BX gear rod pop

[twm]

Hey there

Broke down today in the 16v :disappr:

Anyone in Sydney that knows the "mechano set" will appreciated what a @#$% of a place to brake down, it was actually one intersection closer towards liverpool which is just as bad.

I got cut off and whent to grab second gear and then nothing- only neutral right in the middle of three lanes at a double lanned road. A quick dart at a roll put me at a 45 dregree angle across the rhlane up point up a slope with noweher to go forwards or backward. in a word - bugger

SO no gears, no chance of pushing up hill, with a dip in the middle of three lanes behind me I thought if I tried to roll back into a busy 2 lane road, I would of course get stuck half way across the 3 lane main part. - bugger.

SO I rang some my client who sent the boys up and 4 of the pushed me over the medium strip to the down hill side where I coasted through the intersection into a side street.

On close inspection without the fear of getting slammed by an idiot car driver who abuses people who break down and put thier hazards on as a warning, I found that the gear rod had popped off the ball joint where it connects to the gearbox. So a reach down and pop back on again and all is well again until next time. - one to remember if it happens to you.

These joints do wear and it will probably pop again at some time. I have seen some of these type of connections that actually have safety clips to this happenning.

You know the funny thing was, that the only person that stopped and offerred a push was a young girl in a barina. My thanks to her even though it would have been an impossible task for the two of us, she actually stopped and offerred. In 45 mins and >100 cars and trucks 2 asked if I were in the NRMA, and her kind offer. So much for on road kindness these days. I should have got her number to send her some flowers, so if anyone happens to her a girl talk about this let me know or at least her know that out of this bunch of people that didnt care she did, and it was appreciated.

 

[Alan S]

Easy fix Terry.
Take a look at the selector rod and you'll find that one end is threaded with a lock nut and can be adjusted. You will also see that when it is fitted to the car it often has been adjusted so that the swivels as it selects a gear and is sometimes adjusted in such a way that the law of the lever comes into play and actually tries to lever itself off the ball joint as you select a gear. I usually adjust them so that they do not go to the extremety as they swivel by adjusting the two ends I think from memory to somewhere near right angles to each other, but once in position, it's easy to see.
There is a Teflon ring in the open end of the selector hole that is supposed to help lock the ball into the rod and the insides can also get very dry which in itself helps to cause them to pop off. The couple I've done, I've adjusted to a position where they weren't straining on themselves and then cleaned them up and lightly lubed them internally. Then before the final fit, I remove them from the car, sit on the edge of a vice and tap around the outer edge of the hole with a small ball pein hammer to reshape the collar on the neck of each end of the linkage/selector rod.
That I find is a permanent fix.


Alan S

 

[twm]

Easy fix Terry.
Take a look at the selector rod and you'll find that one end is threaded with a lock nut and can be adjusted. You will also see that when it is fitted to the car it often has been adjusted so that the swivels as it selects a gear and is sometimes adjusted in such a way that the law of the lever comes into play and actually tries to lever itself off the ball joint as you select a gear. I usually adjust them so that they do not go to the extremety as they swivel by adjusting the two ends I think from memory to somewhere near right angles to each other, but once in position, it's easy to see.
There is a Teflon ring in the open end of the selector hole that is supposed to help lock the ball into the rod and the insides can also get very dry which in itself helps to cause them to pop off. The couple I've done, I've adjusted to a position where they weren't straining on themselves and then cleaned them up and lightly lubed them internally. Then before the final fit, I remove them from the car, sit on the edge of a vice and tap around the outer edge of the hole with a small ball pein hammer to reshape the collar on the neck of each end of the linkage/selector rod.
That I find is a permanent fix.


Alan S

Alan

At this stage I think I owe you three cases of beer. :adrink:

I think I will be spending a bit of time und the car soon, :wink2:

I will do this mod as you suggest.

 

[smiffy1071]

The selector rods are very much the weakest link. My C15D used to pop rods off even if you breathed too hard on the gearstick!
It's for that reason you need to be quite gentle on gearchanges.
I bet it isn't all that easy to get art the rods on a 16v either? john s

 

[zzf00l]

My Xantia used to pop it's rod quite frequently, fortunately relatively easy to reach but a real pig in the dark, so.... until the box comes off or clutch is changed I decided to attach a jubilee clip to the upright ball stem and trap a thick elastic band over the socket and into the clip.... 6 months and it hasn't come off yet!! Sorted.