4 speed late petrol gearlever overhaul guide

[itchyfeet]

4 speed late petrol gearlever overhaul

So as requested by Covkid to compliment the 5 speed one in the wiki I have photographed my work and made some notes. Some is the same as the 5 speed but I have included the lot as I may have done things differently.

This shows a late petrol 4 speed 14mm gearstick.

I did this with the van jacked, you could do the lot on the ground but if your van is lowered or you have a pie addiction best get it raised up a little.

I jack from the trailing arms at the rear and track control arms at the front with a hydraulic jack then lower onto something, if you don’t have a ramp you can use blocks of wood, if your jack won’t go high enough then lower onto a piece of wood then add another piece of wood between the jack and the vehicle and go up again, and again. Handbrake on.





So the gear stick assembly has three areas…

The front end with the stick, bearing assembly and shift linkage housing ( pictured)



The middle section with a bush, the adjustment pinch bolt and a universal joint




The rear section with another bush and the gearbox selector lever







Starting at the front , lower the spare wheel and remove it, then release the four nuts securing the shift linkage housing.







Then release the nut from the pin/bolt that holds the gear lever to the gear linkage, the nut is a different spanner size to the head




You can now remove the whole gear stick assembly with the bearing, strip it down and replace or regrease the bearing and replace or check the two bushes on the end of the stick.
Bearing disassembly and reassembly shown here

https://club8090.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=131211" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;







You can inspect the tips of the front shift rod at this point, the side of the reverse gate ( Left on this pic) will probably be quite worn down as shown, they can be DIY repaired but I’m not aware of replacements. If you want to remove the rod you will need to release the pinch bolt as described later.





So dare I say reassembly is reverse preferably after you have cleaned it all, a little grease on the tips and pin is good. Then check you can get all gears.

Below are pictures of the gear selection gates in the Housing in the different gears. Remember forward with the stick is back below and left with the stick is right below.

Neutral




1st




2nd




3rd




4th




Reverse






So on to the middle / rear section, you have two options, disturb the pinch bolt or leave it alone.
If you want to leave it alone you can’t replace the middle bush.
If you need to replace the rear bush or gaiters and don’t want to disturb the pinch bolt you can remove a pin from the universal joint and remove the rear shift rod that way but first it’s easiest to move to the rear and come back to the middle…..



So at the back remove the two bolts holding the support plate to the gearbox, note the plate is fitted to the FRONT of the gearbox casting





Then the gear linkage will come away and can be rested on the ground.








Release the selector lever nut, it will move forward into gear as you do this.




Before removing the lever return it to neutral which is vertical so when you put it back it is vertical on the spline.







You can then replace gaiters or re grease as required.

This gaiter should be pulled over the gearbox casting as shown and then replace the lever.

[itchyfeet]

Ok so now back to the middle to remove the rear selector rod.

If you don’t want to disturb the pinch bolt and need to repair the rear selector rod then you can split the universal joint.

Remove a circlip, taking care not to loose it




Then remove the pin, this will need pushing out with a suitable nail/ screw/ bolt




Or if you want to do it properly release the pinch bolt.




Then you probably need to drive the rear rod assembly off the front one as it will be stuck, before whacking it with a hammer remember its all connected to the gear leaver which you don’t want to damage.

To help remove the pinch bolt clip by rotating it with a screwdriver then with another screwdriver prise it open.



So back to the front of the vehicle and I fitted a 500mm long piece of wood secured with a cable tie to stop it moving between the front rod and the chassis member to take the load.




other end here…




you may want to mark it first but it’s a bit pointless as it’s obvious how far front to back it sits as the rod will leave a mark and the rotation is set as part of the adjustment



then hit it with a hammer and a piece of wood…







then remove the middle bush bolts.





clean re grease replace…



So next is to refurb the rear rod which really needs doing off the van. Do yourself a favour and photograph it before you take it apart, even though I took all these photos I still managed to rebuild it back to front.



Using a punch or bolt drive the pin from the selector lever



The plastic bung will come out with it.





Then if the lever won’t come off first drive it on with a socket to break the corrosion



you should be able to then twist it off, if not use a spanner



you can then remove the bush and plate and split that




The bush at the rear is different to the one at the centre on my van, I'm told by ZsZ that pre 87 they had the same bush at the rear to the centre and no gaiters, it's possible I think to fit the later bush to an early van with gaiters.
Or on an early van add gaiters to the early bush the problem if you do this is the gaiters then need to be fitted outside the housing and not inside like this.




Gaiters inside the housing






reassemble on the rod after checking your photos to make sure you have it right, use the bolt to align the holes before whacking the pin it.







finished







Now to refit the rear rod to the front one it probably wont just push on so I used mole grips ( locking pliers) with a block of wood and a cable tie around the mole grips to stop them pinging off while I beat it back on to the marks I made.



