick assembly, I discovered that the retainer piece at the timing belt cover was broken. I thus brazed a new piece of steel so as to be able to mount the dipstick onto the timing belt cover. I had to do some cool shaping with the air grinder to get it to look concourse. I also painted it black for looks as well.
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Now that all was done, I reinstalled the oil pans. Recall the following caveats:

1. to reinstall the engine oil pan, remove/reinstall the rear-most middle stud (if necessary...it was for me), insert the oil pan and install nuts and stud.

2. when installing gearbox oil pan, I used a piece of thin cardboard to hold the balls and springs (I was able to keep one set ready by balancing); if you can't install by holding the ball/springs as you do it, then try holding the ball/spring sets in with thick grease).

3. when installing pan gaskets, place only a light coat of sealer (Permatex Ultra Black is what I used; you can also use Hondabond HT) on each side of the gaskets. Clean the metal surfaces with acetone first.

4. I used "judgement torque" on the oil pan stud nuts: my torque value was aroung 10 ft lbs, however, that was at the lower limit of my torque wrench (thus not to be fully trusted); so, I used repeated hand torques to keep everything about equal (still around 10 ft-lbs); however, a couple of the stud nuts didn't seat so as to cause the wrench to give at torque, thus I only used hand gauging. I haven't seen leaks yet, but, if some arrive, I will increase the hand torque.

5. I also reinstalled mt center console. I will install the seat after a test drive.
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Final steps included reinstalling dipstick and oil temperature sensor and refilling both engine oil and gear oil. Again, please refer to Birdman's page for refilling gear oil and the Owner's Manual for engine oil.

This was done early in April as I was completing my bodywork effort (see RobzWorkz #1).

----30 April 2010----
Today, I test drove the vehicle. All wet very well. My only improvements would be:

a. to try using the anti-slip Redline gear oil.

b. my shift gate seems about 1/16" off, which is likely due to my friend not thinking about it while I was adjusting the shift fork. Basically, I would like to "move the shift gate back" by 1/16" to prevent any wear of the shifter from rubbing the shift gate lobes. All else is excellent. I got a little give by repositioning the shift gate and tightening the screws in order, however, the optimim method would be to adjust the intermediate shaft turnbuckle; I don't need to do this as yet, since all works well.

c. install my passenger seat tomorrow.

 

You're lucky... I wasn't when I R&R'd my shifter mechanism a few years ago The plastic was too old and brittle.

This is a great write-up with great photos. Thanks for posting.

 

Great write-up, will help a lot of people.

What is your experience with regard to shifting effort with the quad seals vs. original?

 

I didn't notice any difference in shifting. However, I hadn't driven enough to get a sufficient sense of driving. I think the seals are worth the effort.

Rob

 

Nice GT4 Peter.

Ferrari may have changed the material as well by the time the 328 was produced...don't know.

 

MODs,

This needs to go "Up stairs" in the new "how to" sticky. VERY GOOD write up.

 

yeah one of the best 'how-to' write ups I've ever seen, nice!

Just had Verrell's quad seals installed in my QV, looking forward to trying them out hopefully in a week or two!
cheers

 

That's what I was thinking.

 

I was one of those owners and had my O-Rings replaced with Quad-Rings 4 1/2 years ago. There has been no leakage since then.

Nice write-up, Rob!

Barry
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