No Gears (having only 3rd doesn't count.................)

[Elanlover]

While enjoying a fantastic peice of highway with some nice curves I headed for the straightaway, quick shifted from 3rd to 4th, stepped on the gas and the engine revs off the scale without any power top the wheels. "This can't be good" I think to myself. I step on the clutch, slow down a bit and release and find that I'm in 3rd. Can't change to any other gear though. I manage to get home - barely and with some foul smelling clutch action (ever try to move from a standstill while in 3rd?).

I've read about the gear cables going and the AB replacements but I'm hoping someone can answer 2 questions for me.

1. The stick doesn't wobble around freely. It will move from 3rd to the 4th position but not sideways at all. I haven't yet pulled the gaiter et al to look but does this sound like the cables could be gone? I ask only because other people seem to have reported that they can move the stick around fairly freely while I can't.

2. If this is the problem, can anyone suggest a way to get car into 1st? Right now I'm parked on the side of the road. My driveway's on an inclide and the garage at the top. I'm not even going to try to get it up the hill in 3rd. 1st would be no problem though.

Thanks all!

[Kjeld]

Yeah, you are right. When my cable snapped, the gear lever became quite loose. I think I had 1st though, after some fishing. Still though, if the cables have not been replaced, it is likely the problem. The good news is that Alan's cable assembly is sooo much better than EOM, it is worth the conversion alone.

[Elanlover]

As soon as I open the thing up to versify that's what happened I'l be ordering those cables. Just checked to make sure they were still available and WillB is standing by to send them. I just want to make sure that's the real problem.

Anyone with any suggestions how I might get this car into 1st somehow????????

[Elanlover]

Ok, knowing that I'm not a mechanic and have never really done much work on cars before, I've progressed this way (with the pic below as a guide):

- removed leather cover around shifter alond with knob
- removed 4 bolts holding rubber boot around shifter and lifted boot component our of the way
- had a real good look at the shifter with all that removed using a flashlight


I couldn't really see much and am wondering if I need to go further and remove the 2 bolts that hold what I can only describe as the "shifter ball mechanism" to the plate which the boot screwed into and the cables seem to run into at the bottom.

I'd like to be sure its a broken cable issue and I've really no experience in this so I guess I'm being overly cautious fearling I'll destroy the car completely

The stick is in the neutral position but the car is in 3rd gear. When I try to move the stick backward I can hear some clicking and it does seem like its coming from below the "shifter ball mechanism" I described earlier. Actually, it seems to be coming from just ahead of that piece, slightly forward.

Could it possibly be anything else but a broken cable??? Should I/could I remove the remaining two bolts to see more of what's going on in there (without ruining something else?)?

Thanks for the help (God knows I need it)

[donsladek]

Elanman,

To get the transaxle into 1st gear, the best bet may be to go directly to the transaxle levers, accessable from under the hood. This can be done without removing/relocating the coolant tank, but is easier with the tank out of the way, and you reduce the amount of bloodshed!.

Below the coolant tank, you should see the cable ends attached to the transaxle levers.

The upper cable attaches to the "cross-gate bell crank lever" of the transaxle. This cable provides the sideways movement of the shifter to the transaxle. This lever should be pushed toward the left side of the car for 1st gear.
The lower cable attaches to the "cross shaft lever" of the transaxle. This cable provides the fore-aft movement of the shifter to the transaxle. This lever should be pushed toward the right side of the car for 1st gear.

Hopefully this will allow you to get the car up your driveway and out of harm's way.

Don

[Doug]

even though your Elan has a thousand miles on it--it is still 15 years old!

time to get those AB cables in there! Welcome to the 'snapped cable club"!

[Elanlover]

Here's the picture I mentioned in the previous post by the way.

[Elanlover]

Don, thanks so much for that. I was able to do exactly as you'd suggested. I ended up in reverse! I guess I mixed up right and left (from which side of the car???) In the end, it turned out better that way as now I'm nose out in the garage which is actually a better working position if I'm going under the hood. I did smell some nasty clutch burning though. I'm desperately hoping my issues aren't going to get worse

Time to order the cables I suppose.

Doug, you're absolutely right. I guess I was being optimistic in thinking that, although it looked loke and had the mileage of a new car, it would behave like a new car. Where's that warranty! I suppose in the end, with the new cables and new brakes from Brian (thank you ailwyn!) it'll be a better car all around. Just didn't think I'd be spending this much so soon. Oh well..............thus is the life of Elan ownership!

[donsladek]

Elanman,

Glad you made it to the garage, sorry about the left-right confusion.

My car has just under 40K miles, and the cables I recently replaced with the AB cables were not the OEM Lotus cables - probably Isuzu, so it's had 2 sets in this time. I expect the AB cables will last a long, long time based on their construction.

Don

[TommyK]

Regardless of age the OEM cables will tend to break if you drive your Elan like most other sports cars. I went through 3 sets of these in less than a year. Not to mention a 4th that the dealer snapped while moving the car from the lift to the holding lot. Like most things in the Elan it's all about precision over power.