I never knew a tool existed for this. A tool is definitely not needed to perform a linkage adjustment.

 

I never knew a tool existed for this. A tool is definitely not needed to perform a linkage adjustment.

Well i am having trouble getting the linkage right with a couple of cars. If it shifts good in 1-4 then won't get into 5th right, or vice versa. The tool is like 19 bucks and i work on 20 of these cars so i figured it was a good investment!

I will let you know how it works!

 

Yeah, let me know.

 

You mean 4th gear?



:lol:

Sorry, never used the tool. I've used a piece of wood w/ an old worn out linkage before.

- Drew

 

I used it yesterday on a car. it works great, holds it right in place.

The linkage wasn't out of adjustment, i will try my own car tomorrow and see what happens. I think it IS out of adjustment.

If not the shift tower is probably loose and worn out!

 

My shifter cable surround broke between my shifter pivot and tower/housing, replacing the linkage is not a fun driveway job.

 

I just realized i used lingo i only know. I call the shift base on top of the transmission the "shift tower" although the one inside the car looks more like an actual tower.

I have found on several high mileage cars the part on the transmission is wearing out.

I did do a set of cables recently on a car with 635k miles on it and i can confirm it was a total PITA! I had ot take the whole A/C duct from the drivers footwell!

 

Actually shift tower is the correct term for the part that bolts to the top of the MTX-75 in the engine bay. At least that is the term that Quaife uses to describe the upgraded unit that they make. The ford manual calls it a "selector mechanism".

 

depending on the design, the problem is probably that there is either a bolt or a roll pin on the tower that is either loose or broken. 2000-2002.5 have a bolt on the bottom, 2002.5+ have a roll pin in the middle.

Definitely take the offending towers off right away and inspect/replace the bolt/roll pin as needed... when they break they usually make large holes in the case.

 

Here is a pic of the tool in action! I just adjusted my linkage, it was about 2mm off on the cable attached to the weight on top.

 

Out of curiosity, would a linkage maladjustment cause the transmission refuse to go into 3rd? All the other gears engage normally. I recently replaced the roll pin and just thought my son ham-fisted it and broke something in shift fork when the pin failed and stranded him in a intersection. Prior to the pin failure there were no engagement problems in third. I tried to adjust the linkage while having someone inside the car hold the shifter, but it didn't seem to do anything.

If the adjustment is the culprit, is there a really good explanation of the adjustment procedure? I followed a step-by-step the first time and I'm not convinced that it will work for me. If there is some sort of tool/fixture used to hold to shift mass in place, is there a dimensional spec for building one?

 

Out of curiosity, would a linkage maladjustment cause the transmission refuse to go into 3rd? All the other gears engage normally. I recently replaced the roll pin and just thought my son ham-fisted it and broke something in shift fork when the pin failed and stranded him in a intersection. Prior to the pin failure there were no engagement problems in third. I tried to adjust the linkage while having someone inside the car hold the shifter, but it didn't seem to do anything.

If the adjustment is the culprit, is there a really good explanation of the adjustment procedure? I followed a step-by-step the first time and I'm not convinced that it will work for me. If there is some sort of tool/fixture used to hold to shift mass in place, is there a dimensional spec for building one?

On the adjustment, it doesn't sound like your problem. Its possible he damaged the 3rd gear synchros when he jammed it into gear. 3rd gear is the weak spot in these cars for sure.
When mine was out of adjustment i grinded going into 1st, and 5th. I could barely get it into 5th, i had to wiggle the shifter to make it fall in.
If you want to try to adjust it, pull the boot cover up and look at the shifter base. Center for the shifter will be as you see it visually. you want the shaft right inthe middle of everything perfectly. you can see in my pic that its equidistant from all sides. Then while holding it, have someone adjust the cable ends under the car.
It depends on what year you have, you may need to push a orange button or pull up a yellow collar to adjust your cable ends on the transmission.
you can get to the cable ends by taknig out the air box. Pull the air box straight up from one end or the other, it will pop loose from the rubber grommets. losen the tube from the throttle body and unplug the Mass Air Flow sensor and take the air box completely out of the car. then look down and to the back of the tranny. You will see it.

I am having clutch issues with my car currently that are keeping me from getting into gear at times. I will bleed that today to see what result i get.

 

Was just wondering if you ever figured out what was keeping you from getting into gears at times? What gears were you having trouble with?

 

Well yeah sort of. First thing to know is that my transmission is pretty worn. So things are not going to shift per normal.
Second thing i found was that down shifting coming to a stop caused it to be hard to get into gear when i tried to take off.
At the same time looking back on my Skip Barber experience they said that brakes were for slowing the car, not the gear box.
So i stopped downshifting to slow the car and this helped tremendously.

I hope that helped!