My gear shifter broke
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Not be cheecky but just how spiritted or ham fisted were you? Or are we talking about another kind of 'spiritted' activity?jplotus said:
Levity aside, that sucks and is very surprising. I've been thinking about it and I can't see a place along the shaft that would have acted as a fulcrum, so it must have broken under pressure against the linkage on the bottom of the shaft; which makes me think faulty part with a weak structural point somewhere.
Glad you were not hurt, it must have been a high pucker factor moment.
Cheers,
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Re: Re: My gear shifter broke
Let's keep our fingers crossed for Shinoo's upcoming meeting with ??? and that we may soon have a short shift with full replacement linkage. Yea Shinoo! :bow:babak said:Not be cheecky but just how spiritted or ham fisted were you? Or are we talking about another kind of 'spiritted' activity?
Levity aside, that sucks and is very surprising. I've been thinking about it and I can't see a place along the shaft that would have acted as a fulcrum, so it must have broken under pressure against the linkage on the bottom of the shaft; which makes me think faulty part with a weak structural point somewhere.
Glad you were not hurt, it must have been a high pucker factor moment.
Cheers,
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3,204 Posts
I socond the Shinoo enthusiasm!!
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1,237 Posts
Not to jump to conclusions...but you should be handling the shifter with just enough force to make the shifts, and not a bit more.jplotus said:
I always try to shift with three fingers (thumb plus index/middle) - even on the track.
Any more force just causes extra wear on the shifter assembly and/or shift forks & bushings in the transmission.
ed
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Jim, how was the drive home in 3rd?
You missed a pretty good day at the track. I would have loved to see what sort of times your sport pack elise would have turned there. The best in my car was 2:01.
Didn't you say that you've broken shifters in other cars also? when you took the boot off did it look like it broke at an unusually weak point or do you think it was more a function of you being overly aggressive with it?
-Steve
You missed a pretty good day at the track. I would have loved to see what sort of times your sport pack elise would have turned there. The best in my car was 2:01.
Didn't you say that you've broken shifters in other cars also? when you took the boot off did it look like it broke at an unusually weak point or do you think it was more a function of you being overly aggressive with it?
-Steve
>>>t looks to me that the most prone spots are those copper socet joint things. <<<
The stock set up uses balls on studs which are swaged in place through a hole in the bracketry. If these come loose you'll lose the front to back (upper) or side-to-side (lower) lever action. They can be tack welded in place if desired. If this thing broke for you then reswaging another one may not prove to be a permanent fix. It is not hard to remove the console cover - this thread has some removal procedures in it. The gold colored sockets press in place by hand over the ball-ended studs. Console Removal..
Below is PIC of the ball 'n socket deal.
>>>but how do you brake a shifter, and on more than one occasion/car?<<<
If the part or parts were not already broken, it could be a driver issue. Especially if this has happened with other cars too. Ultra fast shifts don't really speed you up on the track. Don't jam it into gear. (I'm not saying this occurred here).
Any updates?
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The stock set up uses balls on studs which are swaged in place through a hole in the bracketry. If these come loose you'll lose the front to back (upper) or side-to-side (lower) lever action. They can be tack welded in place if desired. If this thing broke for you then reswaging another one may not prove to be a permanent fix. It is not hard to remove the console cover - this thread has some removal procedures in it. The gold colored sockets press in place by hand over the ball-ended studs. Console Removal..
Below is PIC of the ball 'n socket deal.
>>>but how do you brake a shifter, and on more than one occasion/car?<<<
If the part or parts were not already broken, it could be a driver issue. Especially if this has happened with other cars too. Ultra fast shifts don't really speed you up on the track. Don't jam it into gear. (I'm not saying this occurred here).
Any updates?
>>>Also will the toyota part fit versus having to wait for lotus. Thanks<<<
No the Toyota shift lever and so forth will not fit the Elise, Lotus designed their own rig. The other end of the linkage, at the gearbox, is Toyota though.
