Club 80-90 Forums

sounds like play in system, try loosening the two bolts that hold the rear bush to the gearbox and moving everything upward and then tightening bolts up and see how that is - as a quick adjustment - otherwise you are into taking it to bits and replacing bushes and setting it up better

That is a bit of a strange one, if staying in gear and doing it

I'd also check all the engine and transaxle mountings for excessive compliance, levering them around to see what is moving that much when reversing?


As Aidan says, get hold of the main selector shafts adjacent to each bush and see if theres lots of radial play in the bushes. Or get someone to go through the motions in the cab and watch the selector shaft, partic. as they slot it into G or R gears. They shouldn't be snatching up and down or side-to-side, just sliding through the bushes.

If there isn't excessive play in the shaft bushes, or the gearlever pivot bearing, and it's staying in gear, yet the lever's jumping about when reversing, it's probably unhooking off of the 'G' & 'R' detent stop, under the cab, possibly due to maladjustment (at the centre spline join, just behind the main cross-member) - the whole system is not something to easily talk through setting up - it's a bit of a black art, but read on, partic. the Wiki. Bentley manual also gives some setup tips and clearances that worked for me, or at least get you within the right ball-park when re-assembling from a complete strip-down.

Check the Wiki out, which describes the whole system in some depth, become well acuainted with what to expect before diving underneath...

Sloppy g/c and description of selection mechanisms

and first though, check the front gearlever floor pivot for bad wear:-

Gear lever pivot repair

The main bush to wear is the one at the back, that Aidan mentioned bolted up to the transaxle, the cup and ball wear of course (make sure the cup is not loose on the shaft, its roll-pinned in).

The one at the central cross-member , with the spline joint behind it, is the next one to wear bad, scribe up that spline joint both end-wise and radially (twist and length) before removing can save you a lot of time getting anywhere near it upon refit - they often have to be driven out as splines very fine and very tight. Tap, tap tap and eventually it will come out if bolt fully removed.

The whole front shaft has to be removed to do the front boot, either backwards or down under the radiator, a big fiddle which a bit of whip in the shaft just allows (on the desel anyway)