Loose shifter

[Jman]

Alright, so my shifter feels really loose, as in I can move it all around while its in gear, without taking it out of gear. because of how loose it is, its very hard to tell if its in say reverse. This isn't normal is it? I thought I heard someone say something about there being a bushing or something in it. Any Ideas what I could do to solve this, It really makes the 2nd to third shift hard.

[bigwingsaleen]

sounds like

Take a look at where the shifter rod bolts onto the shifter itself...chances are thats where the looseness will be. The rubber bushings are probably worn out or may just be a couple loose bolts.

It's a typical problem.

[Jman]

well how do you get the boot off? I took the little plastic thing off around it, but I couldn't figure out how to get the boot off shy of just ripping it off, I didn't want to screw it up

[richsvo]

The shift boot is actually a boot within a boot. Under the leather one is a rubber one. They are both bolted in place under a metal plate. If you look under the ashtray in the front and under the trim ring around the boot in the back you should see four bolts. Just unscrew them and remove the shift knob, and off comes the leather boot, and the rubber one, if you want. Then you should be able to access the bolts for the shifter. The "stick" and the shifter are two pieces bolted together.

Hope that helps...

Rich

[SVOMARK]

More advice

I had that problem too. I installed lock tite on the bolts that hold the shifter and lever together.

The trim piece around the shifter just lifts off. Kinda scary the first time you do it. Be careful not to break it.

When you re install the boots make sure you get them seated properly. If you don't you will get terrible road noise.

[SVOeric]

I'll throw a bit more advice in....

If the bushings on the shifter are shot, don't mess with it. They are no longer available from ford, and anything "generic" you buy will have to have some pretty serious modifications made to it to work.

Just pick yourself up a kirban, or other aftermarket shifter. (check the product review section for others) They are better quality than the old hurst, and you will like the feel much better.

You will like it even better if you have one of the 84-85's, as they had a longer handle on the shifter, and I think the shorter feels much better

[SVOMARK]

I wonder if your significant other would agree?

[Jman]

i'm not sure what shifter goes on them normally, but the guy I bought it from says its different than any other shifter he has ever seen on an svo, and he has owned many svo's. Its rather tall. Might take a picture of it so you guys see if you know where it came from. It does have the hurst logo on the back and the gear picture on the top.

[SVOeric]

if the guy you are talking about has only had 85.5, and 86's, then he has only seen the short shifter...

84, and 85's had a longer shifter handle..

[dgallo]

Shifter Bushings

I had the same problems with my shifter. Turned out the rubber bushing was toasted. I wanted to keep the factory shifter so I made some calls and checked around. I did fix the problem with very little effort.

I purchased some solid shifter bushings from Steeda for a 5.0 mustang. In order to make it work with the factory SVO Hurst you will need two things, A) Some original shifter bolts from a 5.0 shifter. B) Have the outer portion of the Steeda bushing sleeve turned down a bit to fit into the SVO stick holes. I turned mine down by hand on a bench grinder with a new wheel very carefully and it come out perfect. I spent a total of $12.00 for this fix.

Final note, if you do this... keep in mind you will now have solid bushings and you could damage the transmisison if you shift hard all the time. The factory Hurst shifter doesn't have the stops like an after market short throw kit has.

[Jman]

well my car is an 86. so maybe an 84,85 shift knob was put on the 86. I'll try and figure something out this weekend. I'm going to the track on friday, and I don't want to start taking stuff apart right now hehe

[SVOeric]

the solid steeda bushings are $15, unless you have a very nice source for these.
then you have to hunt down the 5.0 bolts
then you have to turn down the steeda bushings (a big pain!) -- And there is no way you can turn these down correctly without a laythe
and now you have to be careful with your shifter because you can easily bed a fork.

now you know why I say just spend the extra $$$ and get a new shifter.

swapping the shifter takes about 20 mins, all the above could take days. When you are done, you have a better shifter than before, AND you can slam the crap out of it, as the new shifter will most likely have stops on it!

just my opinion

[dgallo]

Shifter Bushings

Worked fine for me for the follwing reasons:

1. I don't slam the crap out of my shifter
2. Didn't take me days to do, more like 1/2 hour
3. Got the 5.0 shifter bolts for free cause most all 5.0 guys replace their factory shifters.
4. Allowed me to keep my factory Hurst ****fter in my car.
5. Didn't have to spend $145.00 for an aftermarket short throw.

Never said it was the most ideal solution in the world, but it works.

[shannonlujan]

Gotta bring this one back to life.

Just bought my SVO here recently and after a few months the semi loose shifter worsened. Felt like I was shifting through a bunch of jello instead of an actual grid.

Popped open the console (harnesses were a pain!) and heres what I found. The two bolts that hold the shifter stick in place with the linkage thing were very loose. I tightend them back up. Upon tightening the bottom one it began to strip out. My worst fear, I hate stripped bolts. I don't know if it is the bolt itself that is stripped or if it is this linkage peice. The bolt has obviously been replaced before, its all shiny.

Should I just ride it out until it loosens again or should I remove the bolt and see if its the linkage piece or the bolt or what? Keep in mind I live in strict apartments and I shouldnt even be doing this. Also keep in mind the SVO is my daily driver.

[shannonlujan]

another angle.