Shifter Return Springs shot


harriw

15+ Year Member

Joined
Nov 22, 2008
Messages
225
Points
3,101
City
Western NY
Vehicle Year
1994
Transmission
Manual
Hey folks,

I just got a '94 Ranger, and the shifter needs some attention. It has quite a bit of slop to it when in gear (I saw the post, and article - http://www.therangerstation.com/Magazine/winter2007/shifterbushings.htm -on replacing the bushings, and think I'll probably need to do that). Doesn't necessarily bother me, but it is tricky to get it into gear sometimes, and I'm thinking that might help? (I've only had the truck 2 days, but it seems like pulling the stick all the way over to the left for 1st/2nd is TOO far to get into 1st/2nd - something blocks it from going in and I need to ease it back towards center a bit first to slip it in).

My main issue though is that one of my return springs is shot - just plain isn't there. I guess it's the one on the right, since there's no spring force pulling the stick back from 1st/2nd to the 3rd/4th position in neutral - it just flops back and forth between 1/2 and 3/4 when not in gear. There is spring force pulling it back from 5/Rev, however.

So, where are these springs? Are they an integral part of the bushings? Or are they actually down in the tranny somewhere? I don't see any springs in the article I mentioned above...

One other question - the H-pattern "diagram" on the top of my shifter knob is spinning freely. Anyone know how to pop it off (without damaging it) so I can epoxy it back on so it won't spin anymore (or is this a bad idea for any reason?) Can I just pry it off with a pen-knife, or is there a trick to it?

Thanks a lot!

-Bill
 
there are spring cups built into the grooves in the shift rods that the bottom of the shifter rests in. There is one in the 1-2 rod and one in the 5-R rod that each push inward toward the 3-4 position. If you remove the shifter and look into the top of the transmission you'll see what I'm talking about.

My bet is that it's all just the shifter bushings. Since you have to have the shifter apart to replace the bushings anyway, just check those springs while you have it apart. I've not heard of them going bad, but who knows.
 
Thanks for the info. After reading your post I took a closer look, and found that actually, at the extreme far left (1st/2nd), there is a bit of spring force - for about 1/2 inch or so. Now that I've seen pics of what's in there, I can actually hear the bushings rattling around in there while I'm shifting. Hopefully new bushings, washers, etc. will clear things up for me.

So where do you find the replacement parts? I'd rather now pay the dealer a fortune, but don't want to put cheap garbage in my truck either. I've seen some links on ebay but nothing's up at the moment. Where have people gotten the rebuild kits/piece parts, and had good luck/good price with them?

Also, any thoughts on the "spinning" H-pattern?

Thanks again - I really appreciate it!

-Bill
 
I actually got mine on ebay, this is an identical set from the same seller.
Shifter Repair Kit

From what I've read it's probably about the same price as it would be from the dealer, but if your dealer is like mine, you might pay a little more to not have to deal with them!

I don't know if I can be much help on the spinning shift pattern. I've not seen that before, so I've never tried to take it off or anything like that. It might be easier to just try to get ahold of a new shift knob.
 
There's one or two of those sets on ebay right now, but they all appear to be missing something (that particular set has the inner boot, a new pair of bushings, and a new pair of pins, but I don't see the 2 flat washers or the two wavy washers... Did they come with your kit (maybe the 4 washers are assembled onto the 2 bushings already in that picture)? What's the extra washer for?

Thanks again!

-Bill
 
I just bought mine today actually, so it hasn't come in. I think the inner boot by itself is almost $40 from Ford, so I figured with this set I can't be doing too bad, even if I have to get some of the washers separately. They could be there and we just can't see them, the size of that picture is absurd.

I don't know what the black ring is.
 
i got fed up with my dealer, he gave me the run-around and basically wanted to sell me the whole top cover assy. i ordered a hurst shifter from jegs and it cured my shifter issues. you would think there would be a "kit" considering this setup is destined to fail and the millions of shifters out there will need it someday if they dont already need it.
 
harriw said:
There's one or two of those sets on ebay right now, but they all appear to be missing something (that particular set has the inner boot, a new pair of bushings, and a new pair of pins, but I don't see the 2 flat washers or the two wavy washers... Did they come with your kit (maybe the 4 washers are assembled onto the 2 bushings already in that picture)? What's the extra washer for?

