Gear selector stuck

you will now need to drop the Cambio oil pan and figure out why the shifter is stuck. Get a gallon of gear oil too.

 

What type of gear oil should he get?

 

There’s the through bolt with a nut that connects the two linkages from the bar that just outside the engine block and the linkage that goes into the block and tranny. Sometimes the nut gets loos or fell off . Jack up the car and look under there where the linkage are, this is actually a common issue.

 

Redline MTL

 

If you do remove the gearbox sump plate watch out for the 3 springs and ball bearings that will drop out.

 

Here are a couple of pictures of the ball and spring assembly. When you go to adjust the linkage, these balls and springs need to be reinstalled to create the pressure on the shaft detents. You can rig something up or a plastic jig is available from Verell at unobtaniumsupply.com Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login

There are detailed instructions on how to adjust the linkage. Basically, underneath the car there is a hexagonal coupling with locknuts on each end. On is left hand thread and the other is right hand thread. Once you loosen these, you turn the hexagonal coupling in or out to lengthen or shorten the rods. This action will control the forward and backward motion of the gearshift lever. The side to side action is controlled by first tightening the nut next to the hexagonal coupling on the rod going into the transmission. The other nut on the rod going to the gearshift is now loosened and the shaft is turned left or right to center the gearshift lever. Little movements are required. Two people, one underneath and one in the seat looking at the gearshift lever or the use of a boroscope connected to a phone are helpful to really dial in the gearshift position. Its a back and forth adjustment that takes multiple tries. Also, when you tighten the two locknuts against the hexagonal connector the adjust tends to shift slightly. some compensation is necessary.

 

Before you drop the pan, when you are under (or borrow a snake cam to view), get someone to move the shifter left, right, forwards, backwards and watch the linkage rotate and move in/out. If the bolt/nut through the silent block link is loose/off you will see the problem. If the silent block linkage is good but not rotating and moving in/out then the connection at the shifter may be bad (something blocking movement in or behind the shifter) or there is a problem inside the gearbox and you'll have to drop the pan and have a look. If you remove the bolt through the silent block you should be able to then determine if the problem is at the shifter or inside the box. Good luck!

 

And remember, replace all the copper washers and don't over-torque the drain plug.

 

I see in the pictures that the ball bearing interacts with the 2 of the 3 gear selector shafts but the third appears to have a steel blank in place and the ball presses against the blank. Can anyone explain how that works?


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Three springs of the same length. Three balls of the same size. The only difference is how deep the balls reach into the housing. The spacer, no spacer, and a recess hole in the oil pan make the depths of reach different for each ball.

 

The first picture in post #7 shows the three balls and three springs (like the gearbox casting is invisible). The second photo is looking at the bottom end of two of the springs and the bottom of the spacer that goes under the "tallest" ball + spring (as installed in the gearbox casting -- with the pan being removed/invisible).

 

Redline is a good gear oil, also shell has their tried and true full synthetic gearbox oil. I have never heard of the shifter getting stuck in any gear, I hope you get it sorted without to much aggravation .

G

 

Thanks Steve. So if the spacer doesn’t fall out when the pan is removed it is fine to just leave in place? Here is what I found when removing the pan today in order to set my shift linkage. I had read of the 3 springs and balls so was surprised when only two springs and one ball fell out (one ball is still up in the sleeve).

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Yes, if you are just replacing the pan gasket, and it stays in place. You might try just pushing the spacer up a little, or spinning it, or poking at it with a pick some, to see if it breaks the varnish/gunk holding in and then falls out -- you don't want to come out and find that it did fall out, and the bits are lost (especially the ball).

 

Pack a bit of grease in the hole.

 

Before you do extreme work, remove the shifting gate to see if that is binding. Once free the shift