Transmission Mambo #5
Thread Starter
Heel & Toe
Joined: Aug 2019
Posts: 20
Likes: 3
From: Brooklyn
Transmission Mambo #5
OK, dumb newbie question... rolling at about 10 mph in first gear in my 1994 LT1 I punch the gas, and as I happen to be in a place safe enough to look down at the stick shift I see it rises maybe an inch. Is this amount of play in the drive train normal?
Drifting
Joined: Jun 2018
Posts: 1,678
Likes: 229
From: Michigan
Agreed, some drive line flex is perfectly normal, but that is excessive play in the stick.
Your 6-speed stick is actually mounted to the car. It's lower section is connected to the shift rod, unlike some other cars I have had that the shifter mounts to the casting of the transmission. To see it lift 1" is surprising.
Do you get a lot of noise in that area?
You can look at the pictures in This Thread where I changed mine to a B&M. You can see the pins/bushings that set into the receiver in the car body. 1" is close to unseating these. I don't remember there being enough room for 1" of movement. You may want to pull your trim plate and boot up to check nothing is broken in your shifter mount as well.
Do you get a lot of noise in that area?
You can look at the pictures in This Thread where I changed mine to a B&M. You can see the pins/bushings that set into the receiver in the car body. 1" is close to unseating these.
Last edited by KyleF; Jul 29, 2020 at 03:32 PM. Reason: Strikethrough wrong information
Safety Car
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 4,564
Likes: 1,676
The ZF shifter is not mounted to the body. It is mounted to the back of the trans. The only thing that you could reasonably think is attached to the body is the upper rubber boot.
As mentioned. Check the engine mounts and the torque on the c-beam bolts. Don’t just tighten, make sure they are torqued to spec.
As mentioned. Check the engine mounts and the torque on the c-beam bolts. Don’t just tighten, make sure they are torqued to spec.
Drifting
Joined: Jun 2018
Posts: 1,678
Likes: 229
From: Michigan
That is correct, upon reviewing my pictures the supports for the receiver come up from the transmission casting. It drops in from to top to this area and is connected by sleeve to the shift rod with a retaining pin.
Last edited by KyleF; Jul 29, 2020 at 04:37 PM.
Thread Starter
Heel & Toe
Joined: Aug 2019
Posts: 20
Likes: 3
From: Brooklyn
For what it's worth the shifter looks like the replacement rather than original in KyleF's link - complete with the cue ball. I've owned this car for less than a year of its 26 year history and don't know much about its checkered past.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Aug 2015
Posts: 6,119
Likes: 1,994
From: St. Charles MO
This. I guarantee it's the C-beam bolt(s). I've experienced the exact same thing personally. Those are through-bolts, with nuts on the top of the C-beam. The bolts don't thread into the C-beam. So if your mechanic didn't get on top of the beam with a wrench to hold the nuts, then he didn't adequately tighten the bolts. If you use the ZF Doc plates referenced above, then you don't need to hold them with a wrench as long as both bolts on that end have been started in the threads. But anyway, get under there and fix it - don't keep driving it like this.
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