1990 shifter questions/problems

[pantherballhp]

I'm the new owner of a 1990 eagle talon tsi. it came with a short shifter in the car. it is extremely sloppy, all over the place even when in gear. I was able to diagnose some of the movement by making a piece to fit inside of the shifter that slides onto the housing. I don't know exactly what the parts are called. the shifter shifts from first to second fine but when in gear it still moves from side to side so an accuracte 2nd-3rd shift is impossible. you have to find and place it in 3rd.

I'm wandering if this could be the spring in there. could it not be hooked up? anyone have a picture of a correct 1990 shifter or a short shifter installed in one that i could go off of?

Any help is appreciated

Thanks

 

[rlacasse1]

Have you checked the cable brackets on the transmission?

If the bolts that hold the bracket are either loose or missing then your shifting will be extremely sloppy and you will be able to move the shifter with it in gear. Also, check and make sure that both cables have the little clips that hold them into the bracket in place.

Are you positive that it is the short shifter that is the problem, or is that just your best guess at this point?

And all the spring does is move the shifter to the center of the pattern. Like if you pull it out of first and just let go, it is that springs job to center the shifter. That is all. It shouldn't affect being able to find 3rd gear or cause loose feeling when it is in gear.

 

[pantherballhp]

The going back to the center position is exactly what I'm talking about. It doesn't do that. when u pull it out of first it sits pointed to the left.

 

[ReYnd]

The spring could have lost some of its tension, you could get a new one or try to put a little more spring in the one you have. Some back and forth motion is sort of normal for these cars when accelerating, but it usually won't move otherwise. Fifth gear shouldn't move though. Like rlacasse1 said, check your brackets and such.

What will improve the feel of your shifter are solid bushings for the shifter base and the transmission end of the shift cables.

Don't know what kind of short shifter you have, but the stocker's plastic bushings can wear out and cause a little slop in both directions. That'll have to last me for a while, but the Dogbox guys have a new shifter for sale that sounds awesome if you have some money burning a hole in your pocket.

From Athens, eh? Not too far away, surprised I haven't seen you around here before. Welcome!

 

[pantherballhp]

The spring isn't even touching the arm that sticks out for it to touch. It can wiggle between them. I'll post a picture today to be more clear.

I don't think I've ever been to deep water before, looks to be ab an hour north of me.

Here's a pic of it. The right side where the spring is where im talking about. And this is in gear. U can see where I can move it side to side

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

 

[rlacasse1]

Well, then you are having a issue with your spring since the shifter won't return to the center.

But still, that shouldn't affect how difficult it is to find the next gear. So you still have bigger issues than just the spring.

 

[pantherballhp]

It's not that I can't find the gear. It shifts fine into third. I'm talking about when u shift most shifters and u push up from 2nd the shifter slips right into third. This one first spring to the center so it won't do that. It'll just push right back up into 3rd.

Is there a way to replace the spring or a place I can get a new one? I'd buy the dogbox shifter but I don't have $165 to throw down on it right now. I still need tires and rear calipers to get it street legal and swapping out these 720cc injectors that the PO had in there. I dont know why he put them in there without tuning them. The thing wont idle barely at all cause it's throwin so much fuel in there.

 

[rlacasse1]

Well at this point I have no ####ing clue what your problem is or what you are saying it is.

I have a 90 shifter base laying around home somewhere. You can have it for the price of shipping. But you will have to wait a couple weeks until I am home from Iraq.

 

[pantherballhp]

I'll probably get it from you.

Only thing I'm saying is if you push the shifter all the way to the left it stays there. Won't spring back to center. I was wandering if the spring can be replaced or what. That's all

 

[rlacasse1]

I know that's what you said at first. But then in post #7 you say that it does spring to the center.

And in your first post you say you have to "find and place it in third" and in post #7 you say it "slips right into third".

So, your posts are a little contradictory.

Anyways, yeah. I'd imagine you can replace the spring if you can find another one. I don't see why you couldn't anyways. Although it's been a while since I've actually looked at a shifter base.

But yeah anyways, if you aren't in a huge rush, just PM me in about two weeks to remind me and I'll go find it for you.

 

[kchaazz]

The spring isn't even touching the arm that sticks out for it to touch. It can wiggle between them. I'll post a picture today to be more clear.

I don't think I've ever been to deep water before, looks to be ab an hour north of me.

Here's a pic of it. The right side where the spring is where im talking about. And this is in gear. U can see where I can move it side to side

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

That spring isnt worn out, the guy who put the shifter in didnt reinstall the spring correctly. See the red line I drew in your picture? Grab that part of the spring and pull it and hook it around that bracket the way my line is drawn. Fixed.

 

[Colt4G63 also]

There's a pivot arm on the top of the transmission bellhousing that one of the shifter cables connects to. Take the rubber cap off the pivot point and unscrew the 12mm nut so you can disassemble and clean the pivot. Add grease and reassemble. It's a really common problem.

