hey everyone, I have a 92 hatch. There was a short shifter in it when I bought it but there is an unusual amount of sideways play when it is in gear. I just replaced the bushings with some energy suspension bushings hoping that my fix the problem. It helped a little but I can't seem to figure it out. Is there something else I can try or check?

 

What I would suggest, is making sure all your linkage bolts are tightened, and use some locking sealant on them to avoid slippage. also, what bushings did you replace?

 

Where your shift linkage plugs into the transmission itself there's a little rubber bushing (not the linkage arm that bolts to the transmission, the one that goes INTO it)...you might look at that. My shifter had a lot of play in it...I replaced that and it cleaned up the shifting quite a bit.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JKov240 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Where your shift linkage plugs into the transmission itself there's a little rubber bushing (not the linkage arm that bolts to the transmission, the one that goes INTO it)...you might look at that. My shifter had a lot of play in it...I replaced that and it cleaned up the shifting quite a bit. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Usually it's not that circular bushing either: it's the Spring Pin at the linkage rod (otherwise known as the bitch pin, the devil pin, the beast or the FU#K! pin). Replacing this with a fresh one will probably tidy things up quite a bit.

 

^I forgot about that^

I know on mine I reused the old pin with the new bushing and it tightened up a good deal...but yeah, that pin is a pain in the ***. I'd recommend a phillips head screwdriver and a hammer

 

I replaced the shifter bushings that are illistrated here at these forums
https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1001924
https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1002429
do you have a picture of the spring pin? I'll try to find it this weekend. Thanks for the help

 

where your shifter arm goes into the tranny theres an accordian rubber boot covering it. slide the boot towards the tranny , youl see a wide C-clip that you can just pull off by its tab. once thats off , youl see the bitch pin , lol. have someone wiggle the shifter in gear while your under looking at it , see if theres any play. sometimes people use a bolt not big enough to fill the hole where the shifter itself meets the linkage. therfore leaving room for play. but if you installed short shifter , should have came with new bolts. tighten the bolt i was just talking about again dude , this time , spin another nut onto the nut side , and tighten it against the nut thats there holding it. so it cant back off any. tighten it up good , cause the aftermarket ones usually have a bearing inside the shifter lever where this bolt goes through. did you make sure to use the spacers provided to fill in the gaps on each side of the linkage when the shift lever is in its cradle?

 

I will definately check it out this weekend. I don't know if the spacers were installed, the shifter was in the car when I bought it. Again thanks for the help

 

yeah i cant stand the fact that mine feels loose

 

did you replace the bushing in the area where you can take the shifter out? that one can get torn over time, and it will lead to sloppiness.

 

If its not the bushings, its the u joint. Not really replaceable

 

yeah good call RC , i never even thought of that joint. the U joint right before the spring pin joint. get under and have someone wiggle it in gear , see if that joint is wore out. and you can fix them , grind the rivet off one side , punch it out , and put a bolt in it.