Gearshift Catastrophe
Discussion
Erk, had a major problem earlier today... Driving along happy as Larry, when the gear selector suddenly (and with no prior warning at all) went 100% floppy. I parked at the side of the road and dug under the center console to investigate.
The upshot is that the *whole* gear shift column has come out of its mountings. I have posted some pics here:
http://fp.charlescrawley.free-online.co.uk/Esprit/Gearshift
that should hopefully show what has happened.
It looks as if the retaining block at the rear has come loose and then fallen off, allowing the whole assembly to come adrift from the main housing.
I have looked at the Service Manual, but the assembly is treated as a single unit and there is no disgram to show exactly how it is put together.
Everything looks simple enough, but I would be grateful if anyone could post some pics of a fully assembled unit so that I can be sure that I do everything correctly. Especially of the spring that provides the centring force on the gear shift.
Thanks in advance!
The upshot is that the *whole* gear shift column has come out of its mountings. I have posted some pics here:
http://fp.charlescrawley.free-online.co.uk/Esprit/Gearshift
that should hopefully show what has happened.
It looks as if the retaining block at the rear has come loose and then fallen off, allowing the whole assembly to come adrift from the main housing.
I have looked at the Service Manual, but the assembly is treated as a single unit and there is no disgram to show exactly how it is put together.
Everything looks simple enough, but I would be grateful if anyone could post some pics of a fully assembled unit so that I can be sure that I do everything correctly. Especially of the spring that provides the centring force on the gear shift.
Thanks in advance!
That's just happened to a friend of mine last week. Apparently it's a common problem. Unfortunately you can only buy this unit from Lotus which is well over £500 + VAT!!!
PNM Engineering supplied this other guy with all the necessary parts for a fraction of the price. I think they do a fully re-conditioned unit for £160 + VAT. Looks like new when they send it out.
To save you any wasted time, it's not off another car or at least nothing that can be accessed any more.
You'll need the aluminium bracket and the two nylon bushes at least. Pete only showed me on saturday what the common part that falls off is.
Dave Walters
PNM Engineering supplied this other guy with all the necessary parts for a fraction of the price. I think they do a fully re-conditioned unit for £160 + VAT. Looks like new when they send it out.
To save you any wasted time, it's not off another car or at least nothing that can be accessed any more.
You'll need the aluminium bracket and the two nylon bushes at least. Pete only showed me on saturday what the common part that falls off is.
Dave Walters
If you have all the parts then fantastic! Make sure you have the nylon bushes (two number) that go either side of the bracket.
The way it fails is very simple, the two screws unwind!
Make sure you put anti-rattle washers under or even locktite.
If you have your parts list in PDF format then you can zoom in on it. If not, I might be able to e-mail to you.
Dave
The way it fails is very simple, the two screws unwind!
Make sure you put anti-rattle washers under or even locktite.
If you have your parts list in PDF format then you can zoom in on it. If not, I might be able to e-mail to you.
Dave
Luckily, I corrected design flaws before mine failed. Please realize the repair you speak of is very possible . . . just a little tricky on preloading the spring-retained bits.
Also, you are right . . . the item is sold by Lotus as a single piece and individual parts are not available.
I ended up putting an oversized imperial externally-threaded bolt (of stainless steel) in mine which runs within slightly larger diameter nylon bushings that are also longer. The SS bolt replaces the original (thinner) cad-plated metric bolt.
Had to buy over-sized bushings at a hardware shop and lathe then to a smaller outside diameter. If I recall correctly, we froze them in liquid nitrogen (and to a turned shaft) just before lathing them. They were only about 1/16th of an inch thick and we had to remove maybe 0.25 mm. As a note: it helps to teach at an engineering college cause I used their equipment free of charge. We tried to cut them at room temp, but the nylon stretched/tore rather than cutting cleanly.
The amazing thing is the nylon bushings were (maybe) 40 cents for both. They were pivot pin bushings used on really cheap closet doors that fold. I am 99% certain they were bought at "Rona" (a Canadian-only hardware store). Hope this helps.
AP
Also, you are right . . . the item is sold by Lotus as a single piece and individual parts are not available.
I ended up putting an oversized imperial externally-threaded bolt (of stainless steel) in mine which runs within slightly larger diameter nylon bushings that are also longer. The SS bolt replaces the original (thinner) cad-plated metric bolt.
Had to buy over-sized bushings at a hardware shop and lathe then to a smaller outside diameter. If I recall correctly, we froze them in liquid nitrogen (and to a turned shaft) just before lathing them. They were only about 1/16th of an inch thick and we had to remove maybe 0.25 mm. As a note: it helps to teach at an engineering college cause I used their equipment free of charge. We tried to cut them at room temp, but the nylon stretched/tore rather than cutting cleanly.
The amazing thing is the nylon bushings were (maybe) 40 cents for both. They were pivot pin bushings used on really cheap closet doors that fold. I am 99% certain they were bought at "Rona" (a Canadian-only hardware store). Hope this helps.
AP
Luckily, I corrected design flaws before mine failed. Please realize the repair you speak of is very possible . . . just a little tricky on preloading the spring-retained bits.
Also, you are right . . . the item is sold by Lotus as a single piece and individual parts are not available.
I ended up putting an oversized imperial externally-threaded bolt (of stainless steel) in mine which runs within slightly larger diameter nylon bushings that are also longer. The SS bolt replaces the original (thinner) cad-plated metric bolt.
Had to buy over-sized bushings at a hardware shop and lathe then to a smaller outside diameter. If I recall correctly, we froze them in liquid nitrogen (and to a turned shaft) just before lathing them. They were only about 1/16th of an inch thick and we had to remove maybe 0.25 mm. As a note: it helps to teach at an engineering college cause I used their equipment free of charge. We tried to cut them at room temp, but the nylon stretched/tore rather than cutting cleanly.
The amazing thing is the nylon bushings were (maybe) 40 cents for both. They were pivot pin bushings used on really cheap closet doors that fold. I am 99% certain they were bought at "Rona" (a Canadian-only hardware store). Hope this helps.
AP
Also, you are right . . . the item is sold by Lotus as a single piece and individual parts are not available.
I ended up putting an oversized imperial externally-threaded bolt (of stainless steel) in mine which runs within slightly larger diameter nylon bushings that are also longer. The SS bolt replaces the original (thinner) cad-plated metric bolt.
Had to buy over-sized bushings at a hardware shop and lathe then to a smaller outside diameter. If I recall correctly, we froze them in liquid nitrogen (and to a turned shaft) just before lathing them. They were only about 1/16th of an inch thick and we had to remove maybe 0.25 mm. As a note: it helps to teach at an engineering college cause I used their equipment free of charge. We tried to cut them at room temp, but the nylon stretched/tore rather than cutting cleanly.
The amazing thing is the nylon bushings were (maybe) 40 cents for both. They were pivot pin bushings used on really cheap closet doors that fold. I am 99% certain they were bought at "Rona" (a Canadian-only hardware store). Hope this helps.
AP
Charles,
I don't know if these are any help;
www.lotuscolorado.com/vulcangrey/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=shifter
They're not mine, Lotusse89 posted a link to them in a reply to a thread where I've been having trouble selecting 2nd.
I don't know if these are any help;
www.lotuscolorado.com/vulcangrey/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=shifter
They're not mine, Lotusse89 posted a link to them in a reply to a thread where I've been having trouble selecting 2nd.
Gassing Station | Esprit | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff