Midas Cars Forum - www.midascarsforum.com

(I've resisted a smutty title for this thread, but with difficulty )

There's a lot of slop in my gearchange; I can't recall how the remote is constructed, but is it possible to rebush it? I'm hoping that most of the play is outside of the actual gearbox, since I don't fancy an engine out job right now.

I'm sure I discarded one of these remotes just a couple of years ago ("I'll never need THAT again..."). I find myself on the receiving end of lots of lectures about hoarding stuff. I shouldn't pay as much attention.

Could be the rubber bobbins it's hanging on. A few years ago just before going to England I had a strange feeling in my gearstick. It turned out the rubber bobbins were sheared, possibly because of fatigue or because I had done something wrong during the engine removal. I did not have enough time to get originals, so went to a local exhaust specialist and sourced 2 bobbins that had the same length.

Reading your thread on the exhaust, when the bobbins have sheared the remote gearbox will definitely hit the exhaust.

Thanks Hans, I didn't think of that. However, I definitely do have other exhaust problems which need attention! Sheared bobbins would just be another fly in the ointment...

I though my sloppy gear-change was the bobbins too, I replaced them but it remained the same, the play seems to be inside the gearbox

Stuart wrote:I though my sloppy gear-change was the bobbins too, I replaced them but it remained the same, the play seems to be inside the gearbox

Was there not any noticeable play in the remote change mechanism, then?

(I'm clutching at straws here, you may have noticed)

Thinking about it I actually fitted a new remote and rods off another Midas that was fine on another car and the sloppiness was still there, yours could be different though.

Stuart wrote:Thinking about it I actually fitted a new remote and rods off another Midas that was fine on another car and the sloppiness was still there, yours could be different though.

You could be right. It has done 117000 miles, so I should expect some gearbox wear. I might try and find another remote linkage and give that a try.

Check the bush in the back of the gearbox where the top rod goes that'll put a bunch of play in the gearchange. Also how are you're gear selector rods extended? Mine have tubes in the middle with roll pins holding it together so it slops around all over the place.

mikeeskriett wrote:Check the bush in the back of the gearbox where the top rod goes that'll put a bunch of play in the gearchange. Also how are you're gear selector rods extended? Mine have tubes in the middle with roll pins holding it together so it slops around all over the place.

Work on the Midas has come to a temporary halt, but I'll have a close look at the bush and the rods when the monsoon season ends...

Just as a thought, has anyone considered a Quickshift kit? Removes a hell of a lot of slop from the gearchange as it decreases the travel by a massive amount. Had one on my old Mini and absolutely loved it