'13 Puma 90 Gearshifting/"clunking"/backlash?

**Pickles2** · 1st June 2015, 05:03 PM

Originally Posted by DiscoMick

I have the same thing. Key I think is to let the clutch come fully out before you press the accelerator. Its a trucklike gearbox strong enough to use with a Mustang V8, but it doesn't like to be rushed. Slow and steady seems to be the go with mine.

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G'Day Disco, yas, I reckon you're right, and that's what I've been doing, but it doesn't always work!!
Pickles.

DiscoMick · 1st June 2015, 05:17 PM

Originally Posted by Pickles2

G'Day Disco, yas, I reckon you're right, and that's what I've been doing, but it doesn't always work!!
Pickles.

No, not for me either, but I'm getting beter at it.

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**newhue** · 1st June 2015, 07:07 PM

Originally Posted by defender_i_hardly_know_er

I'm pretty bad at getting a nice change from 1st to 2nd, and to a lesser degree, 2nd to 3rd.

1st to 2nd I feel like if I rev too hard then the gear change makes me dive forward, and if I change too early it bogs down the engine. But I can't find the sweet spot reliably.

Not so much 2nd to 3rd but I have to do a pause between shifts before it can slide in.

Get a tune from BAS remap, it makes all the difference. The car becomes more drivable and finding the sweet spot becomes a thing of the past.
I usually take mine to 1500 to get to rolling then somewhere from 2500 to 3000 every change there after. You don't have to but that's just how I drive it. It's governed so you certainly are not hurting it anyway. Before the map I found there was no sweat spot, and it was like a tractor.

MrLandy · 1st June 2015, 09:43 PM

...slow and steady, pause in neutral, yes it makes a difference.

...Backlash under load though, especially between uphill gear changes for example, is very tricky to get right. My puma prefers more revs 2500-3000 for smoothest changes, but first to second and second to third, thats not possible so they are the most difficult to get right

...Is it drive flanges wearing? Adapter shaft wearing? Or rear diff set up? Hard to know. Can anyone offer a rule of thumb or checklist other than to check for play in drive flange? Should we all just be budgeting to do all three from the beginning? ...Plus a remap? ...but what to do while still under warranty?

Any consensus?

DiscoMick · 2nd June 2015, 09:48 AM

Originally Posted by MrLandy

...slow and steady, pause in neutral, yes it makes a difference.

...Backlash under load though, especially between uphill gear changes for example, is very tricky to get right. My puma prefers more revs 2500-3000 for smoothest changes, but first to second and second to third, thats not possible so they are the most difficult to get right

...Is it drive flanges wearing? Adapter shaft wearing? Or rear diff set up? Hard to know. Can anyone offer a rule of thumb or checklist other than to check for play in drive flange? Should we all just be budgeting to do all three from the beginning? ...Plus a remap? ...but what to do while still under warranty?

Any consensus?

I just blame 'operator error' and try to keep it smoother.

**newhue** · 2nd June 2015, 09:59 AM

Originally Posted by MrLandy

...slow and steady, pause in neutral, yes it makes a difference.

...Backlash under load though, especially between uphill gear changes for example, is very tricky to get right. My puma prefers more revs 2500-3000 for smoothest changes, but first to second and second to third, thats not possible so they are the most difficult to get right

...Is it drive flanges wearing? Adapter shaft wearing? Or rear diff set up? Hard to know. Can anyone offer a rule of thumb or checklist other than to check for play in drive flange? Should we all just be budgeting to do all three from the beginning? ...Plus a remap? ...but what to do while still under warranty?

Any consensus?

The diff that came with the car had a good 2cm of turn, the new diff has about 5mm. Drive flange should have no movement. Not sure on adapter shaft.

Just keep bringing it up each service. Dont sound like your blaming them, just how it keeps making terrible noises.

lem · 2nd June 2015, 06:32 PM

Originally Posted by DiscoMick

I have the same thing. Key I think is to let the clutch come fully out before you press the accelerator. Its a trucklike gearbox strong enough to use with a Mustang V8, but it doesn't like to be rushed. Slow and steady seems to be the go with mine.

Sent from my GT-P5210 using AULRO mobile app

Wow, I tried this today, watching the RPM band and trying to delay that accelerator press..... much smoother. Thank you.

**loneranger** · 2nd June 2015, 08:43 PM

I slowed down my gear changes today taking my time to put it into neutral then into gear and easing the clutch off as I eased the accelerator down. No backlash or crunching at all.

**Pickles2** · 3rd June 2015, 08:12 AM

Originally Posted by loneranger

I slowed down my gear changes today taking my time to put it into neutral then into gear and easing the clutch off as I eased the accelerator down. No backlash or crunching at all.

I can relate to that, but how much do you "slow down" your change, from say 5th into 6th,...ie what is the total time that your clutch would be depressed?
Pickles

**vnx205** · 3rd June 2015, 08:19 AM

I guess different vehicles require slightly different techniques but I have found that I get better results by doing the opposite of what some people seem to be suggesting here. I only have a problem changing up to a higher gear.

My worst gear changes (unless I add an extra technique which i will describe later) are my slowest changes. What seems to be happening with the very slow changes is that everything moves from the "drive" positions to the "coast or overrun" positions. By everything, I mean all the gears in the gearbox, the transfer case and the diffs, as well as the suspension bushes and the minuscule bit of slack in my almost new HD flanges.

So with an unmodified slow change, everything goes from 'drive" to "overrun" and back to "drive" when the clutch is re-engaged. A very slow change allows time for everything that is spinning, like the engine and the gears, to slow down too much so that the conversion back to "drive" creates a clunk.

The obvious solution might seem to be to adjust the revs just prior to re=engagement so that everything is spinning at the right speed. No doubt some people can automatically do that. I used to be able to. I used to be able to drive a Series II on and off road for hours on end, even changing back to first without using the clutch without any strange noises or any damage to the gearbox. However, my ability to do that seems to have deteriorated in the intervening fifty years.

What I have been able to do with greater success is either maintain a tiny bit of pressure on the accelerator during the change up, so that everything keeps spinning at roughly the right revs or else lightly tap the accelerator while the clutch is disengaged. For some reason that gives me better success at having things spinning at the right revs for the moment of re-engagement than trying to depress the accelerator exactly the right amount as I engage the clutch.

The secret seems to be having everything spinning right as the clutch is engaged. I just have a couple of slightly different techniques from the way most people describe the process.

If I change up quickly, it is usually less of an issue and I assume that is because there isn't enough time for rotating things to slow down more than is necessary.

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