At around 85K miles it was noticed that the gear shift was a little loose and after examining the ball joint it could be seen there was signs of wear to the bush surrounding it. When there is free play in the joint like this, it can throw out the adjustment on the cables to the gearbox making some gears hard to select.
Luckily a company called X8R manufactures a kit to replace the gear selector bush. The kit contains the nylon bush, side to side movement rod and O-rings.
After pulling the leather gaiter up the gear selector, pull out the coin tray, unscrew the gear surround and move it out of the way. You can now get to the gear selector housing.
Using a small flat bladed screwdriver, unclip the two cable clamps. Undo the 4 bolts that secure the gear selector housing to the floor then remove it from the centre console.
Disassemble the gear selector housing following the XR8 instructions provided with the kit DOWNLOAD HERE. Before using these same instructions to fit the new gear selector bush, examine the gear stick ball joint for any damage or wear. Lithium Grease is recommended on any moving parts and linkages during reassembly.
With everything reassembled, refit the gear selector housing to the centre console securing with the 4 bolts. Maneuvre the selector cables back into the clamps (DO NOT RECLIP YET). Move the gear stick into the neutral position then press in the metal retaining clip, this ensures the selector cables are set correctly with the gear sticks position. With this now set press the cable selector clips down to attach the linkages to the cables.
Test gear changes, then reassemble the centre console trim and gear stick gaiter.
Find Automotive parts and tools relating to this blog post by clicking the photo links below, this includes the Selector Bush Repair Kit by X8R …
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