Cable adjustment for smoother shifting

[tigerdog]

Ever since I became the caretaker of The Green Monster, the shifter has bugged me a bit. Canted way off to the right (on a LHD car, that's not good) and extremely stiff across the gate. Whist I had the overflow bottle removed to replace the coils, I decided to play a bit with the adjusters on the AB cables. I adjusted like so:

- Had my 9 year old son shift laterally to figure out which cable was which down by the tranny (he got great satisfaction from being allowed to do this)
- Put the shifter in 3rd.
- Loosened the adjuster nuts so there was 2cm or so distance between them.
- Moved the lever to the left to figure out which way to adjust.
- Repositioned the nuts so the lever was vertical (again, in 3rd) then tightened them down. Ultimately, I ended up moving the threaded adjuster to within about 5mm of the end of the barrel - about 15mm further down than it was.

I expected the lever position to be different, but I didn't expect the huge difference in feel - like a new tranny! Moral of the story: fiddle with the adjusters - seemingly small differences in cable angle make a big difference at the lever.

[tweetdriver63]

Were you able to do that adjustment without removing the plennum? I understand that to get to the cables, that has to come off. If not, it would make me very happy. It sounds like you had the coolant tank off, but not the plennum.

[tigerdog]

Prepare to be happy - I removed the coolant tank only. At least on my Fed-spec Elan, it was possible to reach down between the plenum and tranny and lay hands on the cables themselves. Remember, though, I'm working with AB cables and not the factory units. AB include a lovely little spanner shaped "just right" for tightening the adjusting nuts. I've never worked with the standard cables and plastic adjustment collars, so you may need to remove the plenum to work with these.

[tweetdriver63]

Did you completely remove the coolant tank, or just move it aside?

There's a hose connected to the bottom of it, and I know if disconnect that, coolant will pour out everywhere. I think maybe I can get it out of the way enough if I remove the intake air hose from the plennum to get it out of the way.

The plastic collars are the next problem. I need somebody whose worked with them before. They look like they're supposed to be turned by hand, but I think they're going to be too tight for that, and I don't know if there's enough room to get pliers or anything onto them. If there is, I'm going to try wrapping a rag around to protect the plastic, then use pliers to try to turn them. They're only supposed to need 1/4 turn according to the manual. I just wish the manual gave more detail on the "how to" instead of just the "what to."

[tigerdog]

I completely removed the coolant tank after sucking out the coolant with a clean turkey baster and holding towels under the hose while disconnecting it, then further siphoning coolant out with the baster. I wedged the hose up out of the way and in the end, I spilled about a cup of coolant on the floor. I can't help you with the plastic cable ends.

Moreover, unless the cables have been replaced in the past or are already binding somewhere, I doubt the technique I used will help that much. Binding cables caused the problem I fixed, probably due to the "twisting" phenomenon described elsewhere on the site. Also, the mis-positioning of the shifter was obvious. If you have the original cables and the shifter isn't visibly canted in an undesireable position, your balky shifting may have a different root cause.

[tigerdog]

I completely removed the coolant tank after sucking out the coolant with a clean turkey baster and holding towels under the hose while disconnecting it, then further siphoning coolant out with the baster. I wedged the hose up out of the way and in the end, I spilled about a cup of coolant on the floor. I can't help you with the plastic cable ends.

Moreover, unless the cables have been replaced in the past or are already binding somewhere, I doubt the technique I used will help that much. Binding cables caused the problem I fixed, probably due to them twisting during installation, a phenomenon described elsewhere on the site. Also, the mis-positioning of the shifter was obvious. If you have the original cables and the shifter isn't visibly canted in an undesireable position, your balky shifting may have a different root cause.

[John_W]

Tweetdriver,
Have a look at Ratman's post & subsequent answers around here.

John

[tweetdriver63]

I tried some adjustment today. I could only get one of the locking collars to unlock. That was the one on the top, the one on the cross gate. I adjusted it a bit too far, so now 1st and 2nd can't be selected. I'll have to fix that tomorrow.

I think my bigger problem is in the play. The shift lever has a lot of play in it. For example, when the car is in gear, the shifter can be move fore-aft at least an inch, and side-to-side at least half an inch. That's measured at the top of the shift knob. This isn't normal, is it? Is it caused by some kind of warn bushings at the shifter itself?

If this trial and error, describe the symptoms, and get possible answers doesn't do it, is this going to be the kind of thing any good mechanic should be able to diagnose? It's a long way from here to find a lotus specialist.

[tigerdog]

I tried some adjustment today. I could only get one of the locking collars to unlock. That was the one on the top, the one on the cross gate. I adjusted it a bit too far, so now 1st and 2nd can't be selected.

I'd think that much play at the lever is indicative of wear, not misadjustment. There are a number of places where the system can wear; the ball/socket at the base of the lever, cable ends, etc. Before you go in too deep, I'd strongly suggest looking through the shifter-related posts in this section of the forum - they're full of good info about wear points, cable replacement, etc.

As far as adjusting the shifter, look at the factory shop manual procedure. It's pretty explicit. If you haven't already done so, get copies of all the factory manuals and service notes. As a newbie myself, I've found them invaluable reading.