5 Spd Gear shift frustrations

[Terry Field]

Before I raise this with the dealer, I wonder if anyone has any thoughts.

1999 1.8 Roadsport, 5 spd box. I bought it in February and I am now starting to get some use out of it. I have always found the gearchange very heavy, stiff, slow and clunky, certainly not slick. My old Xflow car with a type 9 box was very slick and fast, and I have been hoping that with a bit of use this one might be the same, but it is nowhere near.

After a 200 mile trip to Thruxton today, (great weather and racing) I was actually trying to avoid changing gear, such was the frustration.

Going up the box is bad enough, although you had to give it a healthy thump, but coming down is painful, especially from 5th to 4th and 3rd to 2nd which really is very slow and clunky, even if I blip the throttle.

The effect of all this is that because of the time it takes to change gear, the revs drop right off and it becomes difficult to drive quickly or smoothly. The idea of dropping it down a gear for a quick overtake has to be thought about very carefully. There is no untoward noise when changing gear, it is just hard work.

I don' think this can be normal (haven't had chance to test it on anyone yet), but are there any ideas as to what the problem is, and how it might be resolved.

[SM25T]

Have you tried running some oil down the gear lever on to the bearing ? Can make a big difference

[7 wonders of the world]

Water ingress into the selector shaft if its ben stood a while.

Wrong oil grade and spec -  many including myself find Redline MTL makes for a slick shift.

Also check the lever has not been built in the quick setting, although this shortens the throw it does make it significantly heavier - tried it on mine and swopped back.

The lever can be easily configured in two options simple to swop back you only need remove te 3 M5 screws to pull the gear elver out.

[Terry Field]

ŷThe quick setting concept does make some sense to me - it is quite a short throw. How do you reconfigure the gearstick after it is removed?

i thought about the oil situation, but to be honest it doesn’t feel like a lubrication issue, but more of a mechanical problem, but I will keep an open mind.

[7 wonders of the world]

Here you go this should help.

https://www.lotus7.club/guides/maintenance/maintaining-quickshift-gearlever

[Terry Field]

Thanks, that may come in handy. First it is a visit to the dealer as it is still under warranty.

[John Vine]

The guide that Neil mentions in #5 also suggests replacing the nylon saddle on the selector rod.

JV
 

[Terry Field]

Finally managed to find time in the garage to look at the gearbox.

So far, so good. Selector unit successfully removed and ready to be stripped down.

2 minor issues: Using long nosed pliers I cannot get a grip on the nylon saddle to pull it out. I have a new one ready to go in, so is there any harm in grabbing the old one with ordinary pliers and just forcing it out (without damaging the shaft)? I can probably get a good grip on the little tab at the end and the side 'bar' that runs parallel to the shaft.

The other thing I have noticed is a wear mark on the offside of the selector fork. It is about 0.5mm deep at its deepest point and has obviously been rubbing on something, but I can't tell what. Any thoughts?

[Terry Field]

I have now dismantled the gear change and it appears that there is no spacer!

 

It all looks clean and with no corrosion or major dirt. The bearing is quite tight, but moves smoothly.

So I now seem to be in a position where, other than the marks on the fork, and possibly a missing spacer,  there seems to be nothing wrong. Without a spacer then obviously I cannot change the shift between the two settings of standard and quick.

If that is the case, then all I am doing is putting everything back just as it was, and presumably I will still be stuck with the dodgy gear change?

[John Vine]

I can't suggest a cause for the wear on the fork, or whether it would affect the quality of the gear-change. 

Regarding your other queries:

Lack of spacer: I wouldn't worry about that.  The spacer is used to raise the spherical bearing in its housing, thereby converting the throw from "standard" to "quick".  The normal setting for a 7 is "standard", with the bearing resting directly on the raised shoulder of the fork.  I think your spring may be longer to compensate for the lack of spacer.

Nylon saddle:  You can be quite brutal removing this, provided you avoid damaging the selector rod.  The saddle simply clips onto the rod.

Did you pursue the warranty route?

JV 

[Terry Field]

Hi John,

Thanks. I will rip out the saddle and rebuild.

Yes I spoke to the dealer (Happy to say now that it was Sevens and Classics) and they were quite happy for me to have a go at it, ( I am 200 miles away from them), and actually directed me towards Techtalk.

If there is no improvement once I have rebuilt it, then I will need to talk to them again.

[Terry Field]

The saga moves on. Removing and rebuilding the existing gear lever assembly made no difference at all. Sevens and Classics have now sent me another assembly to try. The new one appears to be a lot looser in operation.

I have removed the old assembly again, which comes out very easily, but I am struggling to get the new one in. They are slightly different styles as you can see form the picture below. The 'old' one which I am removing is on the left of the picture and the 'new ' one on the right. The main difference is the shoulder on the housing on the new assembly, which is making the insertion of the assembly into the top of the gearbox very difficult as it is so tight. I have tried some gentle persuasion but am afraid of damaging the alloy on the box. I contemplated using the three bolts to pull it into place but decided that more advice is needed first.

So should it be such a tight fit, and if so how do I persuade it into place so that the housing sits flush with the gearbox?

Incidentally, there is no spacer on either of the assemblies, so I am assuming that they are both built to 'standard' rather than 'quick' mode.

 

[timb2117]

If its close could you go round with file, then emery paper/ dremel to take a smidge off?

[John Vine]

The new one appears to be a lot looser in operation.

That suggests that the old spherical bearing is at fault.  You could try swapping it with the new one and see if that improves the gear change.

JV

[Terry Field]

I finally managed to install the replacement gearchange assembly by pulling it together with the bolts - it actually went together quite easily like that.

The gear change is now much better, and I think a tight spherical rose bearing was the main problem as John suggests.

The next step is to use it a bit and actually get used to it!

Thanks for all the advice

 

[John Vine]

Well done. Result!

JV