mannyg

I just installed a new MGW shifter and took the car for a drive. There's a 1 to 1.5 inch play in the shifter when in neutral and when in gear, any gear. I know MGW builds their shifters so they perform better when the transmission is at operating temp but the amount of play left to right, even after a one hour drive, never got smaller. The play is only side to side, not front to back. If this is how MGW shifters are supposed to work, I hate it.

lemans

That's not how they are supposed to work, I have zero play in mine when in gear. Contact George at MGW, he'll get you squared.

Bill Curlee

Make SURE that the four fasteners that secure the shifter to the shift box are the correct bolts (you can NOT use the OEM bolts. There too short) and the shifter is properly secured to the shifter box. The ones that are supplied by the shifter manufacture should be LONGER!



There are TWO large fasteners that secure the BOX to the torque tube. Look at mine and you will see that the bushings under the screws are METAL. If you have a NON ZO6 those bushings will be RUBBER. If there damaged,rotten, the box will be loose on the torque tube.

BC

Keith N

Bill - Great information, Thanks!

breecher_7

other then the rattling, i love mine, the rattling sucks... One thing that concerned me is that there was no telling wich direction the shifter was to be installed on the box. Does it matter? You can flip it 180 degrees and it bolts on in either direction.

child_of_fire

i spoke to george about that. he said it doesn't matter which way its installed. it's symetrical.

breecher_7

thats what I figured, good to know for sure. Now to just figure somthing out about the damn rattling.

Mez

The 4 bolts to the shifter box are threaded into aluminum and kind small in diameter. So you want to be careful when you torque them down or you could strip the threads. I have seen that.

Once you torque down the 2 big torx bolts to the torque tube, check the shifter box to make sure this no movement up-down, right-left or front-back. Watch the bushings to see if there is any movement.

Lastly, and this is just a shot in the dark, but did you transfer over the plastic cup from the old shifter to the new one?

breecher_7

With the new MGW shifters is that even possible? The one I just installed had its own plastic "****" that replaced that factory cup.

mannyg

I checked the shifter box bushings and they're still OK. I used the four supplied bolts from MGW to bolt the shifter to the shifter box. The plastic cup cannot be transfered from the stock as the new shifter comes with a large plastic **** to fit into the shifting mechanism. I'm out of ideas so I think it's time to rip everything out again and check my work.

SunsetStroker

Anyone have there MGW shifter pop out of 2nd gear all the time? I just got a new tranny installed and the shop thinks its the shifter. I bought a used shifter but the rubber bushings are shot in it and I guess I need some stock bolts to install it as well. I just want to know if re-installing the stock shifter is even worth my time.

child_of_fire

i would just re check your work and make sure all the bolts including the shifter box bushing bolts are tight. there's really not much to that install and i can't see why you 'd have so much play in there. i just did my mgw install because the stock one had a lot of play. when i took things apart i noticed those two torx screws to the shifter box with the rubber bushings had come loose... the car is a year old!

Mez

I assumed it would reuse the stock cup like other shifters.

Zoxxo

Thinks?? Baloney. There are a lot of folks with MGW shifters and you don't hear about this issue at all.

Assuming that the replacement transmission isn't faulty, it definitely possible that when the shop installed the new tranny they misaligned the shifter rod correctly when they reconnected it to the shifter box. The only way the shifter would "cause" the thing to pop out of 2nd is if the way they connected it isn't allowing the shifter to move the tranny all the way into gear. (Or, when they connected it they didn't tighten it enough and the rod is slipping but that would likely show up as problems with 5th and 6th, too.)

The fact that the shop didn't diagnose this issue BEFORE you got the car back is, um, interesting

Z//

child_of_fire

mgw shifters dont re use stock parts!

mannyg

I took everything apart and found my problem is the shifter box, specifically the metal shaft that goes out of the back of the shifter box to the transmission. The notch on the shaft that the bolt goes through is rounding off. Did I do something wrong when I reinstalled the shifter box? I made sure the notch lined up with the hole in the shifter box before I reinstalled it. I can't see why it would be more loose than it originally was before I took it out.

child_of_fire

did you loosen it during the install? zoxxo should be able to offer you good advice. he's a mastermind of the shifter install. he helped me with mine. if you connect that shaft to the shifter box does it tighten down or does the shaft rotate freely with the screw tightened down?

mannyg

I think I found the problem. I didn't have the bolt that tighten's the metal clamp around the shaft torqued down enough so it was allowing the shaft to rotate inside the clamp. There was also a small amount of grease around that part of the shaft, making it even easier for it to rotate. I was mistaken in thinking the notch in the shaft was there so the bolt keeps it from rotating, it's just there so the bolt can go through the hole in the shifter box. Hope this helps anyone that plans on taking the shifter box out. TIGHTEN THE HELL OUT OF THAT BOLT THAT CLAMPS AROUND THAT SHAFT!

Mez

Looks like someone tried to thread the rod clamp bolt before the shaft from the box was aligned in the clamp.

Normally the notch is smooth without any thread marks.

Here is procedure I followed is:

1. Place box on the torque tube mounts while inserting the shaft from the shifter box into the rod clamp going to the trans.

2. Insert the alignment pin in the hole on the front of the box. This aligns the shifter shaft inside the box. If you don't have a pin, use a suitable size drill bit.

3. Loosely thread the two right side shifter box mounting bolts. Do not tighten. You just want to keep the box from flopping around.

3. Visually check alignment of hole in clamp and notch on shifter shaft using small flash light. Add thread locker liquid to bolt and insert in shifter rod clamp. Wiggle the shifter box front to rear until bolt aligns in notch and it drops down to the threaded area of the clamp. Use light downward pressure on bolt. If aligned properly, it will slip into position.Do not turn or force bolt.

5. Once bolt drops down, it should start to thread into clamp by hand. Tighten bolt in clamp.

6. Add thread locker to torque tube mount bolts and tighten.

Mez

I can see how that could happen!!!!