[sathz]

hi guys
my 92 swb jx manual gear recently wont engage 1st,3rd and 5th gear. its stuck. 2nd,4th and reverse is fine... a day before, the 2nd, 4th and reverse didnt work.........i removed the boots and cap holding the shift stick and found the spring broken. the rubber bushing looks ok. with the cap, spring and bush all removed, i tried shifting the gears and still only the 2nd,4th and reverse works.

if i manage to get a kit to change the cap, spring,bush, will that work? or something else is a problem?
anyone had any experience in this? any advice?

[bumstein]

I’ve been helping Sathz to try solve this problem, the only issue is that we’re doing it by phone and I can’t think of the issue without seeing it.

I have also never played with Vit gearboxes so I can’t rely on knowledge of the gearbox to help.

So!!! There’s a few threads on here from a while back that suggest there’s a small cup that sits on the bottom part of the gear shift. I can’t see one in any of the photos Sathz and sent me, can anyone confirm or dispel this?

The spring is cactus but the lower bush looks ok to me, rough but ok.

On the Suzistore website there lists an upper and a lower Bush. I can’t see a reason there would be a Bush on the top of the gearshift if it’s got the spring pushing the top of it down to keep it located and the collar from slipping off. Again, can anyone confirm or dispel this?

The two gearshift locating bolts are good I think, looks like two of them right? Sierra only has one.

I’ll post a few of his pics. The inside is pretty ugly, looks like there’s been some water in the gearbox.



Upper and lower Bush?



I’m having trouble picking the part that sits below what looks like the two locating pins. It’s looks like two parts with a semilunar notch. Are those the pins which keep the gearstick central when I’m neutral? I’m also guessing the selector rods are submerged in the oil below that and not visible in the photo?



In addition to this I know the Sierra you can get a kit which supplies the Bush, locating bolts, spring and all the bits needed depending if it’s the gearshift or transfer shift. I can find any equivalent kit for the Vit gearshift, is there one or is that not a thing for Vitara?

[fordem]

sathz wrote:

hi guys
my 92 swb jx manual gear recently wont engage 1st,3rd and 5th gear. its stuck. 2nd,4th and reverse is fine... a day before, the 2nd, 4th and reverse didnt work.........i removed the boots and cap holding the shift stick and found the spring broken. the rubber bushing looks ok. with the cap, spring and bush all removed, i tried shifting the gears and still only the 2nd,4th and reverse works.

With the shift lever out, use a large screwdriver and try to move the selector backwards - if it doesn't move you need to find out why.

[fordem]

bumstein wrote:

I’ve been helping Sathz to try solve this problem, the only issue is that we’re doing it by phone and I can’t think of the issue without seeing it.

I have also never played with Vit gearboxes so I can’t rely on knowledge of the gearbox to help.

So!!! There’s a few threads on here from a while back that suggest there’s a small cup that sits on the bottom part of the gear shift. I can’t see one in any of the photos Sathz and sent me, can anyone confirm or dispel this?

The spring is cactus but the lower bush looks ok to me, rough but ok.

On the Suzistore website there lists an upper and a lower Bush. I can’t see a reason there would be a Bush on the top of the gearshift if it’s got the spring pushing the top of it down to keep it located and the collar from slipping off. Again, can anyone confirm or dispel this?

The lower bush is not visible in those pictures - the upper bush is what you're seeing - it sits below the ball on the shift lever - the lower bush sits in the cup of the selector and fits on the very tip of the lever - I suspect the lower bush has broken up and the pieces are in the muck and preventing the selector from moving back from the neutral position - time to clean down in the shift tower.

[sathz]

fordem wrote:

sathz wrote:

hi guys
my 92 swb jx manual gear recently wont engage 1st,3rd and 5th gear. its stuck. 2nd,4th and reverse is fine... a day before, the 2nd, 4th and reverse didnt work.........i removed the boots and cap holding the shift stick and found the spring broken. the rubber bushing looks ok. with the cap, spring and bush all removed, i tried shifting the gears and still only the 2nd,4th and reverse works.

With the shift lever out, use a large screwdriver and try to move the selector backwards - if it doesn't move you need to find out why.

I tried, can't move

[sathz]

bumstein wrote:

I’ve been helping Sathz to try solve this problem, the only issue is that we’re doing it by phone and I can’t think of the issue without seeing it.

I have also never played with Vit gearboxes so I can’t rely on knowledge of the gearbox to help.

So!!! There’s a few threads on here from a while back that suggest there’s a small cup that sits on the bottom part of the gear shift. I can’t see one in any of the photos Sathz and sent me, can anyone confirm or dispel this?

The spring is cactus but the lower bush looks ok to me, rough but ok.

On the Suzistore website there lists an upper and a lower Bush. I can’t see a reason there would be a Bush on the top of the gearshift if it’s got the spring pushing the top of it down to keep it located and the collar from slipping off. Again, can anyone confirm or dispel this?

The two gearshift locating bolts are good I think, looks like two of them right? Sierra only has one.

I’ll post a few of his pics. The inside is pretty ugly, looks like there’s been some water in the gearbox.



Upper and lower Bush?



I’m having trouble picking the part that sits below what looks like the two locating pins. It’s looks like two parts with a semilunar notch. Are those the pins which keep the gearstick central when I’m neutral? I’m also guessing the selector rods are submerged in the oil below that and not visible in the photo?



In addition to this I know the Sierra you can get a kit which supplies the Bush, locating bolts, spring and all the bits needed depending if it’s the gearshift or transfer shift. I can find any equivalent kit for the Vit gearshift, is there one or is that not a thing for Vitara?

