Shift Shaft

[EZ Aire]

Just a reminder to inspect you car periodically. I woke the other day and had some oil under ther rear of the car in the approximate shape of the Engine skid plate. After inspecting the undercarriage I determined that it was Gear oil and consulted with my Indy. Once in the air, he found the Shift Shaft plug on the passenger side , above and aft of the axle to be backing out. I have never seen this problem before and he had only heard of it happening once. He re-torqued the plug and applied Lock Tite. Symptoms included irregular shifting requiring more effort and the oil. $172 fix for a problem that could have gone into the thosands had the transmission had to come out or worse. I hope this is an isolated incident. However, as we have more cars reaching for the 100K (101298) this may become something that we see more often.

[rsfeller]

Just a reminder to inspect you car periodically. I woke the other day and had some oil under ther rear of the car in the approximate shape of the Engine skid plate. After inspecting the undercarriage I determined that it was Gear oil and consulted with my Indy. Once in the air, he found the Shift Shaft plug on the passenger side , above and aft of the axle to be backing out. I have never seen this problem before and he had only heard of it happening once. He re-torqued the plug and applied Lock Tite. Symptoms included irregular shifting requiring more effort and the oil. $172 fix for a problem that could have gone into the thosands had the transmission had to come out or worse. I hope this is an isolated incident. However, as we have more cars reaching for the 100K (101298) this may become something that we see more often.

How do you define irregular shifting and more effort?

[EZ Aire]

Just a reminder to inspect you car periodically. I woke the other day and had some oil under ther rear of the car in the approximate shape of the Engine skid plate. After inspecting the undercarriage I determined that it was Gear oil and consulted with my Indy. Once in the air, he found the Shift Shaft plug on the passenger side , above and aft of the axle to be backing out. I have never seen this problem before and he had only heard of it happening once. He re-torqued the plug and applied Lock Tite. Symptoms included irregular shifting requiring more effort and the oil. $172 fix for a problem that could have gone into the thosands had the transmission had to come out or worse. I hope this is an isolated incident. However, as we have more cars reaching for the 100K (101298) this may become something that we see more often.

How do you define irregular shifting and more effort?

Shift pattern irregular. 3rd was getting weird to get into when omming from 4th.; instead of the stick being straight up in Neutural it was skewed a bit to the right, closer to "R" than to 1st. 5th was kinda farther over then usual. Just a weird and slow progression.

[rsfeller]

Thanks. The reason I ask is I have a "stiff" shifter that will not return to N from a left or right motion. I have to help it over to the next gear. I suspect a bad cable or something with the linkage but have not had time to get the car up on a lift to diagnosis.

You may know this but cable misadjustments make for poor shifting too.

Did this leak and plug really have anything to do with helping your shift pattern? Were you low on fluids that would have made shifting difficult?

You can see I am very curious to what I may find for my shifting issues. No leaks for me but am a bit curious on your issues.

[EZ Aire]

Thanks. The reason I ask is I have a "stiff" shifter that will not return to N from a left or right motion. I have to help it over to the next gear. I suspect a bad cable or something with the linkage but have not had time to get the car up on a lift to diagnosis.

You may know this but cable misadjustments make for poor shifting too.

Did this leak and plug really have anything to do with helping your shift pattern? Were you low on fluids that would have made shifting difficult?

You can see I am very curious to what I may find for my shifting issues. No leaks for me but am a bit curious on your issues.

The Transmission was serviced in April and I had no problems until recently. It started with the shifting issues I mentioned earlier and culminated with the leak. I checked the cables prior to the oil leak and nothing was amiss. I did not have a leak until a 800 mile evacuation for Gustave. You can see the plug from the rear just aft and above the axle ouput. It should be flush with the case. check it out, its worth a look. Also, in the same vacinity as the plug is the mounts for the cables, they should be secure in the carriers attached to the transmission. And you also have the plastic "cup" connectors at the shifter. You can see both the carriers and the plug wthout getting up on jacks. And remember, a little oil goes a long way, I lost about a pint and it will get a freshly detailed undercarriage pretty well oiled up. I have my weekend cut out for me. Good luck and keep us posted.

[rsfeller]

So simply correcting the leak and topping off the manual trans fluid solved your shifting concerns?

[EZ Aire]

So simply correcting the leak and topping off the manual trans fluid solved your shifting concerns?

Yep!! It was that easy....