Shift lever problems

[Brett Dikeman]

At 3:35 PM -0700 8/16/02, <greg-list at attbi.com> wrote:

>Hello everyone, I'm having problems getting my 1990 200tq in to
>first and second gears and also fifth and reverse.  It seems the
>only gear I can easily shift into is third and fourth.  The shift
>lever has no spring in it anymore, you know how they usually spring
>back to center position when in neutral.  Mine has no spring at all.
>To get into first gear I have to pull the shift lever really hard to
>the left and it just barely goes into gear.  I've removed the shift
>boot and have taken a look inside, I'm not sure what acts as the
>spring, and have never messed with transmission linkage before.
>Anyone have any suggestions or ideas?  Thanks in advance....

You might have a loose bolt on the shift selector shaft.  With a
flashlight, take a look down at the top of the tranny; sort of on the
driver's side on top there's the shifter lever that ends with a
collar- you'll see a bolt on the collar, and its a set screw/bolt.

Mine worked itself loose over time and I went from sloppy shifts to
some gears(odd ones mostly I think) being inaccessible, to no shift
capabilities at all once it popped off.

-If- it is loose...

Remove the collar completely(try to remember what gear you were in
first :), remove the bolt, clean up the threads, put the collar back
on the shaft, put the shifter in the right gear position(ie match the
tranny's state), apply fresh locktite and put the bolt back in.

Its a little tricky to get the bolt properly lined up, but if you
have a helper who can slowly wiggle the shifter as you screw in the
bolt, you should get it perfectly.

Hope this helps- if the bolt seems to be secure, email us back with an update!

Brett
--
----
"They that give up essential liberty to obtain temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Ben Franklin
http://www.users.cloud9.net/~brett/
http://www.apple.com/switch/