Working through the little problems on my 90 S2 Cab next on my list is my shifter. It has about an 1 1/2 of play from side to side. Shifts fine in all gears but does have excessive play. What is the usual cause of this car has 66K. And how hard and expensive is it to fix. Any help would be appreciated.

 

new shift lever cause the old one is footballed. $75 on pelican and paragon i think.

i remember reading that there was a fix to bore out the hole and put in 924 plastic bushing inserts....but too lazy to go search for it

 

See here -- and compare your shift lever pin to the one in the picture:
http://www.clarks-garage.com/shop-manual/trans-07.htm

 

Get a new lever like others have suggested, it will help a lot. It may not completely eliminate it though, i got a new one and still have some play due to the wear on the part that goes over the shaft.

 

I'm lazy also but I keep that repair bookmarked and have done it on 3 cars now. It works great and can be done in the car.

Shifter Fix

 

It is not your lever.

Check the shift linkage. The pointed nose bolt furthest to your left is probably loose. That bolt links the shift rod to the shift linkage. If the bolt isn't all the way in, you can move the shifter left and right until you hit the seals in the transmission. So the lever doesnt fully work. It's hard to explain but you cant have 1.5" of play just from the shift lever pin footballing.

 

that is great write up. bookmarked !! thanks !!

 

Pull up the boot and examine and you'll know real quick too.