saw22

Don't blast me. I'm a noob here but I've done a lot of searching over the last day and seem to get slightly mixed information and can't quite find a situation the same as mine. Sorry this is kind of long.

I just bought a 2002 Z06 with 22k miles from another board member and I am very pleased with the car. Picked it up Thursday and developed a big shifting problem with it yesterday. Here's the deal:

I raced a buddy of mine in his intake/exhaust/pulley 03 Cobra from about 60-120 (yes, 2-3 car win for me). So we started in 3rd and I hit 4th pretty hard about 6400 rpm (full-lift shift). End of the race, I slow down, push in the clutch to go to 5th or 6th and the shifter won't come out of 4th. After getting on and off the clutch a few times and pushing like hell, it finally popped out. Then, it wouldn't go into any gear at all. I coasted two miles to the next exit and by the time I got to the exit, I had it in 3rd gear but that was the only one that would work. So, we pull off and talk about what was happening.

Sitting there idling, I can only hit third gear. In fact, the damn shifter wouldn't even go left-right in a neutral position. Eventually, after pumping the clutch, pushing with the shifter, going in/out of third, it will go into other gears. Once you get that done, with the exception of a slight grind going into 4th gear, the car seems normal. If you go back into 3rd gear, then the same thing starts over again. So I either had only 3rd or only the other gears.

The car acted this way on the road, idling, and even with the car off and shifting with or without the clutch. Very same behavior. So we let it cool off about 5 hours. Still acted the same way, though sometimes it would shift through all gears (including 3rd).

So this morning I go out to show one of my friends that is much more knowledgable about things. He gets in and rows through the gears just fine, over and over. We take the car for a 2-mile very easy drive and everything shifts fine except still a slight grind going into 4th.

So my main question is, if the crappy 3-4 shift fork went south on me, how could the car act so much better today than yesterday with no mechanical change made to it?

It does have a C6 Z06 shifter, and the previous owner has suggested checking the alignment, which I will not have the chance to do for a couple days (out of town now).

Will a dealership still honor the TSB on the 3-4 shift fork even if the car is out of warranty? Here is a thread about that one:
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...53&forum_id=49

Here is the car, by the way (and the Cobra). Can't wait to get this fixed and get back to enjoying it again! Thanks in advance and sorry for the long post

Bill Curlee

I also have an 02 ZO6. I purchased a KIRBAN shifter as a display model at a discount. It didnt come with any hardware or instructions. So,,I installed it with the OEM shifter hardware. About 3 years later, after a rather spirited run, I had the same symptoms you have. I found that the OEM shifter fasteners were too short and popped out of the housing. The shifter was just sitting on top of the shifter housing! All four fasteners pulled out of the aluminum housing.

Found the correct length fasteners, installed them and its back to 100%

Check that first!!

BC

saw22

Thanks much for the advice. The more I read, the more I see "shifter" this and "shifter" that. I really hope that's it, obviously. Makes me almost want to go home right now and fool with the car so I can think about something other than why it's broken.

Bill Curlee

Hell,,what do you have to loose! Its either taht or dump your wallet on the counter and have a dealer or garage take what they want!

While you have it apart, lube up the shifter shaft and make sure everything is in good shape.

BC

Here are some pictures of the shifter and housing:





BC

moserbe

Racing on a controlled track, right?

saw22

Of course... a controlled track with numbered exits.

Bill Curlee

You made my entire Sunday!!! That was FUNNY!

BC

saw22

Well, I'm still gonna check the shifter tomorrow but after several hours of research on here, at Z06Vette.com, and getting advice from friends, we're gonna replace some stuff in the transmission since it's a known weak point anyway. Maybe I got lucky this time and it is just the shifter out of alignment but I know I will eventually end up with problems with the shift fork since I plan to take the car to the track and have a tendency towards spirited driving anyway.

Yesterday I ordered a SPEC Stage 3+ clutch, so when we install it, we will also install the following:

3-4 Slider Assembly
Steel 3-4 shift fork
Billet Keys/Struts
Bronze shift pads
Bronze shifter high hat

I plan on getting the parts from sixspeedsinc.com.

saw22

Messed around with the shifter today, with no help. Car drives fine in 1,2,5,6,R.. but 3,4 grind going in and are hard to get back out. Damn shift fork. By the way, any harm done to the car to drive it easy in 1,2,5,6?

Bill Curlee

ABSOULTLY NO PROBLEMS AT ALL skipping 3rd or 4th! I skip gears allthe time just because I can!

BC

saw22

Thanks, I figured so. I need to drive it to work tomorrow to get an estimate from a shop and since I have about 10 of my buddies at work expecting to see it in the lot

If I get a good price, I may just let them do it instead of me and my friends sinking a whole weekend into doing it ourselves.