J West - Level 3: 2nd gear selection problems....help! Options

[moggy]

Calling all J West Level 3 kit users.....

I've got the full works kit from J West but no matter how I adjust it 2nd gear is a problem. Basically it goes into all other gears fine, no problem. 2nd gear however has a 60/40 chance of going in and staying in. 60% of the time it'll go in and stay in, whether going up the gears or down the gears. BUT.... 40% of the time it'll seem to go in but it'll pop out straight away. The gearbox is new and built by a very respectable guy, so it aint that. The fact that it goes into 5th and reverse seems to me that the shifter has enough throw forwards. Any ideas???

[PeeGreen 914]

Calling all J West Level 3 kit users.....

I've got the full works kit from J West but no matter how I adjust it 2nd gear is a problem. Basically it goes into all other gears fine, no problem. 2nd gear however has a 60/40 chance of going in and staying in. 60% of the time it'll go in and stay in, whether going up the gears or down the gears. BUT.... 40% of the time it'll seem to go in but it'll pop out straight away. The gearbox is new and built by a very respectable guy, so it aint that. The fact that it goes into 5th and reverse seems to me that the shifter has enough throw forwards. Any ideas???

Did you set the throw stop or adjust that at all? Sounds sorta like what would happen if you had it in too far.

[Eric_Shea]

I noticed mine (by hand, not installed yet) goes from bushing to bushing here:

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net-1110-1298007184.1.jpg)

When you set it up, did you check the clearances before tightening?

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net-1110-1298007184.2.jpg)

[JWest]

Calling all J West Level 3 kit users.....

I've got the full works kit from J West but no matter how I adjust it 2nd gear is a problem. Basically it goes into all other gears fine, no problem. 2nd gear however has a 60/40 chance of going in and staying in. 60% of the time it'll go in and stay in, whether going up the gears or down the gears. BUT.... 40% of the time it'll seem to go in but it'll pop out straight away. The gearbox is new and built by a very respectable guy, so it aint that. The fact that it goes into 5th and reverse seems to me that the shifter has enough throw forwards. Any ideas???

With the car off and the rear lifted for access, select 2nd gear and have someone put light pressure against the shifter to maintain full engagement. Check that the linkage is not bottoming out at the shift console at the transmission (this should have been checked at installation if following the instructions).

Back the shifter stops way off. You should have plenty of throw to bias the shifter to barely engage 3rd so you are sure to be fully engaging 2nd gear. If nothing is running out of throw on the linkage, then you have an internal problem.

The shifter and linkage do nothing to keep the gear engaged. They can prevent full engagement if something stops the throw before full engagement occurs. Note that the shifter stops are to be adjusted to provide clearance on full enagement and are only used in an overtravel condition.

[moggy]

Calling all J West Level 3 kit users.....

I've got the full works kit from J West but no matter how I adjust it 2nd gear is a problem. Basically it goes into all other gears fine, no problem. 2nd gear however has a 60/40 chance of going in and staying in. 60% of the time it'll go in and stay in, whether going up the gears or down the gears. BUT.... 40% of the time it'll seem to go in but it'll pop out straight away. The gearbox is new and built by a very respectable guy, so it aint that. The fact that it goes into 5th and reverse seems to me that the shifter has enough throw forwards. Any ideas???

With the car off and the rear lifted for access, select 2nd gear and have someone put light pressure against the shifter to maintain full engagement. Check that the linkage is not bottoming out at the shift console at the transmission (this should have been checked at installation if following the instructions).

Back the shifter stops way off. You should have plenty of throw to bias the shifter to barely engage 3rd so you are sure to be fully engaging 2nd gear. If nothing is running out of throw on the linkage, then you have an internal problem.

The shifter and linkage do nothing to keep the gear engaged. They can prevent full engagement if something stops the throw before full engagement occurs. Note that the shifter stops are to be adjusted to provide clearance on full enagement and are only used in an overtravel condition.

Thanks, I'm going to check on this tomorrow.

I've actually taken the stops out so they are not an issue. It's as if the 2nd gear isn't going all the way in sometimes.

[moggy]

Calling all J West Level 3 kit users.....

I've got the full works kit from J West but no matter how I adjust it 2nd gear is a problem. Basically it goes into all other gears fine, no problem. 2nd gear however has a 60/40 chance of going in and staying in. 60% of the time it'll go in and stay in, whether going up the gears or down the gears. BUT.... 40% of the time it'll seem to go in but it'll pop out straight away. The gearbox is new and built by a very respectable guy, so it aint that. The fact that it goes into 5th and reverse seems to me that the shifter has enough throw forwards. Any ideas???

Check that the linkage is not bottoming out at the shift console at the transmission

Can you explain in a bit more details what you mean by this, not sure I follow you. Maybe a picture or 2 to point me in the right direction.

Cheers

Moggy

[JWest]

Can you explain in a bit more details what you mean by this, not sure I follow you. Maybe a picture or 2 to point me in the right direction.

Cheers

Moggy

Just make sure that the linkage has some extra room to move when 2nd is engaged. You should not narrow it down to one place to look - you should check the whole system while you are at it since there is not much to it.

Here is a pic (thanks Eric) of the point that must be checked during assembly (both front and rear):

[Eric_Shea]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif) that's the spot but... wouldn't second be on the back 1/2 not the front where your arrows are? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif)

(thinking, lever forward makes rod go back?)

[rwilner]

Here is a dumb thing to check.
If you have the rubber dust boot installed on the shifter pushed down too far over the shifter base, it will create some significant spring pressure to neutral. This was happening to me : at a certain rpm, my car would pop out of 3rd gear. I removed the boot and the problem went away.

Good luck

[moggy]

Can you explain in a bit more details what you mean by this, not sure I follow you. Maybe a picture or 2 to point me in the right direction.

Cheers

Moggy

Just make sure that the linkage has some extra room to move when 2nd is engaged. You should not narrow it down to one place to look - you should check the whole system while you are at it since there is not much to it.

Here is a pic (thanks Eric) of the point that must be checked during assembly (both front and rear):

Sorted (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

I indeed had to move that aluminium piece (with the bronze bushings) above to the left by a few mm to allow 2nd gear to full engage. Thanks