SIII - my gearstick's gone floppy - serious?

My SIII no longer shows me where 1st and 2nd gear should be as it's lost the
spring/detent thingy that stops you accidentaly selecting reverse.

Doesn't bother me (one more thing to make it difficult for someone else to
drive off in my truck but is the spring that's gone likely to do any
damage to anything? It's not (God forbid) inside the gearbox, is it?

h

On Tue, 14 Dec 2004 13:43:17 -0000, "h" <[email protected]> wrote:

>My SIII no longer shows me where 1st and 2nd gear should be as it's lost the
>spring/detent thingy that stops you accidentaly selecting reverse.
>
>Doesn't bother me (one more thing to make it difficult for someone else to
>drive off in my truck but is the spring that's gone likely to do any
>damage to anything? It's not (God forbid) inside the gearbox, is it?
>

No, it's a pair of springs about 1" long mounted on the end of the
reverse selector rod, underneath the gearlever mount. If you're ok
with it, then you don't need to replace them. The only damage you're
likely to do is accidentally hitting reverse when you want first.
Bearing in mind that R is non-synchro you'd be damaging things iif you
keep scrunching reverse every time.

Should you want to replace them, then you have to remove the gearbox
tunnel, remove the 4 bolts holding the gear lever on and change the
springs.

Hint: wind the adjuster screw on the top all the way out so there's
no tension on the springs when you fit them, then wind it back so you
get the correct resistance.

Alex

>
>as a long-time habit now I always slide into second before first, I
>see it as a safety feature I suppose. I used to own a car years ago
>with really sloppy gear selection and this was my way of being sure to
>get 1st and not reverse.
>

Well, with a IIa without synchros on 1st or 2nd, I find it helps to
use 3rd synchros to stop the box if you're in a hurry, rather than
grind into 1st, but it also helps with locating first as well. Still
do it, even when I'm in a SIII, and double-declutching 1st/2nd is such
a habit I even do that in a modern car.

Alex

"h" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> My SIII no longer shows me where 1st and 2nd gear should be as it's lost
the
> spring/detent thingy that stops you accidentaly selecting reverse.
>
> Doesn't bother me (one more thing to make it difficult for someone else to
> drive off in my truck but is the spring that's gone likely to do any
> damage to anything? It's not (God forbid) inside the gearbox, is it?
>

The reverse detent is a little spring-loaded flap thing external to the
gearbox. It's under the gear lever plinth, the top of which you can see
poking through the tunnel in the cab at the bottom of the gear stick. The
broken spring can't get into the gearbox and cause damage. However, one of
the broken ends *might* migrate into a position to make gear selection
difficult. It might never happen at all but, as is the way of the Law of
Sod, if it happens it will be at an inopportune moment.

Steve

In message <[email protected]>, h
<[email protected]> writes
>My SIII no longer shows me where 1st and 2nd gear should be as it's lost the
>spring/detent thingy that stops you accidentaly selecting reverse.
>
>Doesn't bother me (one more thing to make it difficult for someone else to
>drive off in my truck but is the spring that's gone likely to do any
>damage to anything? It's not (God forbid) inside the gearbox, is it?
>
>h
>
>

Sounds like a case for Viagra
--
CHRIS WILKINSON

Synchro is where gearboxes start out to be, but scrunching and jumping out
is where they all end up.

I don't seem to have synchro in top and second is here today gone tommorrow,
unless you hold it in.

However knowing your machine you can compensate for most things.


--
Larry
Series 3 rust and holes


"Alex" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Tue, 14 Dec 2004 13:43:17 -0000, "h" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >
>
> No, it's a pair of springs about 1" long mounted on the end of the
> reverse selector rod, underneath the gearlever mount. If you're ok
> with it, then you don't need to replace them. The only damage you're
> likely to do is accidentally hitting reverse when you want first.
> Bearing in mind that R is non-synchro you'd be damaging things iif you
> keep scrunching reverse every time.
>
> Should you want to replace them, then you have to remove the gearbox
> tunnel, remove the 4 bolts holding the gear lever on and change the
> springs.
>
> Hint: wind the adjuster screw on the top all the way out so there's
> no tension on the springs when you fit them, then wind it back so you
> get the correct resistance.
>
> Alex