Hello folks, My gearbox has always been quite rough when shifting. After reading around, I had a go at the cables. I removed them, lubricated them and put them back. The cables were almost seized to their sleeves, which was resolved by some thorough degreasing/cleaning + lubrication. Unfortunately, the overall feeling of the shifter (without turning on the car) has barely improved. At this point, I am quite baffled I was expecting it to feel silk smooth... I guess I've just fixed one of many problems. Anyway, here's a video of what's happening right now. When I am in neutral and move the gear lever left and right, it seems that sometimes it gets stuck halfway through, instead of returning to the center. This happens only when moving it rightwards (gears 4th and 5th). I have recorded a video to demonstrate what I mean: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5efnO9TPxNk I just want to mention that I have taken care of lubricating the linkage parts on both ends... both gearbox end and lever end. And also, I haven't fiddled with the cable adjustment nuts. I actually paid extra attention to leave them alone, as I know re-adjusting can be a pain. Do you have any idea of what could be causing this? At this point, I have a couple of theories: 1- The cables are out of adjustment (which doesn't seem to be the case, as the lever sits perfectly in the middle when in neutral) 2- Some part of the linkage is (still) not correctly lubricated 3- Selector forks in the gearbox are out of adjustment What do you think? At this point I welcome any idea! Thanks in advance. Fer
Are you absolutely sure that there are no foreign objects rolling around in the bottom of the shift lever box? We have seen several instances (including my own 348ts) of metal coins dropping through the shift gate and interfering with the linkage. May not seem likely, but it has happened more than once or twice...
Yeah, I had to remove the bottom cover to get access to where the cables are screwed to the stick linkage. So I reckon any object would've fallen down then (or later, when I lubricated the whole stick linkage area) EDIT: Also, now that I remember, with the cables off, the lever would move freely without anything interfering.
I am also thinking... considering that the linkage seems to move freely with the cables disconnected, and that the cables are now correctly lubricated, the issue must come from the gearbox end. In neutral, I assume (unless I am mistaken) the only element that is being used is the selector shaft. If this shaft doesn't move freely, could it be a sign of insufficient lubrication? Perhaps I am low on gearbox oil? Looking at these photos, I can't imagine any other way to explain this behavior, since I can't see anything else that could cause that. http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/142089343-post12.html Any ideas, guys? In the meantime, I will order new plugs and copper washers, so that I can check the oil levels. Thanks in advance!
Once the cables rust internally there is no cure. Under load they will drag internally. Replace them.
Don't know if you saw the video I did on shift cable lubrication, but towards the end when holding the end of the housing so it's hanging down vertically, I could pull the inner cable up, then let it go and it would slide down into the housing by gravity alone. Did your's get that slippery? If so, how does the shifter feel with the cables attached at the front, but not at the gear box? Still pretty friction free? Also be very sure the fittings on each end of the cable housing are in their correct slots and properly anchored. With the cables still not attached to the gearbox mechanism, and your clutch pedal pushed in and held with a piece of wood, try swiveling the plate that the cables attach to. It should wiggle back and forth pretty easily. If it does, swivel it to either side then see if you can gently put a prying implement between the chassis cross brace there and the gear change "car" and see if you can gently pry it towards the front bumper. If so you should be able to move it rearward just by hand. See if any of that shows something amiss.
Hi Paul, if this is your video, then yes... it's the video I used to guide me through the process. Thanks in the name of the community: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIvAhIBVzBA Unfortunately, despite way smoother than before lubrication, my inner cables would slide nowhere as smoothly as the ones shown in the video. They would not slide down by gravity alone... they needed a gentle push to slide, no matter how much lubricant I put there. Something I noticed was that sometimes, when pulling a cable all the way from one end, it would get stuck when pushing it back. Otherwise, the "in-between" sliding was fairly smooth (again, not as much as what was shown in the video). The idea of playing with the gearbox plate without having the cables attached is a good one! I will give that a shot, and see how it goes. That will certainly help identifying whether the source of friction comes from the gearbox or the cables. At this point, I am suspecting rusty cables like Brian mentioned... I just want to be extra sure before ordering a new set. So yeah, I'll try to have a go at it this weekend and report back with the results. Thanks for the ideas!
Yep, that was my video. One other thought. If everything else is normal and the cables turn out to be the most likely culprit, I wonder if flooding them with a rust fighter like P B Blaster and letting that sit for a few days and see if that helps. If it's better but not great, maybe try flushing out the Blaster with a couple bottles of Brake Kleen, and then saturate with Teflon lube and see where that gets you.
That could be a solution. Also, I was thinking... what about removing one of the heads and pull the inner cable out of the sleep, and clean thoroughly? Then I would need to go through the process of adjusting again... but at least, it'll be sure that all is completely clean. The only thing is that I am not sure whether the heads can be removed at all...
The sleeves are pressed, so you cant get it out in working order. I got best feel out of those by press feeding motor oil through them. But i wouldnt make big assumptions when testing gears just by sitting in the car, you would want to have gears moving when testing if it got better or worse
Yep, what he said. It can't be disassembled. Depending on how motivated you are, you might be able to (for example) fit a narrow piece of PVC pipe over the end of the cable and then attach It to the housing with heat shrink tubing and then see If with that set up you can hook a garden sprayer with your chosen chemical inside, pump it up, and blow that through at a decent pressure to clean out the crud. If you end up,getting new cables, you'll have to measure the length between forks on both cables and try to get exactly the same distance on the new. After instalation, you will need an assistant with a good feel for gear box smoothness up in the driver's seat while you spend an hour or 2 making minute adjustments screwing those clevis forks in and out and you assistant voting which is better "a or b". Just a half turn of those forks can make a huge difference. You only do that at one end of the cable unless you run out of threads and have to switch to the other end to achieve your goal. You will get VERY tired of getting the holes of the forks and fittings lined up and sliding those little 10mm bolts through there. Good luck!
Yeah, adjusting the cables doesn't sound like the most exciting task to undertake from the "to-do" pool of tasks... even though the end result, if successful, is probably highly rewarding. I think I will do what Jesse says and go for a ride (I haven't been able to do it yet) to see how it feels. In the end, odds are that the cables are sufficiently lubricated for, say, 90% of operations... leaving things like returning to center in neutral out of the equation. If that's not the case, I will take the cables off and attempt to play with the gearbox-end linkage plate by hand. As I said, I will run several tests and report back. Thanks a lot for your input, guys!
Does resistance feel any different going from neutral over to the R/1 side of the gate versus to the 4/5 side? Inside the shift lever mechanism, there is a torsion spring that returns the shift lever to center. The left side leg of the torsion spring may have broken off or otherwise be caught up, p/n 139785. I'd drop the shift mechanism out the bottom of the car, have a look, and take the opportunity to clean and re-grease the bearings and pivots.
Oh, I didn't know that. If memory serves me well, with the cables disconnected from the shift lever, the lever felt as though there was no mechanism offering any resistance to movement. But it might very well be me making up facts here! I still have the cable cover off... so checking that should be a quick thing to do. Thanks for the idea!
