BobLocke1950

I have an 85' C4 Vette with a standard Doug Nash 4+3 shifter that is giving me some trouble. Over the past couple of months it has begun to shift with a lot of difficulty. Moving the shifter lever in or out of any gear is difficult. You have to really push or pull hard. I had the clutch master cylinder replaced, as it was leaking. The new cylinder fixed the clutch problem, however the clutch engages 1" from the floor. Is this to low and can it be adjusted? Is there a common problem with the Nash shifter that I should look for? Help!!!

Bob

Insane1

I have a simillar proble. Sometimes my shifter is real hard to get into gear and you really have to slam it into gear. It comes out of gear real easy and nothing grinds. Hopefully someone will have some suggestions.

TrueBlue ChevyDude

Take a look at your linkage. When theclutch hydraulics aren't up to snuff and you end up shifting with the clutch partially engaged, it puts a lot of stress on those components. Definetly new bushings, maybe new shift levers too if the holes are out of round from the extra force needed to overcome the clutch.

scorp508

Does it FULLY engage at 1" or just start to? If it just starts too that is fine! The system is hydraulic and cannot be adjusted. Did you have the slave cylinder inspected or repleased too? If it cannot hold pressure it'll cause the sort of things you're seeing.

frank j. moran

be sure it was bled correctly also....slave must be removed from the bell housing .....45 deg angle ...be certain the linkage is adjsuted on the trans...

BobLocke1950

I Just got off the phone with the mechanic and he admitted to me that the clutch pedal was low to the floor and wants me to bring it back to make sure that every last bit of air is out of the lines. The top of my pedal is also kind of loose too. Wasn't that way before. Trans is quiet when the clutch pedal is on the floor. Anybody know how much a replacement shifter is for this Vette? Nash or other brand!!!

CentralCoaster

I posted on your other thread....

randy814u

Not that this is your problem, but mine was the same way, on my 85. I took the tunnel apart to get to the shifter, spayed cleaner all over it, then lubed shifter with wd, and it shifted like a dream. That was 2 years ago, and still doing good. Of course it had 250 thousand miles of gunk on it,

ses86vette

I had the EXACT same problem you are having and I replaced both the clutch master cylinder and clutch slave and have had no problems since......Make sure you bleed it well ( that will take about 30 min.)

BobLocke1950

My Vette has gone back to the shop this PM and the mechanic is going to try to bleed every last drop of air out of the master cylinder. The fact that there is about 2 inches of top pedal play indicates, it's not up to snuff. Thanks for the input Guys.

sharkface

well, When I first got my 85 c4 with Doug Nash , it didn't go into first. I took the upper part of the counsel out and could spot the mechanism. It seemed like there were four teeth that moved to then engage the linkage bars. I did the same thing as mentioned above and all of a sudden the shifter seemed like a Porsche. That worked until I got new tires about a year later. The tire tech must have done something to recreate the symptom.


I again removed the upper counsel and did the same cleaning, lubing, and wire brushing to the teeth. After this, all the shifter was good for was about 3 miles. Now right back to starting off in third. (what a PITA)....


At least my reverse lock seems to work correctly. I haven't backed into anything yet.


What is it with these shifters? Yes, they are a poor design and the throw is long, but what the heck is preventing the shifter to go into first gear easily? Is it that the teeth (cams) that the shift lever hits are still gummed up?


It would be nice to hear from an expert trans. and shifter rebuilder. At least an explanation would be helpful.