 

[pantherballhp]

That spring isnt worn out, the guy who put the shifter in didnt reinstall the spring correctly. See the red line I drew in your picture? Grab that part of the spring and pull it and hook it around that bracket the way my line is drawn. Fixed.

That explains a lot. I'm going to give that a try and see if it works. The spring looked odd when I looked at it. Looked like something wasn't hooked up right

 

[kchaazz]

That might also be an issue but in the pic you can clearly see the centering spring is not in the correct position, which is the immediate and direct cause for him to have to manually pull the shifter to the right to find third when he comes out of second. It is extremely dangerous to your tranny and engine not to have that spring installed and functioning properly. Imagine going for a 3rd to 4th shift only to grab second because your shifter's got sloppy side to side play because that springs not working. Overrevving with the throttles one thing and can be controlled by the ecu via preset rev limit:7500 rpms. This, however, is NO defense against a MECHANICAL overrev, which will occur if you mistakenly downshift into second gear instead of 4th at speed, which could easily take the engine to 10,000 rpms if you redlined third and the ecu absolutely could not stop this so you float valves, throw a rocker, lock up a balance shaft (if you have them still hehe), and maybe even leave the guts of your tranny behind you. Just saying, fix it now!!

 

[pantherballhp]

That's the exact reason I got on here asking what was wrong because I knew if I slammed from 2nd to 3rd and hit first then bye bye transmission.

 

[DSMGary]

That spring isnt worn out, the guy who put the shifter in didnt reinstall the spring correctly. See the red line I drew in your picture? Grab that part of the spring and pull it and hook it around that bracket the way my line is drawn. Fixed.

Super Correct!!! Good catch kchaazz!

 

[KyDSM]

Like this.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

 

[pantherballhp]

Like this.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

awesome! that puts those two pieces of the spring directly on that piece. thanks so much guys, this shifter was worrying me but no more. i'm going to get to the shop in the morning and fix this thing.

 

[pantherballhp]

Ok guys I put the spring in the correct place but still doing the same thing. It springs back to center a lot better now but what about when it's in gear? It moves while in all of the gears. Here's a vid of what I'm talking ab
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yna8vJ7BK_8

 

[kchaazz]

Pop the hood and check the bracket that the cables are bolted to. This is actually a two piece bracket, so be sure to check all four bolts. Seems the bolts to the brackets are loose. Also, its difficult to tell in the vid, but perhaps the plastic bushings in the shifter assembly could be badly worn as well, though movement of the shifter SEEMED to translate to the cables quite well, which is counter indicitive of worn bushings. There should be 5 bushings in all, though I dont know the part numbers for them and you can purchase these as a kit from Mitsu, or perhaps JNZTUNING can get them for you slightly cheaper. Check out those brackets on the tranny first and get back to us.

 

[pantherballhp]

I checked the bracket and the one that is pointing towards the front of the car is wiggling while in gear. Bolt is tight though so I assume the bushings or something else is worn. I didn't have time to take it apart cause it's in between classes. But that does seem to be part of it. I'm probably just going to replace all of the bushings I can with this and see if it'll help. The bushings u are talking about are the ones for the base correct? It's not moving but I'm going to replace them also

 

[kchaazz]

The bushings Im referring to are in the shifter assembly itself. Ive circled the locations of the bushings in the attached photo. Just so were clear, the brackets that the cables are mounted to on the tranny are wiggling while the vehicle is in gear and NOT the selector levers coming out of the tranny that the cable eyes are mounted on?

One more thing, as long as there isnt any play in the shifter assembly, replacement of the bushings there isnt necessary

 

[Jon91TSi]

Your other problem is that it's a cheap POS ebay STS.. I'd ditch it ASAP before you end up with bent shift forks or worse.. Those shifters are definitely not worth the headache... Just my .02

 

[pantherballhp]

The bushings Im referring to are in the shifter assembly itself. Ive circled the locations of the bushings in the attached photo. Just so were clear, the brackets that the cables are mounted to on the tranny are wiggling while the vehicle is in gear and NOT the selector levers coming out of the tranny that the cable eyes are mounted on?

One more thing, as long as there isnt any play in the shifter assembly, replacement of the bushings there isnt necessary

I believe it is the eye of one that is wiggling. It's wiggling on the bottom part it is attached to. The part it is attached to is not wiggling, just the piece from the cable to the bottom part.

The bushings u are talking about are shot. I need new ones. I don't even think there are any on the lever part because I had to shim it with other material. And I know the one near the spring is tore up. Those are probably a lot of my problem too. Those being messed up would allow the whole assembly to move while it was in gear especially if it was not tight in there like it's supposed to be.

 

[kchaazz]

Ahh, that makes sense. Yeah definitely replace those. IMO, the worst place to have a bad bushing is in the lever on the shifter base that the cable attaches to. That lever is what actuates the cable during side to side movement, and can give you hell when trying to grab reverse and first. If the bushings on the eyes of the cables on the tranny side are shot, you can get some very nice metal replacements for a reasonable price that wont wear out and improve the feel of the shifter quite nicely. I think I got mine from TUNERSNATION, but Im not sure.