Elise S1 gear linkage kit issue

[JJM]

Hello All

Bit of a long shot, had the Eliseparts gear linkage and quick shift fitted, since then i have a very stiff change action with no real self entering towards 3rd /4th plane, meaning the 2nd to 3rd change is a lottery also downchaanges from 5th to 4th concentrate the mind so as to avoid 2nd. The gear stick moved freely around the gate before the work, could it simply be that something has been tightened too much 

[Daveb99]

Who fitted it?  It sounds like the new top hat bushes in the bell crank pivot can’t move freely, the bolt has probably been over tightened.  It’s important to ensure there’s plenty of grease in there too.

[JJM]

thanks for the reply, that was my thought too...had it done at a local garage who do race prep, Caterhams and other nice stuff, I'll get it back to them, unless its accessible just by removing the diffuser.

I guess i found out the benefit of using a specialist, if only my closest wasn't 2hrs away.

[Lithopsian]

The rear linkage can be accessed by just removing the diffuser.  Removing the undertray as well gives you a little wider access.  The bellcrank that converts the crossgate motion is easy to spot.  There are two possible arrangements for the bolt and nuts that fix the bellcrank pivot  The original S1 arrangement has two nuts and they should not be tightened against the bracket or the spring loading from the gearbox will not be able to center the gearstick.  The main nut should just be wound on until it is close enough to stop the bolt slopping about and then the jam nut is tightened against it.  A later arrangement from the S2 might have been fitted, but that has just a single flange nut that *is* tightened against the bracket so it is harder to mess up.  Grease isn't stricrtly necessary since the nylon bushes will rotate freely on the pivot sleeve provided it hasn't gone crusty.  First guess is they just tightened the nuts up and now the bellcrank won't rotate freely.

[JJM]

Thank you, i'll be underneath it a little later on having a look...much appreciate the help and advice

[JJM]

Done...much lighter gear change and cross gate movement, still not much self entering of the gearstick but better. Could the spring in the gearbox be weak or are they all like that? I've never driven another Elise.

[Lithopsian]

The gearbox spring is really quite strong.  You can test it at the gearbox end by disconnecting the tierod or the bellcrank and moving it by hand.  The 5th/reverse spring is quite a bit stronger than the 1st/2nd spring.  But it has to go through a lot of mechanism to pull the gear stick, the tierod, bellcrank, cables, another bellcrank, and the gear stick itself which has a big ball clamped inside a plastic housing.  If you've got the gearbox end all nicely adjusted and clean/greased, then the gearstick end is the next place to look.  It is probably pretty gunged up by now, and any grease that is left will be full of dirt.

The interior end has a nylon cup on the end of the cable, which doesn't really need grease but might benefit from cleaning.  The bellcrank has a nice brass pivot shaft (self-lubricating?) and then a floating plastic cup on the other end attached to a small ball on a spigot attached to the gearstick.  The thing that really needs to be greased is the big metal ball in the plastic housing.  Lotus specifies a fairly expensive and hard-to-find (Molykote 33 Medium, but Light would also work, it is usually on eBay) type of silicone grease which has a very low viscosity at low temperatures, so the gear stick still centres itself in the winter.  You can use a regular grease, but avoid anything too sticky or thick.  It isn't under any great load and just needs to be as low-viscosity as possible.

To do all this properly, you'll need to get the plastic shroud off and remove the mechanism from the car.  That means getting the ball off the gearstick which can be difficult.  It is threadlocked on and takes some force to break it free.  You can remove the mechanism with the plastic shroud still in place, but it is a bit of a pain and you want to avoid scratching the coating because it is very to touch up or recoat.

The cables themselves will also eventually get stiff.  You can try lubricating them, but probably by that point they will be corroding internally and best to replace.  Once everything is clean and lubricated then the gear stick should self center quite well even in winter, although it won't exactly break your hand doing it.