noisy shifter

[Woodie]

Well This will be the first of many questions.
I started Sparky today and took him for a short drive just to get the spring air into his carbs. First thing I noticed was the rattle/vibration of the shifter in 1,2,3 but not 4th gear.

I had put a new knob on it, but whats with the rattle, it did not do it last year. Thanks

 

[Sarastro]

Is this a wooden knob? I've noticed that, for some strange reason, wooden shift knobs seem to rattle more with inevitable transmission vibration. I suspect other kinds might do the same. I've just viewed this as one more of those little charms of British cars.

 

[Trevor Jessie]

Ohhh ! Ohhh! Mista Carta! I know! I know!

Get a louder exhaust!

...Sorry, I've had a bit too much to drink.

I'll get my coat and be leaving now.

 

[Woodie]

HA HA LOUDER EXHAUST !! yeah I already got a stainless system. When I leave for work at 6:30 AM they are not to happy now. This is typical urban suburb houses are 35 ft apart

The knob is a leather covered one, with the rubber sleeve inside that screws on the top of the shifter.

 

[terriphill]

When you drive older cars, a stereo helps drown out the noises that you don't want to think about.
"Honey what's that rattle?" /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/cheers.gif

 

[Bugeye58]

Woodie, you didn't have the shifter out for any reason, did you?
Jeff

 

[fmichaels]

thinking maybe the anti-rattle plunger? if you removed the shifter, the spring loader plunger will go "pop"!. not sure that's the problem ... but

 

[Bugeye58]

Exactly. I figured it was at least worth the question. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif
Jeff

 

[Woodie]

Nope sorry guys,, did not remove the shifter. Just removed the old knob and screwed onm the new one. Looks nice.... but the rattle.... yech.

 

[Atrus]

My shifter rattles quite a bit as well...I just rest my hand on it when driving, problem solved /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif

 

[ChrisS]

You may want to look at the o-ring on the bottom of the shifter. I forgot to install this and even though I had a new anti-rattle plunger it rattled. I guess yours could have dry rotted over the winter.

 

[Woodie]

Cool avatar Chris. O ring huh. Ok. Ill look at the Moos exploded diagram.

How hard is it to change/replace.

well as far as putting my hand on the knob it does not stop the rattle.

 

[cdsmith]

My shifter was rattling also, so I removed it and I accidentally discovered there was a little nylon cup at the bottom (where the ball end sits). Note: There is a spring behind the nylon cup.

I used a sharp stick (actually a bamboo barbeque skewer) to jam into the little hole in the nylon cup to pull it out – that was the accident part – I was just trying to clean the hole out...

Cleaned everything up and reinstalled with some grease - not rattling now... (fingers crossed)

CD

 

[fmichaels]

it's a number 8 size o-ring from home depot .. a box of 10 cost about $2. be careful when pulling shifter that anti-rattle plunger doesn't fall inside. also a dental pick works well to pull the plastic spring-loaded plunger in the remote control housing ... good luck

 

[Woodie]

Fred I have never looked under the shift boot and Have no idea on how to remove the shift lever.

 

[jlaird]

Think you will find three bolts holding a metal peice around it. Pull them then up it comes.

 

[fmichaels]

it's pretty simple, remove the shifter cover to get to the tranny. the shifter itself is held in place by a round cover plate and three bolts. when you remove the three bolts, the shifter should start to push its way out of the housing (due to the spring load plunger mentioned above). try to keep the shifter from just popping out so that you can get the anti-rattle plunger before it springs out.

if you were to sit in the drivers seat and look at your shifter, the anti-rattle plunger is located about 7 o'clock. it is a hollow bolt that screws through the tranny housing and contains the spring and plunger. the plunger pushed against the shifter pivot ball. i would imagine that if you removed the shifter very slowly, you could capture the plunger as it was coming out. i am not sure how much room there is between the transmission tunnel hole and the tranny that you might be able to get a wrench on that bolt and relieve some of the spring pressure.
.
there is also another bolt about 9 o'clock that is the guide pin for the shifter. you'll notice that when the shifter is removed, that it has a slot on the pivot ball. that slot is where the pin fits and keeps the shfter from turning. you don't need to do anything with this bolt/pin.
.
that's pretty much it, on the shifter you will see the o-ring. as mentioned above it's a #8 size oring. it's real easy to replace. the socket where the o-ring sits has a spring loaded plunger. the plunger and spring can be removed, cleaned and regreased.

 

[Bugeye58]

You can get to the anti-rattle plunger bolt, and remove it before removing the shifter. You may have to hook the spring and plunger out, as the grease usually in there can become hard with age. At least with it removed, you don't run the risk of it falling inside the gearbox. If the grease has hardened to the point where the plunger isn't moving freely, it could be the cause of the rattle.
Jeff

 

[fmichaels]

yeah i wasn't sure how much room there was between the tunnel hole and the remote control housing. definitely the way to go if you can remove or relieve the pressure on the plunger.
.
be careful though because the head on this bolt is thin and makes for a difficult catch. not sure how hard this is to break from inside the car. a lot easier outside on the bench.

 

[Woodie]

Thanks for the very detailed instructions. I will attempt soon. First though as others have mentioned, it might be the knob, so I will remove that and see how bad the rattle is. Try the easy stuff first. If not the knob then I will move down the shifter. (did not want to say "go down on the shifter")