Shifting Problem/ Mystery
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: May 2018
Posts: 40
Likes: 0
From: Dallas, Texas
Shifting Problem/ Mystery
So I bought a 04 Z06 about 2 months ago and it came with a few minor things Headers/Intake/XPipe/Exhaust/ LG Shortshifter. Anyways Ive noticed that the shifter was very notchy and was very stiff. Later i got semi used to it and raced a 5.0 beat it easily but then days later i was doing 40s on the freeway and noticed that when i wanted to shift into 3rd at high RPMs (6500) it would bereally hard to do it, you would have to force it in. It didnt do it at lower RPMs. Ive asked on here what it could be and how i could fix it and they adviced to do a shifter alignment. Well today I was going to do it and i noticed that the pin used to align it was not there, I called LG Motorsports and they said that teh shifter shouldnt need alignment and that as long as it goes through all the gears there is nothing wrong with the shifter but rather either my synchros or my clutch. Even if its a aftermarket shifter should it have the pin. I wanted get second opinions and see if its the cluth/synchros or it can be someting else. I can post videos of before and after the problem if yall would like to see.
Race Director
Joined: Oct 2004
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From: Home of the VOLS ! Knoxville, TN. Tennessee
St. Jude Donor '11-'12-'13, '15, '16-'17-'18-'19
Check that the o rings on the shifter box are not worn and the shifter rod does not have an up and down play in the box.
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: May 2018
Posts: 40
Likes: 0
From: Dallas, Texas
Race Director
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 13,576
Likes: 1,352
From: Home of the VOLS ! Knoxville, TN. Tennessee
St. Jude Donor '11-'12-'13, '15, '16-'17-'18-'19
There is one at the front end under the black cover and one on the other end where The shifter rod attaches to the box, however , it's inside the box.
It's what makes the shifter sub housing slide front to back easy. The SS rod inside the box should not have any up and down or side to side play in it at all.
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with the shifter in neutral, loosen the 2 torx bolts that hold the shift box to the torque tube and move the box until you see the hole in the shift rod line up with the hole in the black cap in your pic... then put the tightest fitting allen wrench you can fit into that hole then tighten the torx bolts down... if you took the pic above with the car in neutral you can see that the holes are not lined up and the shift box appears to be too far towards the front of the car and needs to come back a tad
Last edited by StingrayRebel; May 26, 2018 at 11:30 PM.
Pro
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 746
Likes: 65
From: Phoenix, AZ
with the shifter in neutral, loosen the 2 torx bolts that hold the shift box to the torque tube and move the box until you see the hole in the shift rod line up with the hole in the black cap in your pic... then put the tightest fitting allen wrench you can fit into that hole then tighten the torx bolts down... if you took the pic above with the car in neutral you can see that the holes are not lined up and the shift box appears to be too far towards the front of the car and needs to come back a tad
Former Vendor
Joined: Sep 2017
Posts: 1,114
Likes: 259
From: Apple Valley CA
While your in there you should pull the upper (lg) and lower box completely out and look it over. Look at your torque tube bushings from the underside, they can be completely shot out but still look fine from the top. Don't remove the plastic bushing on the lower end of the shaft, the one that fits in the cup, but make sure it feels tight on the shaft and seats nicely in the cup in the bottom box.
The best way I have found to align everything is to tighten the bolts to the torque tube and on the linkage (rear) in the middle of the play, with the car in neutral, ebrake on. I also recommend using loctite on the bolt in the linkage.
If you have any questions I'm happy to help with anything I can. Feel free to read some of the reviews on my thread, if you want to upgrade that lower box I can just about guarentee you'll be glad you did, it goes great with that LG upper.
The best way I have found to align everything is to tighten the bolts to the torque tube and on the linkage (rear) in the middle of the play, with the car in neutral, ebrake on. I also recommend using loctite on the bolt in the linkage.
If you have any questions I'm happy to help with anything I can. Feel free to read some of the reviews on my thread, if you want to upgrade that lower box I can just about guarentee you'll be glad you did, it goes great with that LG upper.
Former Vendor
Joined: Sep 2017
Posts: 1,114
Likes: 259
From: Apple Valley CA
Z06, solid bushings are not the problem, just noticed that. Look over the cup bushing and for pieces of it broken off in the box and get it back in and centered up and you should be good.
