Simple improvement to gear change

[Davz]

The gear change between 2nd, 3rd and 4th became significantly poor, feeling very notchy and making a noticeable clicking sound.
My immediate thought was something amiss with the linkages/bearings and not the gearbox.
The easiest one to check first is the lever bearing/bush as shown in the attached image I copied from the bay (just need to remove the gear lever gaiter and rubber cover) I had a mental image of part of the bush broken up however with the rubber cover removed I could see what the problem was....covered with what I can only describe as a hardened black gunk, sorry for lack of a pic.
I used gt85 silicone to liberally spray the bearing and cotton buds to remove all the gunk, moving the lever into different gears to facilitate cleaning. Immediately the gear change felt much better.
I then used silicone grease to fully lubricate the bearing.
On testing the gear change is now really slick, I cannot believe the difference it has made, it's even made selection of 1st and 2nd really smooth!
I can highly recommend doing this if your change is recalcitrant and recommend even if it isn't!
If you do have a go at this do not use vaseline as the petroleum will attack the nylon bearing. Do not use graphite or molybdenum based lubricant as these attack plastics. Mineral oils/grease are fine with nylon, silicone grease has an excellent temp range between -90 to 450 and good in load bearing situations.

Repair-Kit-For-Gear-Lever-Ball-Joint-Bush-_1.jpg (14.8 KiB) Viewed 1285 times

[dhobbs]

Sounds like a simple fix, something for the weekend to do.
What sort of mileage does your car have?

[buzyg]

Interesting.

[thecremeegg]

Interesting, might give it a go!

[idej_z4]

Great bit of insight - will defo be taking a look at mine. Thanks!

[Stevgolf001]

Is it easy to remove the gaitor and rubber cover?

[dhobbs]

Added in the 3.0si linkage for reference.

Might try this this afternoon.

A5565255-04B3-40F7-93D1-F6E0EDC88958.png (347.38 KiB) Viewed 1120 times

[dhobbs]

Just tried to remove the boot (item 8 in the picture) and it isn't moving without a fight. Given up.
Maybe I can get a silicone spray straw through where it meets the gear stick and just liberally spray inside!

[Davz]

To answer a couple of questions:-
My zed has just covered 60k miles.
The rubber boot under the gaiter is tough to remove, just peel it up from one edge and it will lift up, it's very tough rubber so don't worry about tearing it.

[Brouse]

So I did this job this morning and holy shitballs it really made a difference to the throw/action!

Mine wasn't all that mucky but went ahead regardless.

Great tip Davz!

[Pabby1980]

So I did this job this morning and holy shitballs it really made a difference to the throw/action!

Mine wasn't all that mucky but went ahead regardless.

Great tip Davz!

Thanks to the OP for this thread but is there any way you can simplify the process explanation a bit having done it yourself? I don't suppose you took any pictures?

A step by step dummies guide would be really helpful. I've just ordered some silicone spray from ebay and can steal some cotton buds off the wife so I'm looking at doing this but as a complete novice I'm finding the OPs explanation a bit baffling.

Thanks very much.

Paul.

[Brouse]

If OP doesn't come back nudge me in the week and I'll post up.

[G600]

So I did this job this morning and holy shitballs it really made a difference to the throw/action!

Mine wasn't all that mucky but went ahead regardless.

Great tip Davz!

Thanks to the OP for this thread but is there any way you can simplify the process explanation a bit having done it yourself? I don't suppose you took any pictures?

A step by step dummies guide would be really helpful. I've just ordered some silicone spray from ebay and can steal some cotton buds off the wife so I'm looking at doing this but as a complete novice I'm finding the OPs explanation a bit baffling.

Thanks very much.

Paul.

I've just done it, takes less than 5 mins, pull the gear knob off, pull the surround off (front 1st) then there's a bit of foam to take out, and carpet flap to lift up, push the gear stick forward and the carpet will go over it, then pull the rubber out, start at the back with the gear lever forward then move lever back to pull out the rubber at the front. That'll get you access, spray with silicone lube and move the lever through the gears as you go.

[Pabby1980]

So I did this job this morning and holy shitballs it really made a difference to the throw/action!

Mine wasn't all that mucky but went ahead regardless.

Great tip Davz!

Thanks to the OP for this thread but is there any way you can simplify the process explanation a bit having done it yourself? I don't suppose you took any pictures?

A step by step dummies guide would be really helpful. I've just ordered some silicone spray from ebay and can steal some cotton buds off the wife so I'm looking at doing this but as a complete novice I'm finding the OPs explanation a bit baffling.

Thanks very much.

Paul.

I've just done it, takes less than 5 mins, pull the gear knob off, pull the surround off (front 1st) then there's a bit of foam to take out, and carpet flap to lift up, push the gear stick forward and the carpet will go over it, then pull the rubber out, start at the back with the gear lever forward then move lever back to pull out the rubber at the front. That'll get you access, spray with silicone lube and move the lever through the gears as you go.

That's great, thank you very much.

[dhobbs]

Tried again to remove the rubber boot but seems too big to pull up through the hole.

0C3D18B6-F364-4F78-A2B8-73E62CA667B6.jpeg (166.39 KiB) Viewed 661 times