I bought another sunfire yesterday (my 3rd one I own at the moment) but one of the only things wrong with it is the gear shift feels loose and sloppy. For example, when it's in 5th gear, I bet it has 2 inches of side to side play in it.
Is that something I can fix myself, or is it fixable at all? I test drive 2 other manual j bodies, and all three had the same problem, but I know it wasn't like that from the factory. Something is worn out or loose in there
All my cable driven manual cars have a lot of side to side play unlike Normal RWD cars. My cars do not have front to back play just side to side. 89 z24, 00 z24, 87 fiero, All have Getrag 5 speeds.
On the inside my car looks like a fighter jet.
I went by a transmission shop today and they said it was probably bushing in the transmission. It sure feels like it's in the shifter end.
I think the guys an idiot, because he was trying to tell me the reason my reverse lights don't work is the neutral safety switch... Correct me if I'm wrong, but 5 speed cars don't have one of those, right?
Maybe he was thinking of the back up light switch and just called it something else.
The switch is on the back of the tranny in the driver side wheel well. It cost me $22 for a new one and too about 10 mins to do.
On the inside my car looks like a fighter jet.
shifter slop is most likely from the shift cables and/or the shifter assembly in the cabin. Easy way to check, go into the engine bay and wiggle the shift mechanism on the trans, see what it has for play there. Also yes, the reverse lights are on a switch in the transmission. you can test the switch by jumping the wires with the ignition on. easy to replace.. (both of these tests are harder to do if stock intake is in place) it is also very easy to pull the console out and look directly at the shifter mechanism, screws inside the center console, pop out the window switch or filler if you have manual windows, then under the little circle cover inside the front tray, and then the shifter knob and the whole console will lift up. inspect cables and shifter for play.
funny story, my reverse switch was bad.. so I changed it.. problem solved right? well in the process of changing it I dropped the old switch when taking it out, looked on the ground and down from the top and couldn't find anything.. 2 years later when jacking up the car to change the front brakes/wheel bearings.. I hear a pop and something fall on the ground.. and i'll be damned if it wasn't a reverse switch that was laying there after two years lol.
Have a nice day.
the switch for my car is $10. for what it would take to get to it and jump it ,I might as well change it while I have the wheel off.
I found a good write up for changing it, but it was for a later car than my 96. Can I assume it's the same procedure?
http://www.clubcav.com/showthread.php?t=20065
I don't think I'll be going back to that tranny shop
no. it is different for isuzu transmissions. the switch is on the upper front side of the transmission. not the same place as getrag cars (the one in that link was an 04). you do not need to pull the wheel it can be done from the top (I did mine, but with an aftermarket intake installed though so a stock intake may be in the way if you have it)
Have a nice day.
Mine had a lot of play after I installed my short shifter, turns out I forgot to reinstall one of the o-rings (either the one above the black cup thing or the one below, I can't recall). That fixed it right up.
yeah, stock intake, I'll see what my service manual says about the job. the part is ordered
Very productice day today! Changed a strut, my sway bar links, my reverse switch, and i noticed one of my shifter cables was just barely hanging onto the post it was supposed to attach to. Its like the middle of the cable grommet just vanished
I improvised a solution by finding a section of hose that would fill the gap in the cable end, but still snugley fit over the linkage post
I then used a small hose clamp to hold everything together. It will do until i replace the cables, if i do. If the rubber holds up to the heat, i may just leave it.
I now need to pull the console and check the other end inside the car
