Problems selecting gear and are these S1/S2/AB cables?

[HJ2]

Just my luck... I was getting the car fixed up for tomorrows roadtrip in Belgium Along wit some 70 fellow Lotus enthousiasts.

When i drove from the garage to my house, I suddently could not engage 2nd gear coming from 4th. I can make the movement with the shifter, but 9 out of 10 times it just stays in 4th in stead of 2nd...

*edit* 1st and 2nd no longer available...

As far as i can tell I have Either S2 cables (as my car is a S2) or AB (perhaps the former owner upgraded, i don't know). Does anyone have pictures that shows the differences between them? I'll try and make a picture of mine...

How can i tell if the cable broke, or it is just the adjustment that's cocked up???
As you can understand i'll try to sort everything out today so i can drive the tour tomorrow...


Thanks in advantage for the hints and tips folks!

Best regards,
HJ2

[HJ2]

A small update.

These are the cables i have got. Has anyone got a clue if they are S2 or AB ???



Mostly i have problems with selecting 1st and 2nd gear. When i look at the shifter, it is not 5deg foreward leaning when 3th gear is selected. So i think i'll have to adjust the cables (which seem fine) so the lever will be in the correct position, am i right?

However, i've got Dave's shortshift installed. Initialy everything was perfect, but now i have problems as descibed above...
With Dave's Shortshifter installed: Should i still adjust the cables as stated in the Lotus manual?

Any quick help much appriciated... Sunday's cominng nearer and nearer

Oh! and for cable adjustment... How in god's name do i loosen the nuts that hold the cables to the bracket? (with what tool i mean...) Or do i first have to remove brackket + cables, and then loosen the nuts for cable adjustment? (this is going to be an educational experience... i can feel it!)

[bobbrown]

They look like AB cables, I would think the adjustment is close to what is in the manual but it may be a bit of trial and error
A crows foot spanner set might prove useful at getting at the nuts and some wobbly socket extensions

_35072_172645.jpg

Lets just hope it is not 5th gear coming loose

Bob

[HJ2]

Thanks Bob!

My concerns about 5th are the same...
I'll do a little more reading about this one and keep my fingers crossed.

And now: on to some tool hunting!

[Specky]

I couldn't tell you if there AB or S2...

I've just fitted the re designed bracket version with D.H. short shift and I've never seen S2 cables..

Have you had a good rumage around your car for two bespoke AB spanners..(About 3" long and Cad coated)

TTFN

[Jackonicko]

Are yours still very stiff, Specky, or loosening up a bit?

[ESM]

They look like AB cables to me. Here is what I would do. Most of this is obvious and I expect you will have done all this and more but on the off chance it might be helpful... I think the crossgate cable is the upper one of the two so at least access is slightly better.

Have a look at the couplings from the cable actuators to the levers on the gearbox and make sure they are properly connected. If there is a short shift kit make sure it's fitted properly.

Check the nuts are tight either side of the bracket on the engine - you shouldn't be able to move the threaded part. When it's loose you hear a rasping noise as the threads move across the bracket. I have to say it looks ok in the picture.

Get someone to sit in the car and move the gear lever through the gears and observe if the actuators move. Does anything else move that shouldn't (for example I had the welds break on a bracket, although that was a roughly made prototype)

Can you select gears ok when you move the shift levers on the gearbox by hand? You should get an idea of where the gears are by where things move in the step above. If you can select this way then hopefully the gearbox is ok.

If you haven't found a problem yet (and I suspect you won't have) then the coupling to the gear lever assembly will have to be examined. This will require that the cables are disconnected from the gearbox and the bracket (I hope you have some suitable spanners - I had to cut the handles down on a couple when I fitted this kit). The gator at the bottom of the gear lever can be pulled up to reveal the screws that retain the gear lever assembly. Undo them and lift it out - obviously the cables are pulled away from the engine bracket at this point so you should ensure you have some means of either stopping them going fully through and giving you the job of fishing then back out. You can always tie lengths of string to the ends so you can pull them back up. Check the coupling to the bottom of the lever (a possible source of the problem as if the nut comes loose you get a fair amount of extra play) and of the cable ends to the bracket. After this you'll have to reattach everything and readjust the cables - fun, fun, fun!

[HJ2]

Thanks all!

A dumb question... Crossgate... is this stick movement from left to right? ( i think so) or for to aft?
I Do have Dave's Shortshift. I just hope it's a matter of adjustment, but the last month it worked flawless and the problem suddently occured Hmmmzzz..

It's the adjustment part that gives me problems right now due to the lack of suitable spanners.
Does anyone got a picture of the these AB spanners?

It seems that when moving the selectorbox levers by hand everything's fine...


For now: Back to the shed and on to some more fun and educating Elan work....

[Specky]

Here's a pic

Oh and your superstition is correct

This may help too

TTFN

[HJ2]

And thank you again!

It seems more and more likely that the problem is the gross-gater then! As i remember just now, the stick was not always cross-gate self-centering while havin' the problems
I'll go to the shop now and first check out the stick side of things...

[HJ2]

Another day gone with fiddling.

I removed the controlbox, it seemed fine to me...
When i have the cables disconnected, the selection of gears on the controlbox itselve seems OK.
When i have the cables disconnected, the shift stick can move freely in all directions (as it should)
When i connect the foreward / aft cable, it moves and feels OK
When i finaly connect the cross gate cable, i can feel a resistance in the crossgate movement that was not there before. Not on the controlbox (solely) and not on the shifter (solely) and it was also not there when i moved the crossgate cable right and left form the selectorbox side of the cable...

Even stranger: When i (all cables connected) select 4th gear, i can move the stick to the left directly to the 2nd position, without going to neutral first ...

Additional problem: I am alone, so i can feel, but cannot watch the interaction between stick and selectorbox... ...

Any ideas would be much appriciated....

[GeoffSmith]

Additional problem: I am alone, so i can feel, but cannot watch the interaction between stick and selectorbox... ...

Mobile phone or camera?

[HJ2]

I'm looking for a mirror.....

[dapinky]

USB webcam and laptop???

[HJ2]

USB webcam and laptop???

Very clever!
But unfortunately a camera nor a laptop does not give any tactile feedback....

I just tried my Neighbor, he was willing to help me out, but i had to bare his self proclaimed super driving skills in his BMW 318i for that...
After that show He sat in the drivers seat of my S2 and followed my orders

It turns out that the cross gate cable shows some slack. As my neighbor shifted along gently (wich was a bit of a challenge for him) i was holding the disconnected cross gate cable end under the hood (livin'on the edge...)

I now still have to remove the bloody nut that secures the cable to the bracket under the hood to get enough slach in the cables to remove the shifter assey from the interior side... I now know the problem HAS to be found on this side.

Question: Do both cables have a nut at the shifter side that secures them wich can become loose? I saw just one (but could not see all of the mechanism because i had not enoug slack in the cables yet to pull it out entirely )...


To be continued!

[Specky]

If you're on about a nut either side of the gearbox bracket... you're correct...4 nutz in all

TTFN

[HJ2]

I ment the nuts on the gear lever assembly side

[Specky]

There's just one nut.. lefthand cable, where it attaches to the lever via a ball joint

No other nuts, just circlips or an R- Clip

TTFN

[HJ2]

There's just one nut.. lefthand cable, where it attaches to the lever via a ball joint

No other nuts, just circlips or an R- Clip

TTFN

Ah! We're getting there!
And now for the grand finale: IS the lefthand cable the crossgate

*edit* : I think not when i look at the diagram in the manual... Let's hope the circlip's gone

[Specky]

No.. fore and aft...


TTFN