Gears Gone Wacky

[lotuselanman]

I was driving on a windy mountain road and hit a huge pothole, more like a small crater in the ground, on the way up to a parking lot. Previous to this I had driven nearly 200miles on a Lotus Run and after hitting that pothole my car wouldn't go into first or second gear...

Now the AAA guy (Equivalent to your AA I guess in the UK) came over and jiggled some metal bracket for the gear linkage cables that was under the hood/bonnet on the right side. After that tightened up I could go into all gears but suddenly the gear shifter became a bit loose and when moving it around you hear a clunking noise in the transmission like a cable clunking back and forth.

I am able to go into all gears but reverse is actually like a first gear and when I go into first I have to rev really hard or else the car stalls... Otherwise it is drivable. I think the gear cables went out of whack, perhaps something got unscrewed somewhere?

If anyone has any ideas let me know! I hope it won't be an expensive fix, I'm still saving to repaint my new trunk lid!

P.S. Since I was in San Jose I had it towed to a local Lotus mechanic who is diagnosing it now. I just thought it would be nice to ask people on the forum who've had this issue so that I can tell him right away where to look on the Elan so he doesn't waste too much time.

[lotusgirlmarie]

Wonder if you broke a motor mount in the rear of the engine. Maybe the shift cable bracket came loose but, that is unlikely less it got pinched somehow and was pulled out of alignment hence the mount question.

[lotuselanman]

Looks like the Gates cable has snapped that selects which gate to put the gear in. Also looks like they drilled a hole in the chassis and it's caused small cracks that need to be welded. Anyone have an extra cable they can sell for cheap? I'm on an extremely tight budget right now. I've heard people putting stainless steel ones in?

[HJ2]

Mail me a piccy of your cable, perhaps i'm able to supply you the right one (the left / right one, not the fore / aft one, corect?)

[lotuselanman]

Mail me a piccy of your cable, perhaps i'm able to supply you the right one (the left / right one, not the fore / aft one, corect?)

I mailed you a picture. I think it's the left/right one that selects the gate not the actual shift.

I couldn't find an AB cable online, not sure if anyone has any of those or the Bob Brown stainless steel ones. I would prefer a heavier duty one but will of course settle for the original should nothing else be available.

As you can see they cut a whole in the Chassis so unfortunately this needs to be welded up too as the chassis has started getting stress cracks....

P.S. Does anyone know if the cable that's in tact is an original one or a heavier duty one? Looks like these cables might have been changed already before since the hole was made for this purpose...

[lotusgirlmarie]

Forgive the expression but HOLY s**t!!!!!! Who cut the hole? I don't remember seeing that although I wasn't looking that far back when I did your oil change. That's insane!!!! That's the frame for Christ's sake. The only real frame the car has. That's going to be a little nightmarish to weld. It's all coated in Waxoyl. That stuff is flammable and after its all cleaned and welded will need to be reapplied!!! Amamtures!!! Knobs!!!! BASTARDS!!!! Sorry I'm a little mad.

[bobbrown]

I would get the hole welded up as a matter of priority, the welding job is not for the one for the DIY welder unless they are very good as it is going to be an overhead weld which is not the easiest weld position, in fact probably the hardest position to weld in.
When is is welded someone will need to watch the inside to make sure there is not a fire in the tunnel.
Can not see how far that crack in the bottom left goes but would be inclined to drill the end to stop the crack spreading and that wants welded as well lets hope it does not go too far up the side as heat and glass fiber are not a good mix.
Once it is welded you will need to treat the welded area and a good clean an a coat of POR15 should sort that out then reapply the Dinitrol to the internal surfaces.

As far as the cables are concerned that looks like a bit of a mix and match, one original cable on the crossgate and a one of unknow origin on the fore/aft cable. I have no idea what they did at the other end but that must be a bit of a bodge as the hole in the bracket is large to talk the twist lock adjusters.
It looks like there is a bit cut off the gear lever bracket on the fore/aft lever side, just the corner cut slightly no idea why, lets hope a new set of cables still fit.

Bob

[lotuselanman]

Thank you Marie and Bob. Anyone have a picture of the transmission end of gates cable? I might have access to one but need to distinguish between the two.

[bobbrown]

The original cables are easy to identify, on the adjuster end or gearbox end there are two sizes of bushing the larger is the fore/aft cable and the smaller is the crossgate, on the other end, gear lever, there is a ball joint on the fore/aft cable and a bush on the other.
From your picture it would seem that the cross gate cables is missing the inner part of the cable so not sure how you can get any of the gears other than 3rd and 4th.
Personally I would reccomend you change both cables be they original, AB or my stainless ones and leave the paint work for a later date as it is only cosmetic.

I think nitroman has a set of early AB cables for sale at $200.00 see link which is a low cost option and probably better than messing about with one cable.

Bob

[lotuselanman]

Thanks for this information and your reply Bob. Somebody has already puchased Nitroman's cables so I'll have to keep looking for other used AB or any Stainless Steel ones in my price range. For now I might do this temporary solution by buying the OE crossgate cable. Wish I had the money to buy a new set... If it wasn't for the welding I might do...