Stick rests at 5th gear when cold

[douglee25]

Good job!

Doug

[stubAdub]

I need some guidence on this. I followed the BMW pdf and also read 2 other DIY's and searched for my particular issue with little luck.

I did the parts swap and double checked everything, put the tranny back in place, bolted it down and lowered it to the correct level but when I checked my gear knob it is now leaning to the right. I can enter reverse fine and it seems to be the right stiffness but my knob is not centered like before. I can also shift into the other gears as well.


I pulled the tranny back out, opened the reverse/5th gear caps back up thinking I had mixed the springs up. I had not, both springs were correct (thicker, shorter spring for reverse and thinner longer spring for 5th which is the bottom hole)

I then pulled both the plungers thinking I had mixed up the slant locations or read the directions wrong.....I dont believe I did.


Reverse slant faces down toward the ground/bottom of tranny

----------
|------- /
-------


5th slant faces upwards toward the top of the tranny
-------
|-------\
---------


After putting both of these back in my knob still leans too far to the right, I would say all the way to the right even. I can center it easily but it pops back to the 5th gate area when I let go.

Prior to changing the parts I was only starting to have intermediate issues with the 5th gear "lean" @ 165k when cold.

What am I doing wrong? Putting this tranny back in each time to check the shifter position is getting pretty old and I think this takes the cake for me on issues that I cant seem to get figured out. I am hoping it's something simple I am just missing.

I've dropped the tranny on this before and just decided to do this fix while I had it out replacing the clutch.


Note: Shifting Arm is reconnected to the tranny when I do this check as well as the Selector Rod of course.

96 M3 w/ ZF transmission


.

[douglee25]

A couple of things...

1. Why do you go through the hassle of putting the trans back in the car to discern whether the shifter is centered or not? This can be done outside the car.

2. When you put the trans back in, is the shifter initially centered? Does it only stay to the right after you run it through the gears all the way to 5th?


The system isn't complicated, so there is only one or two possibilities. It's been several years since I did this, so I will start with some basics.

1. Both plungers are on the same side of the trans, correct? If I recall there are 3 plugs on the one side of the trans. You took out the plugs on the two that are directly side by side, correct?

2. The plungers themselves, aren't they different lengths? Is it possible you mixed them up?

3. When the caps are off, can you easily move the plungers up and down inside the bore? You didn't leave any visible burrs on the bushing surface did you?

4. Is the shifter rod installed backwards or upside down resulting in some sort of geometry change? Can it even be installed incorrectly?


Doug

[stubAdub]

1. how can I check for a centered netrual with it out?

2. the 1st time back in it was off center from the start. the 2nd time it was centered, I shifted to 1st and then reverse and when I went back to netrual it moved over to the 5th gate and will not stay in N now by itself.



1. plungers are on the same side yes and yes I took the two on top of each other/side to side out. The top one is Reverse and the one under it 5th.

2. the plungers are NOT different lengths. I checked and all 4 that i have are all the same height. 2 old 2 new.

3. with the caps off the reverse plunger can be pulled back out easily and 5th takes a little more pull with the tip of a bent tool. I had them out several times now. Bores should be fine as far as being too marred. I didn't make a mess of the aluminum.

4. Selector rod only came off on one side and has stayed connected to the tranny the entire time. It also did not rotate 180 degrees.

5. Shifting arm was only disconnected from the tranny. So no neither of these can be wrong. I double checked the real oem diagram a few times just to make sure.

I know this is something minor and I am just overlooking it or misunderstaning something.

Are my sleave slant directions installed correctly?? Reverse down and 5th points up like in my crude picture?


thx!

[douglee25]

1. how can I check for a centered netrual with it out?

2. the 1st time back in it was off center from the start. the 2nd time it was centered, I shifted to 1st and then reverse and when I went back to netrual it moved over to the 5th gate and will not stay in N now by itself.



1. plungers are on the same side yes and yes I took the two on top of each other/side to side out. The top one is Reverse and the one under it 5th.

2. the plungers are NOT different lengths. I checked and all 4 that i have are all the same height. 2 old 2 new.

3. with the caps off the reverse plunger can be pulled back out easily and 5th takes a little more pull with the tip of a bent tool. I had them out several times now. Bores should be fine as far as being too marred. I didn't make a mess of the aluminum.

4. Selector rod only came off on one side and has stayed connected to the tranny the entire time. It also did not rotate 180 degrees.

5. Shifting arm was only disconnected from the tranny. So no neither of these can be wrong. I double checked the real oem diagram a few times just to make sure.

I know this is something minor and I am just overlooking it or misunderstaning something.

Are my sleave slant directions installed correctly?? Reverse down and 5th points up like in my crude picture?


thx!

1. You should be able to confirm neutral position by verifying if the linkage hookup is biased to one side or not. Can't you put a screw driver or something similar in the hookup and visually see how much rotation is available CW or CCW?

2. OK

-----------------

1. OK good there.

2. OK good there.

3. If 5th takes more pull to remove the plunger, it sounds like you've found your problem. These plungers should freely move in and out with zero resistance. If there is resistance, you should see inspect the bore for any scuffing. I'm guessing you may see some right where you used the tool to press the bushing in place. You may have to chamfer the opening slightly and try again.

4. OK good there.

5. Ok good there too.

Doug

[stubAdub]

Pulling now to inspect 5th gear and clean the hole up which it sounds like is the issue. If the plunger is supposed to move when shifting then i'd say 5th on mine is def not doing that based on the tightness of the reinstall

[douglee25]

10-4.

Keep us posted.

Doug

[stubAdub]

Update: 5th gear sleave was sticking.....no burr's just too tight.

tips were much appreciated

[douglee25]

Great! How did you fix it?

Doug

[stubAdub]

a little emory paper and plenty of fresh ATF

with the tranny out I could take the selector rod and twist slighty to the right to see if it pushed the plunger out and then if the spring pushed it back in natutally.

now as soon as I get these FCAB's on i'll be a happy camper



Baba Booey!


thx again Doug.........

[Tom///m3]

Holy old thread!

I posted this back when I had the 95 M3.


Tom

[cosM3os]

I always use this thread to remind me to start my Christmas shopping. It gets bumped like clockwork!

[douglee25]

a little emory paper and plenty of fresh ATF

with the tranny out I could take the selector rod and twist slighty to the right to see if it pushed the plunger out and then if the spring pushed it back in natutally.

now as soon as I get these FCAB's on i'll be a happy camper



Baba Booey!


thx again Doug.........

Awesome!

Doug