Gears gone - how to examine?
Discussion
Hello there,
RE 97 Lotus Esprit V8
A few days ago, and almost without warning my gearbox became very "unspecific, like stirring a cake - then it would only select 3rd. I crawled to the garage where they are checking it out just now - they are good guys but are not Lotus experts so I suggested I would post on here to see if any of you chaps knew the best way to get access to the gearbox for inspection, and also if this issue sounds like something "known"?
It is covered under warranty so I am a bit relieved but would liek to know all I can about the issue.
Thanks in advance!
Mark
RE 97 Lotus Esprit V8
A few days ago, and almost without warning my gearbox became very "unspecific, like stirring a cake - then it would only select 3rd. I crawled to the garage where they are checking it out just now - they are good guys but are not Lotus experts so I suggested I would post on here to see if any of you chaps knew the best way to get access to the gearbox for inspection, and also if this issue sounds like something "known"?
It is covered under warranty so I am a bit relieved but would liek to know all I can about the issue.
Thanks in advance!
Mark
Sound like your shifter box, cable, or translator broke. I would say by your symptoms that you lost a cable end. Either at the tranny or shift box. Mine was at the shift box.
Check out this topic
www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=134229&f=17&h=0
Good luck,
Calvin
Check out this topic
www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=134229&f=17&h=0
Good luck,
Calvin
You have 97 V8 which is very similar interior to a stevens 4 cyl so I am going to take a good guess on what you have to do. If I am wrong the V8 guys will hae to correct me.
Open the center console compartment or remove the center pad. You will more than likely see 2 screws that hold the part on the console. Remove them and lift up on the tray. I recall window switches and possibly the filler cap release that are attached to the center console. Once lifted a bit you will have to unplug the mod plugs that hold the wires to the switches. The front of the top center console should have a velcro strip near the front and the back end just sides under the firewall map pocket. might hae to bend it a bit to clear the front and slide out the back of the center console cover.
Once all the wires have been seperated from the console, lift up. The only thing that should be holding the cover on should be the leather shift boot. Lift the cover upwards till it stops then look on the back side of the cover you should see two ends of the elastic bands tying the top of the leather shift boot tight to the shifter. Untie these and loosen the top. from the back of the shift knob pull the leahter boot upward and foreward to clear the knob.
You will see a rubber gaiter around the shifter.
Unscrew and remove the screws around the ring that retains the bottom of the rubber gaiter. lift up on the rubber gaiter this exposes the shifter box. If looking downwards through the holes at the rearward section of the shifter box you will see 2 dog ears on the bottom of the box with steel hooks attached to the dog ears, these steel hooks have a shaft with a metal tube cover where the actual shift cable are then attached to. Normally these hook shafts go straight towards the rear parralell with the backbone. On my Esprit the first gear cable had seperated from the rod with a hook leaving the hook dangling off the dog ear with no cable attached. In an USA car this cable would be left one or the same side as 1st gear. From what you tell me I suspect the samething has happened to your car. If you loose the crossgate cable you loose 1st/2nd/and maybe 5th. All you have left is 3rd and a hard to find 4th with the shift lever flopping around lose all over the place.
If you can find the translator at the rear of the tranny and you know what you are looking for have someone shift and see if both cables move. If don't know what they normally look like while shifting this is a pretty useless thing to do as you do not know what to look for. as even with one cable attached the translator will move and even the broken one will move a bit. Just make sure both cables are securely attached to translator at the reat of the tranny. Might be hard to see but you can feel it. Just make sure the muffler/exhaust is cooled off.
Good luck,
Calvin
Open the center console compartment or remove the center pad. You will more than likely see 2 screws that hold the part on the console. Remove them and lift up on the tray. I recall window switches and possibly the filler cap release that are attached to the center console. Once lifted a bit you will have to unplug the mod plugs that hold the wires to the switches. The front of the top center console should have a velcro strip near the front and the back end just sides under the firewall map pocket. might hae to bend it a bit to clear the front and slide out the back of the center console cover.
Once all the wires have been seperated from the console, lift up. The only thing that should be holding the cover on should be the leather shift boot. Lift the cover upwards till it stops then look on the back side of the cover you should see two ends of the elastic bands tying the top of the leather shift boot tight to the shifter. Untie these and loosen the top. from the back of the shift knob pull the leahter boot upward and foreward to clear the knob.
You will see a rubber gaiter around the shifter.
