Technical Mk2 Punto HGT Gear changing - Stiff!!

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Technical Mk2 Punto HGT Gear changing - Stiff!!

dudds24

Punto HGT Abarth
Joined
Apr 4, 2007
Messages
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Location
Kent, UK
Alright chaps, has anyone ever seen this problem? I have a MK2 HGT 2000 W reg, and over the past 6 months iv noticed the gear lever is becoming very stiff to move between gates.
From neutral if i push it to the right it stays there etc, this causes problems when changing ie from 2nd to 3rd i have to litterally move it to the right etc?
Any help is appreciated!
Cheers
 
Last edited:
Easy fix mate, nothing to do with the gearbox oil and costs nothing to fix,

Take your battery out and battery holder, remove the air inlet pipe from the throttle body,

Towards the back of the Gearbox you'll see this part with the gear cables going to it, unclip the back cable and undo the nut holding the shaft in.
Done.jpg


Then you slide the shaft out (it'll be really tight) and clean it up with emery paper untill its nice and free when you slide it back in.
HgtLinkageshaft.jpg


Common thing people say is to do is just cain it with wd40, thats wrong don't grease or oil it else it swells the plastic bits and will make it tight again. Mine was like that when I first got mine and nearly four years later after cleaning it up its still perfect.
 
Mate! Thx for that!! I really apreciate it
Il give this a go over the weekend!
 
Yeh nice one DanGil!
This sorted the stiffness problem! :)

Cheers for your help!!!

Dudds
 
No problem, just make sure you don't grease/oil it else it'll go tight again.
 
Easy fix mate, nothing to do with the gearbox oil and costs nothing to fix,

Take your battery out and battery holder, remove the air inlet pipe from the throttle body,

Towards the back of the Gearbox you'll see this part with the gear cables going to it, unclip the back cable and undo the nut holding the shaft in.
Done.jpg


Then you slide the shaft out (it'll be really tight) and clean it up with emery paper untill its nice and free when you slide it back in.
HgtLinkageshaft.jpg


Common thing people say is to do is just cain it with wd40, thats wrong don't grease or oil it else it swells the plastic bits and will make it tight again. Mine was like that when I first got mine and nearly four years later after cleaning it up its still perfect.


Has any one got the photos for this, my gears are really still and Im sure this will resolve it as I did get a bit easier with WD40.....thanks in advance

EE
 
Easy fix mate, nothing to do with the gearbox oil and costs nothing to fix,

Take your battery out and battery holder, remove the air inlet pipe from the throttle body,

Towards the back of the Gearbox you'll see this part with the gear cables going to it, unclip the back cable and undo the nut holding the shaft in.
Done.jpg


Then you slide the shaft out (it'll be really tight) and clean it up with emery paper untill its nice and free when you slide it back in.
HgtLinkageshaft.jpg


Common thing people say is to do is just cain it with wd40, thats wrong don't grease or oil it else it swells the plastic bits and will make it tight again. Mine was like that when I first got mine and nearly four years later after cleaning it up its still perfect.

Big thanks to you m8, we've had this problem on our 02 plate jtd for the last few years, the mechanic just put new cables in but that didn't work. I've done as you've mentioned and gear selection is now perfect. Before the stick would never go back to its central position in between 3rd and 4th so finding them gears could be hard, now they slot in perfect just as they should.
 
Can anyone please talk me through this process? Have spent the day removing the plastic cover under the gear shift.

Looked inside and the cables are like brand new.My car is an 05 model, and says Dynamic on the front wing, not entirely sure of the exact model, as it was given to me by my mother who sadly passed away a couple of years back. The gear change was always a little on the stiff side, but didn't pay a lot of attention to it, thinking it was just the way the car was.

Anyway, today I got a mate to sit inside the car and move the gear lever through all gears. I noticed that the cables running underneath to the gearbox were flexing, indicating a problem at the gearbox end, and I think it looks like the same issue as this thread shows.

So, I now need to remove that linkage lever and get to the bearing and clean it up. I have looked at where the ball joints are at the end of the cables, and am assuming these need to come off too, but is unclear to me what I need to unclip, and how to do it, so would really appreciate some advice on how to get the cables off etc so I can get this problem fixed.

