Shift lever slop

[keithmac]

There is quite a bit ( 1/2" ) of free play in my gear shift lever. Is that every one else experience?
It is vibrating so much in third that it sometimes pops out of gear ( in my newly rebuilt gear box )
Thanks

[christopher storey]

The degree of play is not abnormal . However, vibration and/or jumping out of gear most definitely is . Either there is a substantive gearbox fault, which would be very bad news , or ( hopefully ) it is a selection fault where something is preventing the gear lever fully reaching the position where 3rd gear is fully engaged. Does the jumping out happen on the overrun or under drive conditions? I think that what you need to do is to remove the console so that you can see if any part of the gearbox cover or console is obstructing the movement of the lever

[abowie]

I would start by having a look at the external shift mechanism and seeing if there is anything obvious.
There are nuts with spring washers that can be tightened, and there are both the rubber bushings on the shift lever and the two fibre bushings (C1906 and C1907) that can be replaced.
As David says sometimes the console or rubber shift boot can prevent the lever from going forward which can contribute to the car jumping out of gear.

[keithmac]

I was driving with the rubber boot and console off to check the action and it popped out of third twice in 10 miles.Prompting my post.
It vibrates more under on or off throttle but is fine on light throttle. Second is bad too but first and fourth are quite steady. Gear box mount spring appears newer and is centered.
Vibration is front back not left right and gear box appears steady but it is not easy to stare at it while driving.
There is an old post where several members say the vibration is normal and they have learned to live with it
Its a mystery
Cheers
Keith

[christopher storey]

Do you really mean vibration, or are you meaning that the lever is moving backwards and forwards from time to time particularly when load reversals take place? If the latter, then in itself it is not something I would be over-concerned about . I have an S2 which does that, but on my S1 with the early all synchro box it does not happen. The jumping out is the really abnormal thing, and as has been suggested, a careful look at the selector mechanism is justified to see that all ball and springs etc are correctly in place - not that difficult to do as the gearbox lid comes off easily enough

[chrisfell]

My gear lever vibrates (back and forth under power) in third, always has done. I'll not suggest it is normal, but I've lived with it for 60,000 miles. I'm sure someone who knows about Jaguar gearboxes will be able to identify where the slop is that allows this level of vibration on the gear lever.

Many years ago I had a problem with selection of gears, which included the car occassionally popping out of gear. The cause was not wear in the gearbox, nor the selector rails, but the rubber bush at the base of the lever where it engaged with the pivot. The vibtrating mentioned above had allowed the bush to ride up the lever, and this made the engagement of the lever with the selector rails less positive, and the meshing of the gears less precise. This caused the popping out of gear.

The bush was supposed to be kept in place by a step in the shaft of the lever. It didn't work with the lever vibrating in third gear. My solution was to remove the lever and place a large flat washer on top of the bush to prevent it working its way up the lever.


This the lever with washer in place, before tightening up.