Unscrew and remove the screws around the ring that retains the bottom of the rubber gaiter. lift up on the rubber gaiter this exposes the shifter box. If looking downwards through the holes at the rearward section of the shifter box you will see 2 dog ears on the bottom of the box with steel hooks attached to the dog ears, these steel hooks have a shaft with a metal tube cover where the actual shift cable are then attached to. Normally these hook shafts go straight towards the rear parralell with the backbone. On my Esprit the first gear cable had seperated from the rod with a hook leaving the hook dangling off the dog ear with no cable attached. In an USA car this cable would be left one or the same side as 1st gear. From what you tell me I suspect the samething has happened to your car. If you loose the crossgate cable you loose 1st/2nd/and maybe 5th. All you have left is 3rd and a hard to find 4th with the shift lever flopping around lose all over the place.
If you can find the translator at the rear of the tranny and you know what you are looking for have someone shift and see if both cables move. If don't know what they normally look like while shifting this is a pretty useless thing to do as you do not know what to look for. as even with one cable attached the translator will move and even the broken one will move a bit. Just make sure both cables are securely attached to translator at the reat of the tranny. Might be hard to see but you can feel it. Just make sure the muffler/exhaust is cooled off.
Good luck,
Calvin
Mark,
Do you have access to the Service Notes (Shop Manual)? If you do, go to section FG, pages 5-14. That addresses the gearchange mechanism and it's adjustment.
The mechanism is fairly complex, and there are a number of things that could be causing the problem.
At the back of the gearbox there is a shifter cross shaft sticking out of the side. Push it in and out to select the different internal shift rails... 1-2, 3-4, 5th, Reverse. Rotate it this way or that to select one of the gears on each gate. It is internally spring loaded to be centered on the 3-4 gate in the gearbox.
The shifter uses two cables between the cabin shift lever and a "translator" clamped to the gearbox shifter cross shaft.
When the lever is moved fore and aft, both cables push or pull together in unisyn. That moves the bottom of the translator back and forth, using it as a lever to rotate the cross shaft. That will select one of the gears on that gate.
When the lever is moved side to side, one cable pulls and the other pushes. That rotates the translator. But a tierod that locates the translator is mounted off-axis, so as the translator rotates, it also moves side to side a bit. As a result, it pushes or pulls on the cross shaft to select a different gate.
The translator just clamps to the cross shaft (a split bore with a pinch bolt). If the pinch bolt has come loose, the translator's motion may not be moving the cross shaft.
If any of the nuts securing the several rod end connections on the tie rod and rear cable ends have come loose, the motion will be lost.
The cables attach to an abutment bracket. A groove cut around a ferrule at the end of the outer cable sheath drops into a "U" notch in the abutment. The cables were held down in the notch in a couple of ways through the years, but all are basically a tab or bar bolted on above the abutment bracket so the cable ferrule can't lift up out of the notch. If one or both cables lift free of the notch, shift motion will be lost.
At the gear lever end, the front of the cable terminates in a heavy gage wire rod with a 90° bend at the end. The bent ends fit through bushed holes in the ends of two levers hanging down from the shifter mechanism and are retained by Cotter keys (split pins). And there's a similar grooved ferrule in a notch arrangement to anchor the end of the outer sheath. Except this time, the ferrules are only held into the notches by a nylon cable tie.
If a ferrule comes out of it's notch, or if the bent end of the cable-end rod comes out of it's lever, then shifter motion is lost.
Finally, if either cable breaks, shifter motion is lost. That's what happened to Calvin's car recently and we just installed a new cable last night.
In 1998, a different design was used. Still two cables, but the translator idea was gone. Since you wrote that your car is a 1997, I won't waste time on that.
The linkage at the back of the car is pretty accessible. However, working on the translator is much easier if the exhaust is removed.
Access to the shift lever in the cabin requires removing the top of the consol/ gear shift surround/ radio-vent control surround.
Then remove the rubber gaiter (boot). Unbolt and remove the gear lever.
The gaiter was attached to a metal plate that was, in turn, attached to the top of the chassis by for Phillips screws. They were installed before the body was dropped onto the chassis and there's not provision for access in the body. So a hole will have to be drilled in the fiberglass directly above each screw head to permit a screwdriver to be inserted. Once freed, the plate can just be slid back along the top of the chassis.
Four bolts secure the shifter mechanism to the chassis. Remove them and lift the mechanism front first and pull it up out of the hole high enough to gain access to the cables. Oh yeah... to have enough slack in the cables to permit the shifter to be removed, the cables will first have to be disconnected back at the translator.
