Greetings all,

I was changing my thermostat when I had a gander and my shifter linkage. I knew before that the ball bushing were nothing to write home about but it feels tight. I looked closely at an L shaped linkage and I see there is some wear and tear on the pinion which causes a loot of slop.

Is this normal?

If not can I shim it to make it tighter? I guess there is at least a 3/32" gap there. Is there meant to be some slop?

It's a 06 r53s with stock trans, 160k miles. I've had it for 50k miles and the shift was getting sloppier.




Thanks!

 

Took the linkage apart, the bushing on the lever broke and was worn. Detroit tuned sells a replacement...

 

are you planning to replace the cables or are they in good shape?

 

I'll see if the slop is acceptable after the fix and then decide. The cable bushings doesn't have much slop in them so if the situation doesn't improve with the new transmission bushing then it has to be the cable- fingers crossed.

 

There is a seller in Belarus, on ebay, that sells just the replacement shift weight bushing kit for about $48.
There is an old thread discussion regarding a similar issue : R53 hard sometimes impossible to shift into all gears you may want to consider. The bushing kit works great and significantly improved my issue. Although it will take about 3 weeks to arrive w/international shipping.
As per the link I posted; It may also be possible that the gear selector bushing under the shifter boot maybe worn or cracked.

Just a thought. Or something to consider vs buying/replacing the entire shift weight.

 

Changed the bushing and greased the hell out of it, the slop is nearly gone.

 

I'm unsure how much shifter cable play is considered "normal" at 160k miles, however yours being 2006 has the improved cables / shifter assembly design incorporated in 2004. It's possible the "slop" you're feeling is at the other end, I.e., the shift lever. Several on this forum have replaced the fragile molded plastic retainer with the kit sold by WMW, which resolves that as well as allowing subsequent adjustments in friction by simply popping up the shift boot. Installing that kit does require disconnecting and dropping the forward exhaust pipe, removing the tunnel heat shield and then unbolting and removing the shifter assembly for disassembly and reassembly with the new parts. If you do that, you'll likely find the o-ring broken (acts as over-travel bump stop). Not a difficult job but not a particularly quick one either. OTOH, it's a once and done thing. You might be able to determine if yours has excessive play by popping up that boot. MINI Shift Lever Bushing

Pic shows mine (OEM bushing unbroken) with that kit installed and greased, ready for re-installation...

 

Thanks!

I am too unsure of what is normal SLOP. I have a Volvo P2 S60R in which the shifter is much tighter.

I will check out the bushing that way sells. For now, the slop is tight enough that I don't need to hunt for gears.