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Been a while since I posted......was looking for recommendations on what kind of lube to use on the shifter linkage. My wife's 2006 Cooper S 6-spd with only 71K on the clock all of a suddent started to shift super tight. I used a little lithium grease under the shifter boot inside the cabin but that didn't really help. Watched a few videos and removed the airbox. Instead of lithium I used Krown anti-rust. I figured it wouldn't attract as much dirt as the lithium but I don't know how long it will last. It definitely helped shift way better. I will test again tomorrow as I fixed it this morning. Here's a short video of me just shifting it to get the krown in all the nooks and crannies.....
This is a job I need to do!
I believe most folks use lithium or silicone grease for it.
Did you have to clean much crud off first? What with?
I'd like to see some lube down the end of the cables, but they are hard to reach.
This is a job I need to do!
I believe most folks use lithium or silicone grease for it.
Did you have to clean much crud off first? What with?
I'd like to see some lube down the end of the cables, but they are hard to reach.
I didn't really see any noticeable amount of crud. I just sprayed the crap out of it. On the shaft that articulates left and right motion of the stick shift I did wipe off some black looking grease that looked done.......And left/right motion on the shifter was very notchy.
Looks like you may need to change out the shift weight part as you are missing at least one of the bushings. See this picture from the Detroit Tuned website. Yours seems to be missing the square white bushing. That might improve your shifting, I haven't looked to see if these nylon(?) parts are available separately. I think I need to fix this also on my '06 with over 200k miles as shifting is clunky.
And it looks like your missing this one
Last edited by RudeJoe; Nov 17, 2020 at 05:30 PM.
Reason: found another bushing
Looks like you may need to change out the shift weight part as you are missing at least one of the bushings. See this picture from the Detroit Tuned website. Yours seems to be missing the square white bushing. That might improve your shifting, I haven't looked to see if these nylon(?) parts are available separately. I think I need to fix this also on my '06 with over 200k miles as shifting is clunky.
And it looks like your missing this one
Thanks for the response and the info. I didn't get a notification for some reason. Anyways. I guess my bushing just disintegrated and broke off??
I'll have to take a closer look. After a week or so wife is saying it feels fine. I will check it out again.
White lithium spray i use..I coat all the cables n stuff in it and put seal conditioner on and sit on the rubber bushings then too just to lube them a little better and swell them alittle for better feel.
I was just watching an install of a Cravenspeed short shifter and the guy used 3M silicone paste - comes in a plastic container and has a brush-like applicator as part of the lid. Link
No matter what you use esp grease it will attract grit and grime over time so that needs to be removed first.
Have someone spray the ends of those shiter cable heim joints with a can of BP Blaster while your inside going thru all the gears, and I mean spray it down using up a good portion of the can circulating the grit and grime out....Then clean up the area with rags and then lube the heim joints with the grease.
It's the only way to remove that "gritty" shifting feel, just lubricating with grease not enough.
