[DaytonaDan]

The shifter in my 88 Shelby Z recently started actuing up. All of a sudden my throws got probably twice as long as normal. It still goes into gear fine and doesn't slip out, but I can move the shifter back and fourth about 2 inches, maybe more, when in gear. Can anyone give me an idea where to start looking?
thanks

Dan

 

[Harvii]

shifter bushings on the shifter and the trans?

Harv

 

[mwinkle353]

the cable could be broken but still attached to the spiral winding within the sheath. I had a similar problem when I swapped transmissions.

 

[89Waredaytona]

a retaining clip could of popped off, happened to me a few times

 

[ludwig340]

The small 13mm bolt holding the shift linkage/arm to the tranny may have come loose. I had that happen repeatedly on my '89 after changing the clutch - had to tighten and re-tighten...was going to loctite it if it came loose again, but the last time I tightened the bejeezus out of it and never had to worry about it again.

If it was a gradual thing, I'd say this could be your problem, and that it will get worse and eventually become hard to find the gears, but if it happened all at once, then yeah, a clip or something likely broke.

 

[DaytonaDan]

Cool, thanks guys. I'll most likely be spending the day at the shop tomorrow working on the little rattletrap so I'll post what I find.

Dan

 

[t3rse]

I have a question relating to this topic: I just purchased my first TD, and the shifter is a bit long in throw, which I am going to fix with a short throw neon arm. However, if I throw it hard into 2 or 4 it often misses with a very subtle grind sometimes. I can feel it miss, as if there is nothing attached. When I am driving normally, it is fine unless I down shift quickly. Is this more likely a tranny problem, or a linkage problem? Any advice or commentary would be extremely helpful.

 

[DaytonaDan]

Yep, sure enough it was that bolt holding the linkage onto the tranny. I threw some blue loctite on it and tightened it up. Thanks for the advice guys.

Dan

 

[Jckrieger]

t3rse, it sounds like you may either have a clutch that is dragging a little, or a bad stop ring/syncronizer set in the transmission. I had the same problem with an a520 when going into 2nd or 3rd, and it turns out the stop rings were worn out.

 

[ludwig340]

Yer welcome - isn't it freaky to reach down there and find that bolt all sloppy finger loose? I was both shocked and relieved when I found that the first time. With mine, the gears became gradually hard to find as I returned to Atlanta from Orlando (7-8 hrs) and I had of course convinced myself there was some internal trans problem.