Re assemble but don’t tighten the pinch bolt yet, although the shaft is splined the two rods will rotate relative to each other when setting the adjustment.
I broke one of the tabs off the centre bush cover when I removed it so turned it upside down and refitted with a cable tie.





Now refit the rear bush plate pulling the gaiter down over the ball and socket and making sure you have the plate the correct side of the gearbox casting.




So now we just have adjustment left to do. This is the book method
In the cab rotate the plate so that one stud is touching one side of a slot and the other stud the other side




Then up the front add a spacer in the shift housing

Haynes and Bentley specify 23mm, I cut a slice off a piece of wood for this




Then make sure the rear selector lever is vertical, tighten the pinch bolt and remove the spacer




Check all gears work, if not then play with the bearing adjustment.

[ZsZ]

Great description.
For some notes: You have the late style rear bush. The rear bush was changed in may '87. Before that they were the same and the rear not had the rubber gaiters.

[ghost123uk]

Great write up (I assume it is going in the wiki ?)

[CovKid]

Yeah, I'll put it in. I just need to crop and compress images to keep file sizes down. Takes time to do it all but I'm on it.

57 pictures in all. Bit too many so I may have to inset several and drop any that don't add much to the general process. Good photos though. Best I've seen in a long while.

[CovKid]

Started on it. Takes a while to work out what needs to be detailed pic and what doesn't so bear with me (could take a week or more):

https://club8090.co.uk/wiki/Ge ... The_layout" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[itchyfeet]

Thanks

Sorry but I have just tweaked the text about adjustment as I have now found that the 23mm spacer is essential

the gear box sits in neutral natrally by 3rd/4th gate,
you have to move the gear lever to the left to rotate the shift rods anticlockwise as you view from the rear of the vehicle, this moves the shift lever on the gearbox against its spring and you can then get 1st/2nd, move it further you get reverse.

So if it's not set to sit by the 3rd/4th gate then you don't select gears properly

23mm it is then, god knows how it was working before



I also changed the neutral pic to reflect this and tweaked the text about the rear bush in light of ZsZ's comment.

Plenty more pictures of all sorts of work done of my T25, around 2500

[sarran1955]

Hello,

Well done.. a good write up..

A well deserved Wiki Winner....

Cordialement,

[CovKid]

Thats fine, will add in all the adjustment once I've got the whole thing edited down. Some pics dopped, some were amalgamated. I also changed the gear selection pics to:



I suspect your 23mm change was correct and this animation shows 1st & 2nd almost where neutral should have been?

The icing on the cake would have been to photograph the gear positions using a camera on a tripod after correct adjustment. Certainly I'll do that when I update the 5-speed overhaul again. Bear in mind that over time this thread will eventually vanish and the WIKI will be the only reminder it was ever discussed.

[itchyfeet]

I suspect your 23mm change was correct and this animation shows 1st & 2nd almost where neutral should have been?

The icing on the cake would have been to photograph the gear positions using a camera on a tripod after correct adjustment.

I like the gif

not sure the pics would be any differerent after the adjustmet but i can do it again with tripod.
Do you think pics of the gearbox end would be an interesting gif if done right?

Be nice to wait and see if there is any extra advice from the gearbox guru before writing up the adjustment bit but tge gearchange is the best its ever been so i suspect its right

[CovKid]

Yep, both ends would be good - if you're happy to do it. Just keep it consistent between the shots and it'll make for a very smooth gif. It often foxes people where the gears are so between us we should be able to show the movement. Just need N,1,2,3,4,R - will do same on my 5-speed

Cheers buddy. Takes forever to format and tidy up for WIKI. Been on it much of the day.

[itchyfeet]

looking good,

I have just been looking again at the 5 speed one and it shows a very different setup ofa raised floor in the cab and the bearing UNDER the floor of the van, I assume that's diesel? so as they fitted 4 sp to Diesel also I wonder if they are different from petrol and the bearing has to be accessed by droping the gearstick assembly out the bottom?

if so need to make that clear in the text, I changed the title of this to say 4 sp petrol just in case

https://club8090.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=131211" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[CovKid]

No you still get bearing out, up and over gearstick - thats the same. Some (mine did) have plastic trunking for heating to rear that makes it difficult to get at base plate but the main differences are underneath I'd say. I've made it clear in the WIKI thats its all 4-speed anyway.

[itchyfeet]

pics updates and rear shots added

some slight movement on the tripod when taking the rear shots (fnarrr) as it was on a micro mini tripod

Photobucket like to mix the pics up so it's challenging getting them in the right order, best check it for me

[CovKid]

Got them. Can't work out what pic 6 is though - looks similar to one of those above it? or is it neutral?