Stiiif shiiifter

[Ross]

My '89 has just been pressed into service for the upcoming Chicago winter.
The shifter is very stiff. The man I bought the car from attributed this to Redline oil. Well, I changed out the oil(looked like ATF) for fresh ATF as stated on the gearbox with no change.
The trans shifts fine but the lever feels like it's in wet concrete. Front to back, side to side, stiff as hell.
I've seen plenty of worn out bushings causing the lever to flop all over but never this.
Any ideas gentlemen? When it gets really cold this thing is gonna be a bear.
By the way, did I mention how I love the old M30s? What a great engine.

[EngPhys09]

Mine does the same, i have a SSK kit on it, but its most likely due to cold weather.

[Ross]

I thought of perhaps some modification, but this would be couterproductive for quick gearchanges and the throws are normal.
As far as yours goes,Eng Phys, if you have gear oil in cold weather it'll be stiff until it warms.
I'm wondering if maybe some band-aid was applied to compensate for sloppy bushings.
I'm too lazy to crawl underneath it right now so am hoping someone here has heard of this.

[Barney Paull-Edwards]

Try cheating,push a straw/ tube down by the lever to lubricate the plastic bush pivot,put enough down and it will get to the pivot bush on the bottom of the lever. Worked for me til I could strip it all down, now cannot get the recon bush kit in Uk,any links in US?

[Ross]

Was yours REALLY tight?

[RallyD]

how tight?
if you pushed the lever to the side, would it spring back to center?

Mine is tight due to the cold but only going in and out of the gears. side to side in neutral the lever moves easily. Once the trans is warmed up, it shifts well, but i am planning to change the fluid anyway.

[Ross]

Rally, It returns normally to the center gate.
Barney, Tried the lube, no love.

[SnakeyesTx]

I don't have the manual but if I recall there's several pivot points on the shift linkage going to the forks. Sounds like if you could get the boot off the shifter for the top ones and crawl underneath for the bottom ones that a reall liberal spray of silicone lube would do the trick... ? I had an old Jeep 4 speed that was so stiff in cold weather that sometimes when 4-wheeling I'd have push the shifter into granny gear with my foot (attribute to 38 year old trans, with 38 years of wear and tear and gunk and funk!)

[gale]

I'm sorry guys but a thread with a title like this has been lingering too long to not get an OT reply. 5.8 Mb, right-click, save-as:

http://www.nmia.com/~dgnrg/Skeleton.wmv

:p

[Ross]

I ain't gonna do it. Last time I tried an OT link Big Kris put up it was some gay porn.
Tell me it's not wierd.

[Qube]

Mine's only stiff when it's cold. I have redline in there now. Still... it's not like wet concrete... more like shifting in honey.