serious help with shift linkage!?!?!?! Please help!

B

Bacondoggy

Registered User
first let me say yes- my car still has LOTS of problems. I dont care about them right now - I was going around a corner in 1st (no power sliding or anything like that), and I let off the gas before I pushed the clutch in - It must have done something to the shift linkage, because then I went to shift, and my car would just rev like its in neutral! I put my 4-ways on, and drifted into a parking lot - I then was messing with the shifter (I unscrewed the knob, and took the console leather "boot" thinggy off). You can see the shifter is still bolted securely (but just the top part you can see from inside the car). Then I was twisting it, and I somehow got it STUCK in first gear. I can tell the clutch works still totally fine, but the shifter (somewhere) is stuck, and I can't get it out of first gear... So I got to drive it to my house in 1st! (UGH)

Do I have to drop the tranny - what is the best way to work on this/fix this?? Any help would be great here
 
I would start by pulling the shifter housing and seeing if there is any apparent damage to the shifter itself. If not, it sounds like a shift fork is bent or the slides that they are attached to. If its the latter, then obviously it will have to come out for repair...
 
worth repaining it or getting a ripper shifter? I took the plate off, the top was so loose, 1 of the screws I could just pull it out without having to unthread it... how easy is this shifter rebuild? can u get the parts aftermarket or only from ford? I dunno how I am getting to work tomorrow! lol
 
Bacondoggy said:
worth repaining it or getting a ripper shifter? I took the plate off, the top was so loose, 1 of the screws I could just pull it out without having to unthread it... how easy is this shifter rebuild? can u get the parts aftermarket or only from ford? I dunno how I am getting to work tomorrow! lol
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The answers to all of this are in the threads supplied by KMT above. You either rebuild the stock one. Or you buy an aftermarket shifter. I'd go aftermarket...but thats just my opinion.
 
Bacondoggy said:
worth repaining it or getting a ripper shifter? I took the plate off, the top was so loose, 1 of the screws I could just pull it out without having to unthread it... how easy is this shifter rebuild? can u get the parts aftermarket or only from ford? I dunno how I am getting to work tomorrow! lol
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Seems to me that such a problem is more likely in the transmission than the shifter. But you won't know until you pull the shifter.

It's easy to pull the shifter. Take the center console off and the back half with the arm rest. Leave the emergency brake hanging. Move the carpet and you'll see a big panel that covers the driveshaft hump. Unbolt the plate and pry it up (it will have some adhesive on it). Now you have access to the shifter bolts.

unbolt, and pull the shifter off. You can then see what's wrong.

Note that B&M has discontinued the Ripper shifter for our car. Not sure how hard they are to find. Last rumor I had was that www.supercoupeperformance.com bought the old stock from B&M.
 
yeah... the shifter/linckage looks to be ok. Does that mean the forks are bad? maybe the ball at the bottom of the shifter came out of the housing though (it seemed stuck and when I left my dad took it out so I dont know if it was in the housing or not). I assume you cant take the forks out without dropping the tranny.... UGH
 
The small ball at the bottom of the shift lever fits into a cup on the end of a shift rail. There is a small, stiff spring that works to hold the ball in the cup.

The larger ball of the shift lever is held into the shift lever housing by a couple of cups, upper and lower. These wear out and allow the shift lever to come out of the shift lever housing.
 
yeah my plastic bushings were totally gone - upper and lower. plus the screws were totally loose. I am pissed because I ripped my carpet taking off the metal plate...
 
Let me tell you, as mechanically handicapped as I am, I managed to do a rebuild without any difficulty, and I had the same problems as you. Get the rebuild kit from Ford(cant remember the price, but well worth it, or maybe buy two, JIC) and its a night and day feeling.
If you need to do the tranny, heres a helful link on that as well
http://www.fivaxis.com/m5r2rebuild/index.htm
Dont wreck anything else, though.

Matt
 
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well I think its just the shifter - I got the parts like $30 for plastic and little metal washers and "springs" ugh. But according to
http://www.frontiernet.net/~miketoni/images/tbird/M5R2 Shifter Rebuild.htm

they talk about 2 sockets F5TZ-7228-A (plastic) or "bushings" and the bottom one "cut in half" ~~~? I highly doubt this is a "correct installation I have my 91 shop manual and aside from the plate and gasket, you only need ONE spring, shim and bushing - what gives?
 
I know I see all this - people riposting the same threads are not helping. All I am asking is the ford manual showed ONE assembly (socket,shim,bushing). There is NOTHING else in the book saying there should be another one at the bottom. Assuming Ford thought you "couldn't service it" (because you couldn't move the pin, or saw it in half), it does not even say there is a lower bushing or anything! all it says is put the shim,bushing,socket on top and tighten it down... I just didn't understand if this was a mistake from the shop manual, or if the people putting these bottom assembly's in are doing something different to factory...

sry - had a really bad day - I am not mad - just confused and stressed out - my car has been in the driveway for a few days now and I have to get rides to work... guys - dont get pissed at me I meant no disrespect...:eek:
 
Bacondoggy said:
I know I see all this - people riposting the same threads are not helping. All I am asking is the ford manual showed ONE assembly (socket,shim,bushing). There is NOTHING else in the book saying there should be another one at the bottom. Assuming Ford thought you "couldn't service it" (because you couldn't move the pin, or saw it in half), it does not even say there is a lower bushing or anything! all it says is put the shim,bushing,socket on top and tighten it down... I just didn't understand if this was a mistake from the shop manual, or if the people putting these bottom assembly's in are doing something different to factory...

sry - had a really bad day - I am not mad - just confused and stressed out - my car has been in the driveway for a few days now and I have to get rides to work... guys - dont get pissed at me I meant no disrespect...:eek:
Click to expand...

Yep, I know I've never gotten cross-eyed with frustration when working on any car myself ;)

When it comes to manuals, I've learned to never treat instructions casually unless my gut tells me otherwise.

Image17.gif


  • [*]Does your trans have upper AND lower F5TZ-7228-A sockets/bushings like in this image?
    [*]Did you get two new F5TZ-7228-A sockets?
If the answer to both questions is yes, then do what you need to do and replace them. If your shifter has two old sockets and you only bought one, then do the right thing and get another. The other links simply suggest how to install without cutting one of them to get the job done - go by what you see inside your trans/shifter. If your shifter, is in fact designed and equipped with only one socket/bushing (which I doubt), then replace it and move on.

The only thing harder than helping others on the internet... is being the poor guy on the receiving end :) Good luck.

Ken
 
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how many shims r u supposed to use? the ford dealer gave me 2 wave springs, and 2 shims. Some directions say to use 4, others say to use one shim! Also some just say to put a wave spring in the top bushing, but there was one in the bottom as well...? what gives?
 
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