Hope to find and fix the problem at the back of the car. It's pretty straight forward to fix an accessible. If it's necessary to go after the front of the cable, getting it out will consume some time.
Good luck,
Tim Engel
Lotus Owners Oftha North
Do you have access to the Service Notes (Shop Manual)? If you do, go to section FG, pages 5-14. That addresses the gearchange mechanism and it's adjustment.
The mechanism is fairly complex, and there are a number of things that could be causing the problem.
At the back of the gearbox there is a shifter cross shaft sticking out of the side. Push it in and out to select the different internal shift rails... 1-2, 3-4, 5th, Reverse. Rotate it this way or that to select one of the gears on each gate. It is internally spring loaded to be centered on the 3-4 gate in the gearbox.
The shifter uses two cables between the cabin shift lever and a "translator" clamped to the gearbox shifter cross shaft.
When the lever is moved fore and aft, both cables push or pull together in unisyn. That moves the bottom of the translator back and forth, using it as a lever to rotate the cross shaft. That will select one of the gears on that gate.
When the lever is moved side to side, one cable pulls and the other pushes. That rotates the translator. But a tierod that locates the translator is mounted off-axis, so as the translator rotates, it also moves side to side a bit. As a result, it pushes or pulls on the cross shaft to select a different gate.
The translator just clamps to the cross shaft (a split bore with a pinch bolt). If the pinch bolt has come loose, the translator's motion may not be moving the cross shaft.
If any of the nuts securing the several rod end connections on the tie rod and rear cable ends have come loose, the motion will be lost.
The cables attach to an abutment bracket. A groove cut around a ferrule at the end of the outer cable sheath drops into a "U" notch in the abutment. The cables were held down in the notch in a couple of ways through the years, but all are basically a tab or bar bolted on above the abutment bracket so the cable ferrule can't lift up out of the notch. If one or both cables lift free of the notch, shift motion will be lost.
At the gear lever end, the front of the cable terminates in a heavy gage wire rod with a 90° bend at the end. The bent ends fit through bushed holes in the ends of two levers hanging down from the shifter mechanism and are retained by Cotter keys (split pins). And there's a similar grooved ferrule in a notch arrangement to anchor the end of the outer sheath. Except this time, the ferrules are only held into the notches by a nylon cable tie.
If a ferrule comes out of it's notch, or if the bent end of the cable-end rod comes out of it's lever, then shifter motion is lost.
Finally, if either cable breaks, shifter motion is lost. That's what happened to Calvin's car recently and we just installed a new cable last night.
In 1998, a different design was used. Still two cables, but the translator idea was gone. Since you wrote that your car is a 1997, I won't waste time on that.
The linkage at the back of the car is pretty accessible. However, working on the translator is much easier if the exhaust is removed.
Access to the shift lever in the cabin requires removing the top of the consol/ gear shift surround/ radio-vent control surround.
Then remove the rubber gaiter (boot). Unbolt and remove the gear lever.
The gaiter was attached to a metal plate that was, in turn, attached to the top of the chassis by for Phillips screws. They were installed before the body was dropped onto the chassis and there's not provision for access in the body. So a hole will have to be drilled in the fiberglass directly above each screw head to permit a screwdriver to be inserted. Once freed, the plate can just be slid back along the top of the chassis.
Four bolts secure the shifter mechanism to the chassis. Remove them and lift the mechanism front first and pull it up out of the hole high enough to gain access to the cables. Oh yeah... to have enough slack in the cables to permit the shifter to be removed, the cables will first have to be disconnected back at the translator.
Hope to find and fix the problem at the back of the car. It's pretty straight forward to fix an accessible. If it's necessary to go after the front of the cable, getting it out will consume some time.
Good luck,
Tim Engel
Lotus Owners Oftha North
Mark,
I can send you jpeg files of the Lotus Parts Manual page that shows the shifter mechanism and a photo of the translator installation in an SE (similar but different). The files would be about 50kb each. Contact me off list at tengel@mchsi.com if you want them.
Regards,
Tim Engel
Lotus Owners Oftha North
I can send you jpeg files of the Lotus Parts Manual page that shows the shifter mechanism and a photo of the translator installation in an SE (similar but different). The files would be about 50kb each. Contact me off list at tengel@mchsi.com if you want them.
Regards,
Tim Engel
Lotus Owners Oftha North
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