For a while my brother has been having problems with shifter on his '05 V. I haven't driven the car myself, so I don't have anything to go on other than what he says. Basically, he says that it feels like something is binding up in the shifter, and sometimes it doesn't want to go into gear. From what I've gathered it happens in multiple gears, so I'm pretty sure it's the shifter, not something in the tranny.

It's been so long since I installed the UUC shifter in my car that I really don't remember how the stock shifter is set up. Looking at a couple of short shifter install threads, it seems like there could be a couple of issues with his shifter: (1) bad bushing at the very bottom of the shift lever, where it bolts to the linkage to the tranny, or (2) bad sleeve around the pivot ball. I don't think the rubber bushings (that get replaced by the UUC ones) would cause the issue the way he's described it, but I could be wrong.

Anyone know if either of the bushings from (1) or (2) is serviceable (sold by the dealer)? I have a feeling #2 isn't, since the plastic sleeve is under a cap that's riveted in place.

 

well the OEM plastic white spacer/bushing have a tendency of cracking and failing.. mine did however it didn't create a binding situation, just even more slop.. i picked up a new metal sleeve and bushing from Brian, PISSNUOFF.. install requires you take the Shifter Stalk out and press the new white bushing.. white lithium grease really improves shifting feel in my experience

 

I have some new pivot bushings for the base of the shifter. I also have some nylon sleeves that go around the pivot ball. I have found that if the pivot ball assembly is loose, it's usually the pivot ball itself. Does the shifter move excessively up and down?

Brian

 

Well, I answered my own question to some extent - called Luke @ Lindsay and found that you can't service any of the parts, you have to buy a whole new assembly. If that's the case then we'll just do one of Brian's setups, as it would be similar cost-wise and would actually be an improvement.

Brian - I'll ask my brother about that. I assume that if the ball is bad that the stick needs to be replaced?

 

It can happen with synchros going bad as well. It is habit now to put it in neutral, let the clutch out and try again. All manual cars I've had do that at some point.

 

I may have an extra pivot ball in my shop and may be able to completely repair it.

 

Bumping this one back up a couple months later... I went home at the end of February and was able to take a look at his shifter. No sign of up-and-down play. Looking down from above it's hard to see much, but my guess is the lower bushing is what's shot. Do you replace those bushings with something better, Brian?

 

My shifter is starting to get balky too. I have been under the impression that it is my stock motor mounts have started to fail (or failed completely) and are causing the engine to sit lower than it should, which in turn, is causing the transmission to not line up properly and making some of the gears hard to get into. I don't know if that makes sense, and I have no way to prove it until I spring for some new MMs, but I have read on the other forum that some people have a better shifting feel after installing new tranny mount and mms.

 

I've found that I can seemingly cure balky shifting by blipping the throttle just before I engage the gear. I imagine the engine torques over on the motor mounts, aligning the shift linkage.