THE4TH

iTrader: (2)

Hey everyone,

I recently had my under hood bushings changed and now I'm having issues with 1st, 3rd, and 5th. The other gears work fine. I've searched around the forums and it seems that the cause is a bent shifter cable. I am unclear at this point where to look to confirm this is the problem. Could it be bent under the hood somewhere with the linkage, or could it have bent at the shifter base? Has anyone had this problem and how was it resolved?

Any info would be much appreciated !

Thanks !

boozeup&riot

iTrader: (12)

its very likely bent right near where the cable come out of the sleeves before they meet up with your tranny. I nearly bent mine putting my bushings in and if there is a likely place to bend them, its probably there. You could probably just bend them back *very carefully*. Are these brass shifter bushings? If so, did you use anti-seize when putting them in? It could be they just need a lil grease. Good luck man.

lilnaz

iTrader: (5)

^ It's possible they are bent where they connect near the battery/transmission. I don't think thats your problem, it is easy to check that. pop your battery out and have a look. I've had the exact problem you are explaining, twice. I'm more surprised others dont have this same problem. Here's my best explanation, there are two solid cables coming off your shifter base(attaches to the stick) and they run through firewall to the connections under the battery. They are solid with braided steel surrounding a solid center steel core. The two cables run about one foot to a spot under your center console where they meet up with a guide which is an open plastic tube where the cable slides in and out of. When shifting the cable rotates 360degrees right outside the guide tube determining which gear you want, they work in unison(sp). What happens is the solid steel center gets worn and fatigued from moving 360 degrees. Ive managed to break two of them. What happens is it starts feeling mushy going into certain gears for me 1 3 5 and 6, 3 and 5 being the hardest. It gets progressively worse, more and more mushy feeling. One day the metal will give and will snap and the shifter will be detached and just flopping around. The second time it happened I knew right away something was wrong. I was shifting into third and it didnt engage so I pushed a little harder and I felt it turn mushy, as it bent. IMO its a design flaw but there may be something specifically wrong with my car as its happened twice now, first time it happened it was like that brand new(mushy gears) and eventually broke. First time I didnt know what happenned and just brought it to the dealer and they replaced the shift linkage and it fixed it. Second time I bought the entire shift linkage from mitsuparts.net and installed it myself. its not easy but not technical or hard to do.

edit* alot of people don't know you can adjust your shift linkage length. You can adjust the distance of the cable on the left cable where it attaches to the stick. There is a white collar you pop off and then slide the cable forward or back and then snap the collar locking in the cable where you set it. Be careful when adjusting, a small adjustment can lock you out of reverse or certain gears. Mark a spot on the brass shielding and use that as a guide to how much you adjust it. It took me a few days of driving to get it where im happy with the smoothness.

THE4TH

iTrader: (2)

Actually we were taking out the aluminum and going back to stock with it.
I would imagine it was down under the boot, but I can't feel anything obvious.

sikwititevo9

iTrader: (10)

i just ran into this problem myself and i figured it would be a bent cable. did you ever figure out if it was or not? any info would be greatly appreciated.

mirebih

iTrader: (3)

I'm curios about this case too.. I like the explanation from lilnaz..

THE4TH

iTrader: (2)

Hey all,

It had gone away for me after some prodding of the cable near the tranny. But last night as I was parking, I think I went from R to 1 too quickly and it has started all over again. I'm gonna give Mitsu a ring, see what they suggest as I prefer not to drive it like this and break it completely.

sikwititevo9

iTrader: (10)

what did mitsu say? have they had a bunch of calls on this yet?

Ghost1t

iTrader: (8)

Damm i am having the same problem , Something close to what Linaz is saying - i have a 6 speed

ezzey

iTrader: (3)

anyone ever resolve this?

IggyBcool

Bump for same problem...

IggyBcool

I went out to the car a few minutes ago since I have the console off, I don't see a place for a spring. I did how ever also notice that the white clip that the ball mounts in to, I can put that completely level (straight) and I can do a first to second shift and the white clip will rotate over to the left until it is actually pressing against the actual shift rod. I did how ever have this same feeling on 1, 3, 5 before I did my base and under hood bushings.


Can someone pull up a diagram and show what I should look for on the actual transmission side that may be "bent"

IggyBcool

Bump for answers.. Its getting worse and worse.

GSXRiderK6

Did you ever resolve this issue? I am having similar issues with my X.