i have the gbox out of my vit, and i cant select the bottom row gears. does anyone know why?

i hear sammys have a shifter bush that needs replacing every once in a while, could it be a shifter bush for the gbox too?

what about having no oil? does this make it hard/impossible for the gears to mesh and slide in?

getting frustrated with this. only because i miss driving my vit. its already been off the road 2 weeks now.

thanks for the help.
Steve

i have the gbox out of my vit, and i cant select the bottom row gears. does anyone know why?  

i hear sammys have a shifter bush that needs replacing every once in a while, could it be a shifter bush for the gbox too?

The "shifter sheet" problem on the Samurai/SJ-413 is found in the transfer case, which has a different shifting  mechanism design than the Tracker/Vitara/Sidekick transmission.

Looking at the manual transmission section of the '96 GM FSM (pg 7B-10), it appears that the end of the shifter arm fits into a socket in a single linkage shaft.  Moving the shifter causes this linkage shaft to rotate and slide length-wise to select the gear.  

The Samurai transfer case has two rods with notches in them forming a "pocket" in which the shifter arm fits.  A worn-out "shifter sheet" can cause the shifter to place one  of the two rods in an "invalid" position relative to the other rod causing the transfer case to (usually) go into "neutral".    

what about having no oil? does this make it hard/impossible for the gears to mesh and slide in?

I assume that you mean that you have drained the gear lube out of the transmission and are trying to shift it on the bench.  I don't think that draining would adversely affect shifting on the bench -- unless -- you were having problems when it was in the vehicle.

Isn't this the truck that had damage to the clutch "fingers" that rest on the throwout mechanism?  

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it looks like it is time to open the transmission up (or take it to a shop) and find out what is wrong.

There is good news!  At least you don't have to worry about the expense of the shop removing it from the Vit!

Hi Ack, thanks for the info. when the truck was running, and before the clutch stuffed up, the gearbox was very good, i had no problems with it. then when the clutch finally gave in, i couldn't get it into any gear. i was told that i couldn't get it in a gear beacause the clutch was not disengaging.

when i was taking the gear box out, i had to take out the gear levers, and it was still possible to get it into gear.

after i had taken the gear box out, i put the levers back in. the transfers shifts fine still, and when i went to shift the gears, it was not going into any of the bottom rows.

i took the lever out again, and i found half an o ring, maybe about an inch diameter. i think it might be an upper gear shifter bush:
http://www.suziwest.com.au/shopping/index_shopheader.html

i'm sure my gearbox is fine still, but may take it in just in case. hopefully i wont need to take it apart.

thanks again.
Steve

Steve:


There is something that the ball part of the shifter rests on in the FSM drawing.  It would look like an O-ring or a shallow cup. Unfortunately, there isn't a description arrow pointing at it.  

I saw the gear shift bushing, upper that is at the website in your post and that looks like the part (although I would think it would be called "gearshift bushing, lower". )

It might be possible that the shifter would not work with this round piece broken or missing.

I don't know what the part is called, but if you can get it and try shifting, you may have fixed it!    

Mine had the same problem. I easied out the clutch while trying to pull it into 2nd, and finally *BANG* it went into gear!  

Since then, it is intermittant, and sometimes shifts flawlessly, and sometimes it is difficult to get into 2nd 4th and R. It will go in, just feels like ALOT of drag on it. Low range exaggerates this.

Steve,
Pull your trans shifter out again. It sounds like the plastic sleeve that your shifter sits in has fallen out of place. Does the shifter feel sloppy (move around more than before you did the clutch?

I'm not sure what the peice is called (that Ack mentioned above) but it is a plastic donut peice that the ball end of the shifter sits in. If you do not see this peice when you pull the shifter that is your problem.

Zig

Steve,
Pull your trans shifter out again. It sounds like the plastic sleeve that your shifter sits in has fallen out of place. Does the shifter feel sloppy (move around more than before you did the clutch?

I'm not sure what the peice is called (that Ack mentioned above) but it is a plastic donut peice that the ball end of the shifter sits in. If you do not see this peice when you pull the shifter that is your problem.

Zig

Yep, I bet the donut is laying in front of the shift fork. This thing can be hard to get out. I had to take the 5 bolts off the shifter housing, flip it over and remove the 4 phillips screws from the bottom, then you can get the plate off and pull it right out.

Mike

Yep, I bet the donut is laying in front of the shift fork. This thing can be hard to get out. I had to take the 5 bolts off the shifter housing, flip it over and remove the 4 phillips screws from the bottom, then you can get the plate off and pull it right out.

Mike

Yup,
This seems to be a common problem.  This was the cause of our 'sloppy shifter blues' in Moab this spring.

Should be easily fixed with a dab of epoxy.