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Ok, so I've had a lot of play, or slop, in the shifter of my 98 ex sedan since I bought the car about 8 months ago. I suspected the issue to be caused by a bad or missing bushing, so today I finally crawled under the car to investigate. Turns out, all the bushings are fine. The issue is the previous owner, who did a lot of other shotty work on the car, replaced the pinch "bitch" pin where the shifter linkage meets the shaft that goes into the tranny with a bolt that is a little too small, therefore creating play. I can go to my local Pull A Part and get a pinch pin, but I really don't want to wait. I have a ton of different bolts here at my house. Does anyone know what specific size the pinch pin is or something I can use in it's place to get a good tight fit so that my shifter is tight as possible and has no play in it?
I just got done temporarily fixing it. I kept reading everywhere that a lot of people use the ac compressor bolt as a punch to remove the pin, so I sized it up and the smooth part of the both (part with no threads) made a pretty tight fit. I cut the head off of the bolt, and the threads and beat my makeshift pin up into the hole. Fits decent and a lot tighter than it was for sure, so this will serve as a temporary fix until I make it to Pull A Part to get the correct pin. Just hoping that my temporary pin doesn't fall out going down the road, as the only thing holding it in right now is friction. Lol. I could have taken the shift linkage out and left the head of the bolt on the make shift pin, to run it in from the top side of the hole so I know it won't fall out but it's freezing *** cold outside and dark, so I was rushing. I am keeping the bolt that was in it in my glove box just in case the make shift pin falls out going down the road, then at least I have something to stick in it to make it home. I will get to my local Pull A Part soon and get the proper part, thanks.
I just ordered me a 5/16 roll pin punch the "bitch pin" is 8mm but i decide to go with a 5/16 punch to give me just a little wiggle room because 5/16 is just slightly smaller then 8mm but if you go to harbor freight and buy there punch set it has one in it that is a perfect fit also heres the link https://www.harborfreight.com/hand-t...set-66440.html
and here a few pics of the roll pin punch i bought
one more thing, the helms manual says to replace the pin and that is exactly what i do when i remove it for any reason, it is only a few dollars from the dealership so id highly recommend doing that also
The pins you can order from any parts store online for a couple bucks, and it's worth investing in a set of punches for ease of removal. Never understood why people choose such a simple thing to cut corners on.
"Can't wait" to get the right parts OK then deal with having a sloppy shifter.
There is a spring c-clip that goes around the bitch pin to prevent any possibility of it walking out. If you are missing that, there is no guarantee your temp fix or even the OEM bitch pin won't work itself out.
There is a spring c-clip that goes around the bitch pin to prevent any possibility of it walking out. If you are missing that, there is no guarantee your temp fix or even the OEM bitch pin won't work itself out.
Cool, I'm going to look for the part you posted in the pic exactly. Any chance you could link me to it? Had trouble finding this on Google the other day. Thanks
03-05-2019, 04:43 PM
Pinch pin
OK then deal with having a sloppy shifter.