Thanks for the help Legend. I hope to get this solved with all the help I can get

[bumstein]

fordem wrote:

I suspect the lower bush has broken up and the pieces are in the muck and preventing the selector from moving back from the neutral position - time to clean down in the shift tower.

Thanks bloke!! Think he’s found the issue, you’re spot on

[sathz]

fordem wrote:

bumstein wrote:

I’ve been helping Sathz to try solve this problem, the only issue is that we’re doing it by phone and I can’t think of the issue without seeing it.

I have also never played with Vit gearboxes so I can’t rely on knowledge of the gearbox to help.

So!!! There’s a few threads on here from a while back that suggest there’s a small cup that sits on the bottom part of the gear shift. I can’t see one in any of the photos Sathz and sent me, can anyone confirm or dispel this?

The spring is cactus but the lower bush looks ok to me, rough but ok.

On the Suzistore website there lists an upper and a lower Bush. I can’t see a reason there would be a Bush on the top of the gearshift if it’s got the spring pushing the top of it down to keep it located and the collar from slipping off. Again, can anyone confirm or dispel this?

The lower bush is not visible in those pictures - the upper bush is what you're seeing - it sits below the ball on the shift lever - the lower bush sits in the cup of the selector and fits on the very tip of the lever - I suspect the lower bush has broken up and the pieces are in the muck and preventing the selector from moving back from the neutral position - time to clean down in the shift tower.

amazing call on that mate.. exactly happened as u mentioned. the plastic bush was inside and it hindered the movement of the shifter. got it out and its all good....

[fordem]

Somethings come with experience - I've had that lower bush break on me, mine didn't jam the way your's did, the lever just got really sloppy - but - because I've been in there, I have a good idea of how it works, and that's about the only thing that can block all three selections.

I've learned a lot here, happy to be able to reciprocate.

[fordem]

There are some questions here I didn't notice before ...

sathz wrote:

I’m having trouble picking the part that sits below what looks like the two locating pins. It’s looks like two parts with a semilunar notch. Are those the pins which keep the gearstick central when I’m neutral? I’m also guessing the selector rods are submerged in the oil below that and not visible in the photo?

What you're working with is a "shift extension" that is bolted to the top of the transmission, and extends back over the transfer case - the part below the locating pins is a sort of a cup that is attached to the back end of the shift shaft which then goes forward to the transmission where there is another short lever that engages the actual selector shafts. The two pins act as a pivot and a locator - they prevent the shift lever from being rotated in the shift tower and are the pivot on which the fore/aft movement occurs - they also hold the retaining cap in place.

Quote:

In addition to this I know the Sierra you can get a kit which supplies the Bush, locating bolts, spring and all the bits needed depending if it’s the gearshift or transfer shift. I can find any equivalent kit for the Vit gearshift, is there one or is that not a thing for Vitara?

I'm not aware of any such kit for the Vitara, I think the commonly replaced parts are the upper & lower bushes - as far as I know the spring (and the first rubber boot) are only available as a part of the shift lever assembly - you'll have to pick up the spring used, for the rubber boot I cut the end off of a steering rack boot and used that.

[losfer]

im betting that an old lower bush is stuck rearward in the lower housing preventing the shift rods from moving backwards (1st 3rd and 5th) not the first time ive seen it.

edit : sorry didnt read all replies

[Hohocc]

Thread dredge from a year ago! Anyway...
Looks like my manual v6 escudo from 95 has a bit of the same problem going on.
I went to fit a new lower bushing recently only to find no evidence of a lower bushing in there! No idea where the old one went but now it's binding when trying to select gears, sometimes it's reverse, sometimes it binds selecting second, sometimes first sometimes fifth. Third and fourth much less often.
So it looks like there is a bit of plastic floating around in there somewhere. I've not found anything with the limited access from the selector attachment point, so I'm after any info from those that have seen this before.
Is it possible to remove the selector housing with the box in the car by removing the box crossmember and tilting the whole thing back/down? Or is it likely a box out job?
My guess is the piece is lodged somewhere forward in the selector housing, but I'd be happy to hear it's normally possible to find the problem from the gearstick hole. However I'm doubting that is the case...
Thanks.

[Fatzook]

Don't stress. This is very common. The OEM bush hardens and disintegrates over time, dropping into the box in pieces.

Grab a new shifter bush kit, chuck that in and do an oil change on the box.

The bush is no match for the spinning gears and if not already ground to a fine paste, it will be shortly.

[Hohocc]

You know sometimes the simple answer is the least obvious!
I've just changed the oil and have the new plastic bits on the way so will just put it back together and persist with using it. It's a pain at the moment but if the usual course of events is that the rogue plastic chunks get minced and the problem fixes itself then I'm more than happy to not reinvent the wheel.
Once it's sorted I may as well change the oil again as I have enough left over to repeat the process, and there was a fair bit of metal on the magnet last time so a short period between changes won't do any harm.
Thanks for the info, much appreciated.

[fordem]

Ahhhhh - with that transmission, the shift lever sits in an extension, there's no way for the plastic bits to fall into the transmission, there's no way for the plastic bits to get out of the extension unless you fish them out through the shift lever hole, so the pieces are still in there, and sooner or later you're going to have to fish them out - you can choose to do it at a convenient time & place, or, if you're not lucky, you'll be forced to do it at a very inconvenient time & place.

Your choice.

[Hohocc]

Fair point.
Had a good look in there today, put the front on ramps, deflated the rear tyres all to try to get the bits to slide to the rear. Sucked all the excess oil out as well to get it as dry as possible.
No luck finding any chunks, but there were a couple of small spirals.
In the meantime have put it back together until the new plastic bits arrive so will repeat the search process when I've got it part then. Should be next week.
Thanks.