If you run into a wait for Lotus parts, just have the thing welded back together if the break occurred in a suitable place. That way you are up and running same day. By examining what exactly happened perhaps a reinforcement could be made very easily while you're in there already.
Make sure the actual shift action is working properly...maybe something else is wrong that could have contributed to the problem.
I generally shift with a light touch. If it won't go, I don't force it...
Stan
No the Toyota shift lever and so forth will not fit the Elise, Lotus designed their own rig. The other end of the linkage, at the gearbox, is Toyota though.
If you run into a wait for Lotus parts, just have the thing welded back together if the break occurred in a suitable place. That way you are up and running same day. By examining what exactly happened perhaps a reinforcement could be made very easily while you're in there already.
Make sure the actual shift action is working properly...maybe something else is wrong that could have contributed to the problem.
I generally shift with a light touch. If it won't go, I don't force it...
Stan
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1,296 Posts
Thanks for the suggestions. it looks like it sheered directly above the weld. Lotus sells only the whole mechanism . i will be bringing it in on Thursday to newport. As for hard shifts I don't think i was shifting the car hard nor do i think this part should have broken. The porsche shifter that broke actually was defective and was replaced after only 2200 miles.
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9,150 Posts
Crap! My gear shifter broke today, shifting from 3rd to 4th in normal, unspirited driving!!!! I was cruising along in 3rd and went for 4th gear at about 50 MPH and the shifter kept going and going.
I was able to ease the thing home through California stops for about 10 miles, avoiding all stoplights, and get in my driveway. Rothrock sent a tow truck post haste and the car is on its way there now. It broke about 6 inches below the knob, but I did not have time to disassemble it for a better look.
What's weird is I've done autoXs, but the last one was some time back (4 weeks) and I really haven't worked the car over since then. Be on the lookout, guys. This could get to be a TADTS deal...
Jim, how long did it take to get parts and repair? And I just got it back. Dammit.
I was able to ease the thing home through California stops for about 10 miles, avoiding all stoplights, and get in my driveway. Rothrock sent a tow truck post haste and the car is on its way there now. It broke about 6 inches below the knob, but I did not have time to disassemble it for a better look.
What's weird is I've done autoXs, but the last one was some time back (4 weeks) and I really haven't worked the car over since then. Be on the lookout, guys. This could get to be a TADTS deal...
Jim, how long did it take to get parts and repair? And I just got it back. Dammit.
>>>Crap! My gear shifter broke today, shifting from 3rd to 4th in normal, unspirited driving!!!! I was cruising along in 3rd and went for 4th gear at about 50 MPH and the shifter kept going and going. I was able to ease the thing home through California stops for about 10 miles, avoiding all stoplights, and get in my driveway. Rothrock sent a tow truck post haste and the car is on its way there now. It broke about 6 inches below the knob, but I did not have time to disassemble it for a better look. <<<
!!! Mine is going strong after 7300 miles. It would be helpful if we had some more detail here, some PICs and so forth. If the lever itself is still attached but nothing happens with front to back movement then it could be shift cable related for example. When I removed my console to paint it I noticed the upper ball-ended swaged on stud was wobbley, so I reswaged it tight. If it's loose it will cause slight play in the shift action and eventually fail from metal fatigue and wear where it rubs.
If it was the actual lever itself, something may be up with it. In such cases loading in another stock piece means the same problem may recur.
The kind of person I am...I'd want to examine it...and weld on another piece or something so that the problem is over with. Nothing like peace of mind.
!!! Mine is going strong after 7300 miles. It would be helpful if we had some more detail here, some PICs and so forth. If the lever itself is still attached but nothing happens with front to back movement then it could be shift cable related for example. When I removed my console to paint it I noticed the upper ball-ended swaged on stud was wobbley, so I reswaged it tight. If it's loose it will cause slight play in the shift action and eventually fail from metal fatigue and wear where it rubs.
If it was the actual lever itself, something may be up with it. In such cases loading in another stock piece means the same problem may recur.
The kind of person I am...I'd want to examine it...and weld on another piece or something so that the problem is over with. Nothing like peace of mind.
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