Technical Stiff Gears

[XB23]

Hi All,

My stilo feels weird on the gears, for example.

If I put it into first, then take it out of first the gear dosent return back to centre it just stays to the left hand side, same as if i go to 5th (stays on right hand side)

Is this normal for the Stilo?

Cheers!

James

 

[Yellow Peril]

No it's not normal. Sounds like the self-centering mechanism at the base of the gear lever has failed.

 

[XB23]

No it's not normal. Sounds like the self-centering mechanism at the base of the gear lever has failed.

Can it be fixed at home?

 

[Yellow Peril]

Can it be fixed at home?

I suggest you pull away the gear lever gaiter and look from above for anything like a broken spring or similar. Got to say this is a pretty rare fault. Never seen it mentioned before on this forum...

 

[stevetrek]

Hey,

Had exactly the same on my Stilo - if it's more stiff than just not springing back - i.e. You have to pull it back to the centre it will be corrosion in the gear change linkage - has it been sitting around for a while? It easy to fix - you just have to get it apart and sand off the corrosion - there's plenty of coverage on this if you look it up on here - for example: https://www.fiatforum.com/stilo/264546-stilo-gearbox-stiff-neutral.html

 

[sussexa]

just done this on my jtdm 150hp
wasn't too bad a job on drive on ramps, not sure if similar linkage to the others but mine uses 2 platic top hat bushes, seem to be squeezed tight by corroding ally housing
had to remove my ecu and battery and even then I was mostly still squeezing down gap by brake master cylinder and under car reaching up.
an extending magnetic stick helped a lot as only room for one hand .
might have been the effort to remove the hard plastic boost pipe that was in the way but I didn't.
opened the ally hole with some sandpaper , polished the bolt and ball nipple used silicone grease on bushes and inside.
all ok self centering has returned.
I measured the old and new top hats and got a feeling the new bushes were 0.1mm thinner(considering my old ones done 55,000 miles,maybe more) giving it clearance before pinching up the shaft ?
thanks for the guides and links.
as was before new bushes

as now after new bushes








from the alfa guys if you undo the other nut on the link you upset the selection, and theres no need anyway.
plenty of guides on alfa sites with pics for this type.
like this one
http://www.alfaowner.com/Forum/alfa...f-sticky-gear-problem-bushes.html#post4565652
had to be done as was struggling to get 5th to 6th this week , problem got worse with hot weather and also longer journey , ally expanding and pinching linkage even worse.

 

[XB23]

Wow thats amazing wish my gear did that lol - so you used ramps, so the issue isnt at the top of the gearbox?

 

[XB23]

Sorry just read that properly of course its at the top ... Silly me! , why did you need ramps?

 

[sussexa]

to pop off the cable ball end to the lever, and lever out the shaft i think if it was left attached it might bend or kink the cable ? , the alfa guys tap it out from above but that boost pipe is right in the way.
ive never had that pipe out so didn't want to waste time trying to get that out .
I needed some long extentions and flexi knuckle to get the 17mm undone, really I was struggling a bit for tools.and also it might depend a lot on size of your hands i could just squeeze down the gap, the magnet on a stick was a big help as it helped get out the nut washer and arm, helped get the socket and knuckle onto the nut etc.
i wasted a bit of time trying to make a tool to sand the bore(sandpaper taped to sockets etc) , but ended up with a roll of sandpaper sqeezed in there, and worked from both ends from above and from below.
have a read through this guide
http://www.alfaowner.com/Forum/alfa...f-sticky-gear-problem-bushes.html#post4565652
its the same layout just much more open and visable on that alfa, hes got good step by step pics.(the reason i didn't bother as so obscured i couldn't match his pics anyway to bother with a guide)

 

[XB23]

Hey i did mine this morning took about 2 hours and now it self centers!! gear changes feel much lighter thanks so much for the help!

 

[sussexa]

well that's what were all here for, glad you've sorted yours too.
ive had a few weeks of driving mine since and no issues at all since doing it.
hopefully I took enough out of the ally block bore and fresh grease that it will take another 7 years before becoming an issue again, if it does sooner it will be throw another pair of bushes in first sign of stickiness.

 

[XB23]

I didnt need to sand mine down the insides where very clean - new bushes went in a tad bit tight but i greased it up lots so fingers crossed

 

[sussexa]

I think mine looked pretty clean also and the bushes looked as new, but I think the issue appears to be the ally hole surface oxidises and the hole bore closes up on the bushes to pinch the bush on the shaft.
the sanding of the ally was to enlarge the hole slightly so if it oxidises again it shouldn't be able to pinch the plastic bush.
I bet yours will last many years as it is and if you did no sanding of the bore reassembled with new bushes and it now was free , well that sort of confirms that maybe they designed a bit more clearance into the plastic bush.
cant remember if I said which grease I used but it was this

loads in ally bore before bushes , outside of bush before fitting and then smothered everything on assembly.