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M32 1.8 Gearbox - Stiff "side to side" gear stick when warm (free quick fix)

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  • M32 1.8 Gearbox - Stiff "side to side" gear stick when warm (free quick fix)

    Hi all, bit of a long read but if you have the same problem then may be worth it.

    Been having a bit of trouble recently (especially with the hot weather) whereby the gear lever becomes "slightly stiff" in the neutral left to right plane. The issue means that if you come out of 1st/2nd or 5th/6th the lever will not return to the centre without some assistance. I must add it doesn't take much to move it back but struggles on its own.

    Now I have read up a bit and lubricated everything (minor improvement), checked gear linkage position (perfect and gear change is good to each gear), changed gear box oil for fuchs sintofluid which comes recommended over Vauxhall standard and wanted to do as car is on 85,000 miles.

    Now finally sorted it yesterday (I am aware of a few other threads on here with similar issues but couldn't find a quick "what to do".
    this involves minimal tooling and nothing major to disconnect (linkages left in place)

    Anyway decided to look at this yesterday - As read before the issue is where the pivot pin (Labelled "A" in the image below) fits through it's holes, which becomes tight.

    Equipment/tools used.
    P150 grit emery paper (about 8" long & cut into 8mm wide strips)
    P150 grit emery paper (about 3" long & cut into 20mm wide strip & rolled up - to fit into hole when pin is moved out)
    4mm allen key
    Lubricating Oil
    long thin screw driver (optional)

    First I locked the turret in place using a 4mm allen key through the front hole (can see part of this on the image)
    This may not be necessary but just help keep everything fixed in place.
    Next remove the end clip, just pull away slightly then slide up/off
    Now you need to slide the pin to the right (exposing the areas of the pin that fit though the end holes/housing. Moved mine about 20mm total. Had to "tap" the bracket over to get it moving. The screw driver can be used between the bracket and the right end mount hole to "lever" the bracket over if careful,
    Once the pin has moved enough take a strip of emery paper, place a drop of oil on it, feed it under the pin and back up into a long "U" shape and work it back/forward/up/down to clean up the pin, try and cover as much area around the pin as possible, the top of the pin is harder to do so just use the emery paper & your finger. repeat this for both ends of the pin, literally done mine for about 20 seconds on each end.
    Now take the rolled up emery paper (see image), with a bit of oil & twist it into the hole where the pin was removed, work it round & in & out. once again 30 seconds was all I done it for.
    Give the hole & pin a good coat of oil (the hole is difficult to access so just put my finger by the hole and poured from above so it ran off my finger into the hole).
    Finally slide the pin back to the left, mine slid back so much easier, just make sure the pivot arm (right hand side of the turret) fits into the groove properly, the pin wont slide back if not.
    Give it all another squirt of oil, remove the allen key and go check the operation of the gear lever (check each gear position feels right - nothing has changed so should be the same).
    Mine was so much better, springs back so easy now,
    Spent about 20 mins max and that was working it out as I went along

    Area to work. (ignore the oily mess, took photo after finished and put oil everywhere)
    Marked up by Jonese _, on Flickr

    Rolled up emery paper
    20180712_194206115_iOS by Jonese _, on Flickr

    Emery strip
    20180712_192639798_iOS by Jonese _, on Flickr

    Oil
    20180712_192653038_iOS by Jonese _, on Flickr

  • #2
    I've experienced this stiffness returning to center when hot with my F40 too. I assumed it was an internal gearbox thing as it only occurred when the box was hot. Will give it a go.

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    • #3
      Ive had the same thing on mine for months mate and i was stumped! Its perfect when cold but after 25-30 mins driving it goes all stiff!
      Will give this a go at the weekend -

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      • #4
        Mine is still perfect 6 months on, well worth doing..

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        • #5
          Attempted this on saturday - almost lost the clip and ran out of 3-in-1 but now its perfect!
          thanks a million mate -saved much head scratching! next stop- changing the gearbox oil

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          • #6
            No problem, I remember how chuffed I was after doing mine, such a simple process aswell.
            When you come to do the gearbox oil make sure you check you can undo the filler hole first, other than that its straight forward and access is good (done mine at the same time as I fixed my stiff gear stick)

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            • #7
              I spoke to soon- back to normal again but taking slightly longer to stiffen up!! going to do it again as may have not given the pin enough rubbing !
              Is it worth greasing the pin or is oil good enough?

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              • #8
                I only went with the oil, still fine. Suggest just giving it another go and spend more time rubbing and a good oiling.

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                • #9
                  Hi All,

                  I know this is a slightly old thread, but mine started doing this very thing this morning! A quick Google search, and I appear to have found the solution (hopefully!).

                  I'm happy to have a go at most things, and this seems reasonably straight forward, however, sorry for what probably seems like a rather stupid question, where exactly is the mechanism I need to get access to, in the image?!

                  Is that under the gear stick/gaiter, or under the car?? Which if it is, I'd clearly need a ramp to get under the car, which I don't have!

                  Any help/guidance on how to get to this exact mechanism, would be most appreciated!

                  Thanks

                  Darren

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                  • #10
                    Yoooooooooooooohooooooooo Darren all above is carried out in the engine bay from above .



                    1899-7656788 Wowcher code!

                    Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk



                    .K.M.P.C.U
                    YEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAA

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      As said above by Lizzart-t this is all done in the engine bay, and just to update it is still working as good as the day I done it 3 years ago.

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