Hey guys,

While driving home today, my shifter suddenly became very sloppy. We're talking 2" of play, side to side, while in gear! I managed to get the car home and then inspect what happened. Looks like the smaller of the two WORKS underhood bushings (the vertical one) somehow knocked the retaining pin loose and half of it fell off. By the time I looked under the hood, only the inside half was there, with the cable off and just barely over the pin. I have no idea how I made it home.

I got them installed at a local shop, well known and recommended, so I don't think they did a bad job. Has anyone had this happen before? How do I make sure it doesn't happen again?

I'm going to work with the shop, or WORKS directly, to see if I can get that one bushing shipped to me overnight or something, along with the retaining clip. I managed to MacGyver the old stock bushing on there, held on by a clip from my RC car. However, I don't know how long that clip will hold, so I'm not sure I want to actually drive the car.

The bigger horizontal bushing mounting pin has a hole for a clip, so that looks solid. But the smaller vertical one doesn't have a hole, it has a groove along the circumference, the clip is just held on by tension. That seems like asshat design to me. Do any of the other companies (AMS, TWM, ?) have a better pin than the WORKS one?

EDIT: Looks like I lost some sort of stock plastic washer too? I'm trying to understand what fell off, besides half of the clip, WORKS bushing and the metal sleeve.

I'm looking for any and all ideas. Thanks!

 

Take some pictures if you can. I just recently installed this myself but its hard to imagine what your saying without pictures

 

Err... take a picture of what? There are two bushings under the hood, right? The big one lays horizontal, the small one is vertical. That small one is what fell apart. The retaining pin must have let go, so half of the bushing fell out onto the road somewhere.

 

I know exactly what you're referring to. The WORKS bushings retain the stock butterfly clip. It honestly sounds to me like your shop didn't properly install the clip or somehow damaged it during removal or installation.

 

I'm starting to think that a bit as well, given how they've handled my situation since I let them know what happened. I just took them out of the loop and I'm dealing with WORKS directly. Hopefully I can get the new bushing sent to me overnight.

Can you (or anyone) give me an idea of what holds the bushing in place? A washer and a clip? What kind of clip? Can I use something else, like a cotter clip? I'd hate to have to wait for a dealer to get me the stock washer/clip, doesn't AMS use a cotter clip for their install?

Edit: The one seen here on the right. I was going to go to a hardware store and try to find a similar one, then just use a metal washer that fit.

 

Quick update. I spoke with WORKS on the phone a few times today. They've put together a kit for me to replace my missing bushing. Looks like the stock/factory retaining clip and sleeve can't be purchased on their own, only with the shifter cables. So WORKS has a work around for that, and they're going to overnight me the kit so I can get my car up and running tomorrow.

A HUGE THANK YOU goes out to WORKS and their amazing customer service.

As a side note, it sounds like my local shop may have botched the install. WORKS said it's the most common problem, namely failing to properly reinstall the retaining clip. But I won't name names, we're all human and we all make mistakes.

Wish me luck with the install tomorrow!

 

Well, I'm back up and running! The kit WORKS put together installed in under a minute. In fact, I think the clip they provided me with is even better than the stock one. Everything is mounted, solid, and working perfectly.

For once, success

 

Hey Metal, I had the exact same thing happen to me too! I had the WORKS underhood bushings and I shifted really quick from 2nd to 3rd, next thing I heard is a clunk! and the shifter was going from left to right.

I decided to get the TWM bushings instead, since they were actual solid and not the polyurethane thing rubber..

 

I don't think that polyurethane is to blame here. There bushing is very solid, but since it's made of two pieces that ride on a dowel, you need a retaining pin. That pin was most likely not installed correctly by my shop, so it came off and the bushing was able to come apart. I actually really like the WORKS setup, just make sure to get it installed correctly