Can anyone help please?

Regards

Matt.
 
Last edited:
Hi mate,

The above procedure will only help if your gear change is stiff from left to right and your gearstick doesnt spring back into neautral smoothly.

The way I usually do it is as follows.

1, Disconnect battery connections and battery clamp
2, undo the 3 x bolts at the bottom of the battery tray and remove battery tray from car.
3, Pop off the ball joint on the l/r selector cable.
4, Undo the 17mm bolt that retains the selector lever. Remove the washer.
5, Pull out the selector lever.
6, It will be covered in gunk and some corrosion, so use some fine emery paper or wire wool etc to clean it up.
7, coat with some light lubricant (not WD40)
8, replace in reverse of above.

whilst you have it all disconnected, you can pull and push on the disconnected cable. You will then be able to see if the cable itself is stiff.

No need to get to the access panel underneath the gearstick.

hope that helps,
Alan
 
Hi mate,

The above procedure will only help if your gear change is stiff from left to right and your gearstick doesnt spring back into neautral smoothly.

The way I usually do it is as follows.

1, Disconnect battery connections and battery clamp
2, undo the 3 x bolts at the bottom of the battery tray and remove battery tray from car.
3, Pop off the ball joint on the l/r selector cable.
4, Undo the 17mm bolt that retains the selector lever. Remove the washer.
5, Pull out the selector lever.
6, It will be covered in gunk and some corrosion, so use some fine emery paper or wire wool etc to clean it up.
7, coat with some light lubricant (not WD40)
8, replace in reverse of above.

whilst you have it all disconnected, you can pull and push on the disconnected cable. You will then be able to see if the cable itself is stiff.

No need to get to the access panel underneath the gearstick.

hope that helps,
Alan

Hi Alan

Many many thanks for your detailed reply. Think I may have bigger problems then, in neutral, my gearstick moves freely from left to right...It's hard moving the gearstick from neutral into any gear, in particular, 4th and reverse are the hardest, so am worried now that something bigger may be wrong?

Am wondering if you might have any opinion as to what that may be?

Was hoping I could get it fixed today too.

Thanks again.

Matt
 
Actually, although it's hard to move the gearstick fore and aft, I have found it hard to find gears, ie first to third to fifth...I have to move back to neutral and kind of feel my way into the next gear ( can't find second easily or reverse)

Do you think it's worth attempting the fix you have described?

Cheers

Matt
 
Hi mate,

So is it "vague" when moving left to right? It's quite hard to explain but feels a bit floppy and the gates don't always feel like they are in the same place, ie sometimes third might be straight up, other times a bit to the left/ right? And gearstick feels a bit "wobbly"?

If so then I would check the 17mm bolt I refered to above is nice and tight. If it's lose it will cause play. Normally this play makes it harder to get into extreme side gears ie 1 and 2 and 5th (6) and reverse, but it can also make other gears "move about"

Whilst you have the battery all stripped out (and tray) if you have an assistant handy, get them to move the gear stick whilst you watch the cables on the selector end and see if you can spot any play.

This may solve your Vauge feeling but won't solve the stiff fore and aft movement. Whilst your at it, you can pop that cable off too and try the gearstick, if it's still stiff fore and aft then you know you need a new cable or to try and free it up with some oil.

Hope that helps and makes sense.

Alab
 
Last edited:
Easy fix mate, nothing to do with the gearbox oil and costs nothing to fix,

Take your battery out and battery holder, remove the air inlet pipe from the throttle body,

Towards the back of the Gearbox you'll see this part with the gear cables going to it, unclip the back cable and undo the nut holding the shaft in.
Done.jpg


Then you slide the shaft out (it'll be really tight) and clean it up with emery paper untill its nice and free when you slide it back in.
HgtLinkageshaft.jpg


Common thing people say is to do is just cain it with wd40, thats wrong don't grease or oil it else it swells the plastic bits and will make it tight again. Mine was like that when I first got mine and nearly four years later after cleaning it up its still perfect.

Hey all, know this is an old post but just had this problem occur with my 05 HGT. Fine up and down, left to right it sticks. Anyone happen to have ref for those photos that are no longer up there?
 
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