Thanks again!

-Bill
Click to expand...

You reuse your existing washers. The extra big washer goes on top of everything and holds it down tight, then the inner boot goes on.

I just did this kit last month. Made a ginormous improvement. Of course, when I disassembled my shifter, I had no plastic bushings at all in there :icon_surprised:
 
locovaca said:
You reuse your existing washers. The extra big washer goes on top of everything and holds it down tight, then the inner boot goes on.

I just did this kit last month. Made a ginormous improvement. Of course, when I disassembled my shifter, I had no plastic bushings at all in there :icon_surprised:
Click to expand...

funny, mine also was completely missing the plastic bushings.

It's also missing 1 of the 4 washers, and two of the the remaining three are mangled beyond usability. It's obvious someone was trying to get in there and had no idea what they were doing.
 
mine was completely missing the plastic bushings as well.
 
Hey guys,

Guess what!? I get to join the "no bushings at all" club too!! I disassembled everything tonight to see just how bad it is in there, and which parts I would need, which I could get away with re-using, etc. Sure enough, no bushings at all:

Shifter Return Springs shot


See the two dark crescent shapes? That's all that's left of the lower bushing. Top one was just plain gone.

I also verified the 1st/2nd return spring is missing. I see what you were talking about, LittleHorse - you can see in the pic that the spring cup on the right (1st/2nd) is missing. SO..... Do you think a Ford dealer could order that for me? Anyone know exactly what they look like (where in the cup is that spring, and how does it install into the rod)? Does it just slide right in, or does it fasten in there somehow? And finally, can I install it from the top? Or would you have to disassemble the whole tranny to do it? If I drop it while attempting to put it in from the top, would it fall down into the tranny necessitating disassembly? (I am DEFINITELY not ready to even THINK about trying that), or is there enough "stuff" there to catch it? Guess I'm wondering if it's worth trying to replace, or if I should just do the bushings and live with a missing spring?

Thanks again!

-Bill
 
Just had another thought. Unfortunately I put everything back together already so I can't check at the moment, but how far in does that spring cup go into the rod? I'm wondering if the spring might be in there after all, but just be stuck/jammed in the compressed position? I noticed some tiny shavings/pieces of the missing bushings, and I wonder if maybe one of them got wedged in next to the spring cup and got it stuck?

I'll check with my pinky to see if there's a hole there or not next time I'm in there (probably when I get the bushings and washers to install). If it is stuck, any ideas on how to free it?

-Bill
 
I couldn't tell ya how far it goes in right now, but I can check tonight at home. My shifter is currently out anyway 'cause I'm in progress on a clutch job (and my new shifter bushings are in the mail...) I wouldn't know the first thing about re-installing it if it was actually gone. It wouldn't surprise me if it was held in by a roll pin or something inserted from the back end of the rod, which would either require separating the transmission case or if you got lucky maybe you could do something through one of those rubber plugs in the transmission case just behind those rods.

To tell you the truth, I'm not even sure what kind of spring it is in there. That could be a solid disc sitting on top of a flat leaf-like spring. I named them spring cups because they reminded me of the cups or buckets you see between the camshaft and valve springs in a DOHC engine. I'd need to look at a detailed assembly diagram to find out.

I haven't had one of these specific transmissions apart but I have had a manual transmission from a Datsun apart before and it wasn't that big of a deal just to get to the shifter rods. Everything is held together on the shafts with nuts so you wouldn't have to mess with bearings, washers, shims, gears, etc.
 
That would be awesome if you could take a look for me if you get a chance. My bushings should arrive late next week so I'll have another look then. I'm hoping maybe the spring is just jammed in there and I can coax it back out.

Hey one other question - do you guys intentionally lube the bushings and washers with tranny fluid at all when you re-assemble them, or do you leave them dry?

Thanks again!

-Bill
 
while its not really needed as you'll get splash lubrication as soon as you fire up the motor and let off the clutch, a little oil on the bushings may help with getting them into the bore.
 
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