Non-Z related cable shifter problem

[Andrew Bayley]

I've got a problem that has really been bugging me lately.

First of all, I have a 1991 Eagle Talon TSi that I use a winter car. Earlier this summer, I let a friend borrow the car for weekend while his Eclipse was down for a new fuel pump. This Talon of mine isn't exactly "mint" but it was a nice ride. The only previous transmission problem I had was a blown out 5th gear synchro. No biggie, makes good “Steve McQueen” double clutching practice. Anyway, at the end of this weekend, the car was returned to me with the shifter W-A-Y loose and without the ability to hit either 5th gear or reverse.

 

 

The first thing I checked was the cable connection inside the car. Everything looked good and there didn't appear to be any slop in this area. Next thing I did, was check the actual shifter levers on the actual transmission itself. The up-down (movement of the shifter, please excuse me if I don't know what they are specifically called) lever felt fine. However, the left-right lever felt like poop. It only moved about half of what I expected it to and there were no positive de-tents that it traveled through like the other lever.

 

I guess what I'm trying to ask is if anyone else has ever heard of this problem before. There are a few DSM people who have complained of the shifter popping out of 5th gear and having the tighten up the retaining bolt on the input shaft inside the transmission. I'm thinking this is my only good explanation right now. I've got to get the ball rolling on this project. It's starting to get cold up here and the snow will most likely be flying up north in a few weeks (the Datsun or Impala doesn't like the snow very much)

 

Any advice is appreciated. Pete, I know you have an Eclipse, help a brother out here!

 

-Andy

[pparaska]

I love the car, hate the trans!

 

I'd go after that retaining bolt, most likely. But get on dsm.org and use the search engines, faq, etc. to look this stuff up. Lot's of stuff in those VFAQs (visual FAQs) and past email digests, etc. You might want to join that mail list and ask about this - lots of knowledge on that group. But check the FAQs first - that group hates old newbie questions - you'll get an RTF (read the FAQ) if it's a common question.

 

You might consider doing a tranny swap for a 94 tranny if you can find one and yours is hosed. The 94 had alot of the bad tranny stuff fixed.