Gearstick

[DieselDan]

Thought I'd take the Lightweight for a drive to the shops this arvo.
Got as far as trying to shift into 3rd and then, well, err...
Oh.
Bugger.

It's stuck in neutral, so had to go get the Defender and tow it home!
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210924/70fb0d4cb8bd80727a3237dc5201f849.jpg

[Slunnie]

Your new gearshift decal sir.

http://www.slunnie.com/coppermine/albums/userpics/SlunniesLRGearbox.png

[DieselDan]

[emoji1787]
Yep a box full of neutrals at the moment!

[JDNSW]

I think I have about five Series gearlevers here. Only one has not been welded at that point!

[DieselDan]

I suppose it's reassuring to know I'm not alone!!

[vnx205]

My Series III had a welded gearstick when I bought it.

[gromit]

I have 5 Series vehicles and have parted a couple out and have never seen a welded gearstick.
Two are ex military so they probably just fitted new ones when they broke [smilebigeye]

I'm guessing it's the use of brute force to get it into gear at some point in it's life ?


Colin

[JDNSW]

I attribute it to fatigue from the ball movement becoming stiff due to operating in a dusty environment (which is what I have mostly done, and which applies to most of Australia).

Ever since the last time I welded one I have added some graphite to the top of the ball at each service, and recently, as noted in another thread, while the gearlever assembly was apart, I polished the ball and the sockets it moved in, and lubricated them with MoS2 grease. We'll see how that goes.

[DieselDan]

Thanks JD.
I'll check what the ball/socket looks like once I've taken the shifter mechanism off (tomorrow's job!).

[4bee]

Thanks JD.
I'll check what the ball/socket looks like once I've taken the shifter mechanism off (tomorrow's job!).


Fwiw, my experience has been that the stick fouls the Throttle Quadrant although higher up at that point, & can lever while trying to get the gear. I have had one let go but fortunately I had a spare. I think worn assemblies are the cause.

[JDNSW]

Another thing that could help put excessive force on the lever is that the engagement teeth on unsynchronised gears tend to get worn so that they don't just slide nicely past each other, and more force really does not help.

The design is not really ideal as there is a stress riser with the sharp angle between the lever and the ball, right at the point of maximum stress.

[4bee]

Another thing that could help put excessive force on the lever is that the engagement teeth on unsynchronised gears tend to get worn so that they don't just slide nicely past each other, and more force really does not help.

The design is not really ideal as there is a stress riser with the sharp angle between the lever and the ball, right at the point of maximum stress.



Iyo John,wouldn't welding be a negative for adding more stress/brittle at the bottom of the shaft therefore making it a "weaker" shaft? Ok as a temporary measure but not one for permanency?
The shaft material would be of a better/harder quality to fulfill it's function not some old bit of soft mild steel

[JDNSW]

The secret is to build up the shaft for about an inch above the ball into a sort of cone. Seems to solve the issue for (in my case) decades. I rather doubt the material is anything better than good mild steel, and I seriously doubt it is heat treated in any way. The occasional one I have rethreaded has not seemed to be anything better than that.

[4bee]

The secret is to build up the shaft for about an inch above the ball into a sort of cone. Seems to solve the issue for (in my case) decades. I rather doubt the material is anything better than good mild steel, and I seriously doubt it is heat treated in any way. The occasional one I have rethreaded has not seemed to be anything better than that.

Thanks. That would support the weld like an all round diagonal Prop. A Butress in fact.
:TakeABow: Excellent thought.

[vnx205]

That was more or less the way mine had been welded. Anyway it lasted for the couple of hundred thousand kilometres I did while I owned. It wasn't pretty, but it did the job.

[DieselDan]

The secret is to build up the shaft for about an inch above the ball into a sort of cone. Seems to solve the issue for (in my case) decades. I rather doubt the material is anything better than good mild steel, and I seriously doubt it is heat treated in any way. The occasional one I have rethreaded has not seemed to be anything better than that.Good thinking!

Now that the Surf Coast is out of lockdown tomorrow, I can go and find a friendly machine shop/engineering place and see if they'll weld it for me (although I suppose I could add welder to the list of lockdown "essentials" for the future [emoji848])

Or new gear levers are available for around 20quid from various places in the UK, which is tempting.

[JDNSW]

If getting a new lever, be aware that they are different between the four and the six, also that Series 3 is different again, so make sure you are ordering the right one. Critical differences are the bends.

[DieselDan]

Thanks JD.
I'm already finding that out!
My gear lever appears to have 2 bends in it and from what I can find out is part FRC1454.
This seems to have been superceded by FRC2046 which is for RHD 4 cyl and only has the one bend straight after the ball.

I'll try and get mine welded first....

[JDNSW]

With only one bend it will either foul the governor lever fitted as a hand throttle on may Australian 2as, or make life difficult for the centre passenger. Series 3 has only one bend, but the lever is not used on it, and there is more clearance on the dash where the instrument panel is on the 2a.

[Grover87]

I did the same once in my 2A wagon in the late 70’s. We were bogged, all alone, with no recovery gear at the end of a very long beach. The more I went back and forth the more effort that was required to get it in and out of gear. Never one to fear the use of brute force this went on for some time until finally the stick snapped off. Unbeknown to me the split pin holding the clevis pin in place on the end of the slave cylinder push rod had decided to part company with the result that the pin was slowly working itself out reducing the amount of travel. Basically I wasn’t getting full clutch. I remember it being a long walk back along that beach and in the dark by this time. A friendly farmer pulled me out the next day with his tractor and his neighbour welded the stick back on. Still going strong when I sold it years later.

[4bee]

I did the same once in my 2A wagon in the late 70’s. We were bogged, all alone, with no recovery gear at the end of a very long beach. The more I went back and forth the more effort that was required to get it in and out of gear. Never one to fear the use of brute force this went on for some time until finally the stick snapped off. Unbeknown to me the split pin holding the clevis pin in place on the end of the slave cylinder push rod had decided to part company with the result that the pin was slowly working itself out reducing the amount of travel. Basically I wasn’t getting full clutch. I remember it being a long walk back along that beach and in the dark by this time. A friendly farmer pulled me out the next day with his tractor and his neighbour welded the stick back on. Still going strong when I sold it years later.


Remember Grover,
"When all about you is Despair there is always Hope my son." 4bee Chapter310 verse 1000.
[bigrolf]

[DieselDan]

Hopefully this does the trick!https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/df001e6e2519b3c73a05becdbc10973a.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/a5e749e4ee03e4e08c4a6b966fe48370.jpg

[4bee]

Hopefully this does the trick! https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/df001e6e2519b3c73a05becdbc10973a.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211003/a5e749e4ee03e4e08c4a6b966fe48370.jpg To me, that looks the business Dan. Time will tell I guess. That sounds like what JD was alluding to.

[JDNSW]

Looks good to me!