Hello, ZukiWorld!

I own a 1986 Jimny, and I am having the shifter fall over on me. I replaced both the locating bolt and the bushing, but the locating bolt fell back out. This means the threads on the trans are loose. However, on the 1986 Jimny, there is no replaceable shift tower. Convenient. So, for you experts, what’s the solution? Do I pull the trans, run a tap in, and get the larger locating bolt for a 1990 and up Samurai? I’d imagine I’d also have to run a file on the shifter to widen the locating bolt track. Perhaps there’s a way to fix this without removing the trans? For reference, I have included pictures of what my trans looks like, even though they aren’t pictures of mine specifically.

Thanks,

Carter

Ever heard of a helicoil?  I think you'll still need to remove the transmission though.

Ever heard of a helicoil?  I think you'll still need to remove the transmission though.

Jeez, I didn’t even think of that. I did find that the recommended fix was to get a 90+ bolt and tap it out for that, so that’s what I’m going with. Thank you for the suggestion though!

Before you go down that road - let me ask you this question - that "recommended fix" - who was it recommended by, and what vehicle/transmission were they working on?  Is it the same transmission you have?

The reason behind these questions, which are more intended to get you to pause and think than anything else, is that you described the vehicle as an 86 Jimny, and none of the parts catalogs I looked at show that transmission, which I eventually figured out, is most likely for/from a used JDM vehicle - is the "recommended fix, recommended for that transmission or a Samurai transmission.

Before you go down that road - let me ask you this question - that "recommended fix" - who was it recommended by, and what vehicle/transmission were they working on?  Is it the same transmission you have?

The reason behind these questions, which are more intended to get you to pause and think than anything else, is that you described the vehicle as an 86 Jimny, and none of the parts catalogs I looked at show that transmission, which I eventually figured out, is most likely for/from a used JDM vehicle - is the "recommended fix, recommended for that transmission or a Samurai transmission.

It was from AllProOffroad, the same place I bought the locating bolt from. It seems that this tap-for-bigger-bolt fix is something that’s been done before. Now, despite the Jimny have a different transmission (most frustratingly, seemingly no replaceable shifter tower), it does use the same locating bolt as the Samurai.

I'm not certain you understand where I'm coming from ...

Is that a fix recommended for the Jimny transmission, by someone familiar with the Jimny transmission - OR - is that a fix recommended for a Samurai transmission by someone who has never seen a Jimny transmission?

What I don't think you recognise is that on the Jimny transmission you've shown, the shift lever goes into a shifter extension mechanism, on the Samurai transmission, the shift lever engages the shift rods directly - they are very different mechanisms.