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I use blue loctite as well but as far as the bolt I recommend replacing it with an old header bolt... same thread pitch and they are high grade as opposed to the soft torx bolt which I'm guessing is aluminum... at one time I was experiencing some very sloppy play in my mgw shifter that was caused by this bolt... it's strange because the bolt was tight but the area of the bolt that fits through the notch in the linkage was all beat up... the threads on either side of that area were fine so it obviously wasn't stripped but I'm guessing hard shifts caused it to mangle the bolt and allowed too much movement between the linkage and the bolt which led to the shifter being sloppy... replacing it with a header bolt and using loctite resolved the problem
Advanced
Joined: Aug 2017
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Sounds similar to what I was fighting with. Turned out my pressure plate was broken. I started a thread in the autox/roadracing section. Has more detail and some troubleshooting that I did before pulling everything out.
Team Owner
Joined: May 2001
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From: Western NY
with the shifter in neutral, loosen the 2 torx bolts that hold the shift box to the torque tube and move the box until you see the hole in the shift rod line up with the hole in the black cap in your pic... then put the tightest fitting allen wrench you can fit into that hole then tighten the torx bolts down... if you took the pic above with the car in neutral you can see that the holes are not lined up and the shift box appears to be too far towards the front of the car and needs to come back a tad
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: May 2018
Posts: 40
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From: Dallas, Texas
hopefully that not the problem im having. Im going to look at your thread though just to make sure but im going to try the less expensive and easier fixs first. Thanks for the tip though.
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: May 2018
Posts: 40
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From: Dallas, Texas
I use blue loctite as well but as far as the bolt I recommend replacing it with an old header bolt... same thread pitch and they are high grade as opposed to the soft torx bolt which I'm guessing is aluminum... at one time I was experiencing some very sloppy play in my mgw shifter that was caused by this bolt... it's strange because the bolt was tight but the area of the bolt that fits through the notch in the linkage was all beat up... the threads on either side of that area were fine so it obviously wasn't stripped but I'm guessing hard shifts caused it to mangle the bolt and allowed too much movement between the linkage and the bolt which led to the shifter being sloppy... replacing it with a header bolt and using loctite resolved the problem
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: May 2018
Posts: 40
Likes: 0
From: Dallas, Texas
with the shifter in neutral, loosen the 2 torx bolts that hold the shift box to the torque tube and move the box until you see the hole in the shift rod line up with the hole in the black cap in your pic... then put the tightest fitting allen wrench you can fit into that hole then tighten the torx bolts down... if you took the pic above with the car in neutral you can see that the holes are not lined up and the shift box appears to be too far towards the front of the car and needs to come back a tad
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: May 2018
Posts: 40
Likes: 0
From: Dallas, Texas
While your in there you should pull the upper (lg) and lower box completely out and look it over. Look at your torque tube bushings from the underside, they can be completely shot out but still look fine from the top. Don't remove the plastic bushing on the lower end of the shaft, the one that fits in the cup, but make sure it feels tight on the shaft and seats nicely in the cup in the bottom box.
The best way I have found to align everything is to tighten the bolts to the torque tube and on the linkage (rear) in the middle of the play, with the car in neutral, ebrake on. I also recommend using loctite on the bolt in the linkage.
If you have any questions I'm happy to help with anything I can. Feel free to read some of the reviews on my thread, if you want to upgrade that lower box I can just about guarentee you'll be glad you did, it goes great with that LG upper.
The best way I have found to align everything is to tighten the bolts to the torque tube and on the linkage (rear) in the middle of the play, with the car in neutral, ebrake on. I also recommend using loctite on the bolt in the linkage.
If you have any questions I'm happy to help with anything I can. Feel free to read some of the reviews on my thread, if you want to upgrade that lower box I can just about guarentee you'll be glad you did, it goes great with that LG upper.
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2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (performance mods)
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do you have an extra header bolt laying around?... if not maybe you have a friend that does, they are the same thread pitch and length as the soft torx bolt that holds the shift linkage to the box... or you could buy a cheap set of stainless header bolts on ebay or make a trip to the hardware store and get a high grade m8x1.25x30mm bolt