Comes out of 4th without clutch

[Viper588]

Hey guys more of just a question than an issue. I purchased the car about a year and a half ago and have had no problems at all with clutch/tranny. The shifter is very loose as in flops around which i havent gotten around to fixing yet but doesnt affect driveability. Recently i noticed that in 4th i can put a small amount of pressure on the shifter and it will come right out of gear, in all the other gears i can push pretty hard and it wont come out of gear. im not sure if this is a problem or something that doesn't really matter, just to be clear it has never "popped" out of gear but just slide out easily if i do it myself. I searched but only found threads about popping out a gear nothing really with what i described. Thank you for any answers!

 

[jayson427]

As for the shifter being loose the spring on the shifter itself is probably way worn out. Easy fix when you remove the center console. I'm not sure about your gear being easy to come out. Is this while you're driving or with the car off?

 

[Viper588]

As for the shifter being loose the spring on the shifter itself is probably way worn out. Easy fix when you remove the center console. I'm not sure about your gear being easy to come out. Is this while you're driving or with the car off?

This is while driving.

I replaced the spring on the shifter assembly awhile ago but that didnt seem to help at all, it weird the left side(1st /2nd gear) seems to be stiff and normal but the middle and right side(3rd, 4th, 5th and reverse) it just flops all about. Somewhere i think it said the bushings under the shifter base could be worn out but they were all in pretty good shape so i dont think it was them. Another thread said most likely bearings on the tranny which i haven't checked.

 

[phr0st]

It's most likely the bushings in the shifter assembly itself (not the base) causing the slop. You can buy some new bushings at any OEM vendor or do the coke bottle mod if you're cheap. I wouldn't concern myself with the gear popping out mine does the same thing albeit with 5th gear. I can push it out with my pinky finger. It doesn't bother me at all but I can see where 4th gear could get annoying as it could easily be bumped forward.

 

[Colt4G63 also]

Check where the cable housings are anchored to the bellhousing. Sometimes a loose or missing clip can cause that.

 

[russell3123]

At lower rpm's it should be easier to push out of gear. Maybe when you did it in fourth you were at a lower rpm?

 

[YUPOK]

Check also the little plastic square bushing on the trans shifter arms.There is a plastic bushing that acts as a "dog" to move the main shift shaft. If my memory serves me correct it would work ok in first and second but as it moves to the 3-4 and 5-R positions is where you would have issues. These are made of a brittle plastic that sometime break apart.

The bad news is, Mitsu does not make this anymore if it is your problem. The good news is I just made a bunch of these for another guy on the site.

If you do need that plastic thingy email or pm me I'm not far from you in North Jersey.

Good Luck.

 

[Viper588]

It's most likely the bushings in the shifter assembly itself (not the base) causing the slop. You can buy some new bushings at any OEM vendor or do the coke bottle mod if you're cheap. I wouldn't concern myself with the gear popping out mine does the same thing albeit with 5th gear. I can push it out with my pinky finger. It doesn't bother me at all but I can see where 4th gear could get annoying as it could easily be bumped forward.

Check where the cable housings are anchored to the bellhousing. Sometimes a loose or missing clip can cause that.

Check also the little plastic square bushing on the trans shifter arms.There is a plastic bushing that acts as a "dog" to move the main shift shaft. If my memory serves me correct it would work ok in first and second but as it moves to the 3-4 and 5-R positions is where you would have issues. These are made of a brittle plastic that sometime break apart.

The bad news is, Mitsu does not make this anymore if it is your problem. The good news is I just made a bunch of these for another guy on the site.

If you do need that plastic thingy email or pm me I'm not far from you in North Jersey.

Good Luck.

Turns out the guy i bought it from had some sort of cheap short throw in there, i replaced it with the stock shifter and everything is tight and shifts 10x smoother. I initially went out to change the stock rubber shifter base bushings for some solid metal bushings but the bushings seemed to be too small for the shifter base and would go right through the mounting holes so you could just pull the base straight up and it would come out. It doesnt really matter as the issue is resolved now but are those bushings the wrong ones or was i doing something wrong?

 

[smoked28]

Yeah mine does the same thing with 3rd and 5th. Small amount of pressure will make it pop out but never really thought of it as an issue.