You can replace the shifter linkage bushing without removing the exhaust or socket.
08-09-2012, 09:52 PM
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You can replace the shifter linkage bushing without removing the exhaust or socket.
Note: If you are going to replace your motor mounts, do yourself a favor and replace the shifter linkage bushing first. I could have done this job with two inches to spare between the torque tube and torque tube tunnel. New motor mounts make pressing the socket with fresh bushing onto the ball nearly impossible.
I just replaced the ball and socket bushing on the front shifter linkage without removing the exhaust and without removing the socket cup from the linkage.
I did have to remove the heat shield above the exhaust, the one near the driver's side frame rail protecting the positive wire from the battery, and the small brace that they attach to. You can snake out the large heat shield with the exhaust in place. At least, I managed to.
You'll have to unhook the linkage from the shifter. From underneath the car, pull the linkage down the side of the torque tube towards the driver's side. I used a rachet strap to hold the linkage downward. The strap was wrapped around the exhaust and hooked to the passenger side sway bar bracket. I also had to use a wrench on the lock nut to keep the linkage from rotating.
Using two long straight blades, dig the old bushing out of the socket.
To put the new bushing in, you can press it in with your fingers enough for it to hold, at this point, I used a C clamp to press the bushing into the socket.
Now, you have to work the lip of the bushing into the socket which will rest inside a groove and provide a nice, tight fit. I used the same two straight blades.
I pushed part of the lip underneath with one straight blade, then pushed right next to the first straight blade with the second, and began to walk them around the socket until the whole thing was done. It is a slow process.
The hardest part was getting the ball back onto the socket. I don't believe people have been securing the lip into the socket, because I could not do it by hand using a rope looped over or a crow bar. I tried twisting a rope with a jack handle, and the rope broke. I tried jacking the engine hoping the torque tube would press the socket against the top of the tunnel. The car was lifted off the jack stands...
You'll need to put your shifter on the pin of the linkage in the car. You can use the bottom hole on the shifter. It's just temporary. Have a helper hold the shifter according to your instructions to keep the socket dead centered over the ball. I couldn't do it alone, because the socket would slip to the left or right off of the ball.
I eventually snaked a rachet strap over the top of the linkage. One hook was placed into the driver's side mount for the exhaust heat shield brace that stretches across the exhaust. The second hook went around the passenger side exhaust pipe and stretched back to the driver's side sway bar mount.
Long story short, I broke the racheting mechanism while using an adjustable wrench to rachet the strap. Luckily, the locking part of the rachet was still holding. This allowed me to insert a crowbar above the linkage that previously would not fit. I had to use a jack to put enough pressure onto the crow bar to press the linkage on. I imagine it took a half ton of pressure to pop the socket onto the ball.
I bought a huge bag of graphite powder off eBay a long time ago. I use a paste made of lithium grease and graphite powder for the clutch fork bushing and the linkage bushing. That is the black grease like substance in the bushing in the photo.
Rachet strap on passenger side sway bar mount.
Strap traversing up driver's side of the torque tube.
Strap hooked to linkage with wrench indexing the linkage in the proper location.
These aren't my pictures, but the first is with the bushing just seated. The second photo is with the lip beginning to be pressed under the edge of the socket.
I just replaced the ball and socket bushing on the front shifter linkage without removing the exhaust and without removing the socket cup from the linkage.
I did have to remove the heat shield above the exhaust, the one near the driver's side frame rail protecting the positive wire from the battery, and the small brace that they attach to. You can snake out the large heat shield with the exhaust in place. At least, I managed to.
You'll have to unhook the linkage from the shifter. From underneath the car, pull the linkage down the side of the torque tube towards the driver's side. I used a rachet strap to hold the linkage downward. The strap was wrapped around the exhaust and hooked to the passenger side sway bar bracket. I also had to use a wrench on the lock nut to keep the linkage from rotating.
Using two long straight blades, dig the old bushing out of the socket.
To put the new bushing in, you can press it in with your fingers enough for it to hold, at this point, I used a C clamp to press the bushing into the socket.
Now, you have to work the lip of the bushing into the socket which will rest inside a groove and provide a nice, tight fit. I used the same two straight blades.
I pushed part of the lip underneath with one straight blade, then pushed right next to the first straight blade with the second, and began to walk them around the socket until the whole thing was done. It is a slow process.
The hardest part was getting the ball back onto the socket. I don't believe people have been securing the lip into the socket, because I could not do it by hand using a rope looped over or a crow bar. I tried twisting a rope with a jack handle, and the rope broke. I tried jacking the engine hoping the torque tube would press the socket against the top of the tunnel. The car was lifted off the jack stands...
You'll need to put your shifter on the pin of the linkage in the car. You can use the bottom hole on the shifter. It's just temporary. Have a helper hold the shifter according to your instructions to keep the socket dead centered over the ball. I couldn't do it alone, because the socket would slip to the left or right off of the ball.
I eventually snaked a rachet strap over the top of the linkage. One hook was placed into the driver's side mount for the exhaust heat shield brace that stretches across the exhaust. The second hook went around the passenger side exhaust pipe and stretched back to the driver's side sway bar mount.
Long story short, I broke the racheting mechanism while using an adjustable wrench to rachet the strap. Luckily, the locking part of the rachet was still holding. This allowed me to insert a crowbar above the linkage that previously would not fit. I had to use a jack to put enough pressure onto the crow bar to press the linkage on. I imagine it took a half ton of pressure to pop the socket onto the ball.
I bought a huge bag of graphite powder off eBay a long time ago. I use a paste made of lithium grease and graphite powder for the clutch fork bushing and the linkage bushing. That is the black grease like substance in the bushing in the photo.
Rachet strap on passenger side sway bar mount.
Strap traversing up driver's side of the torque tube.
Strap hooked to linkage with wrench indexing the linkage in the proper location.
These aren't my pictures, but the first is with the bushing just seated. The second photo is with the lip beginning to be pressed under the edge of the socket.
09-01-2012, 06:55 PM
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Hi Terell. Thanks for posting. I am currently trying to get the front ball cup of, but this route may be an alternative for me.
One question though: your two pictures of the cup suggest you did take it off once. Any hints on how to do that? Did you pull it up through the interior, or was it during some TT exercise?
Thanks again.
Leo 1984 S2 Euro 5spd
One question though: your two pictures of the cup suggest you did take it off once. Any hints on how to do that? Did you pull it up through the interior, or was it during some TT exercise?
Thanks again.
Leo 1984 S2 Euro 5spd
