I took the opportunity today to brave trying to reach the troublesome pivot that corrodes and leads to the gear lever becoming very stiff 'across' the gate. Mine's a 2018 diesel 4x4, so some things in the phots may be different on other models, but the gist will be the same.
Start by disconnecting the battery (negative first) and then remove the battery completely.
View attachment 391923Next (above), carefully disconnect the large plugs to the ECU and unclip various plastic clips holding cables to the sides of the battery support. Also remove the earth wire from the ECU (at the bodywork end). Remove the plastic drip tray from the bottom of the battery support (noting the long drain pipe that fpokes down from it) and remove the nut and two bolts holding the battery tray in place. Ease the tray up and remove (by rotating the cable and battery tray at 90 degrees to each other) the plastic clip that holds the bonnet release cable to the bottom of the tray. The ECU remains bolted to the side of the battery support and all comes out as one unit.
View attachment 391925
With the battery support out of the way, the top of the gearbox is now more visible. The ends of the gear change cables can be seen (round plastic fittings that just clip onto ball and sockets) Unclip these (by carefully levering away with a blunt tool). Note - these are not lubricated, and should not be. They are made of teflon or similar. Greasing these would in time make them stiff as dirt would get into the grease. Similary, these ends of the inner cables where they pass through rubber seals to the outer part must not be lubricated.
View attachment 391926
Unscrew the nut (17mm AF) on the end of the pivot rod (this rod is what corrodes and leads to the stiff gear change action). Carefully recover the nut and washer behind it. The rod should be able to be pushed out towards the back of the engine bay. Mine was so corroded I had to knock it through with a soft hammer. There's a small, loose metal part that fits between this rod and into the rubber cover on top of the gear control levers. This should stay in situ, but it comes loose, it just slots back in later.
View attachment 391927Out of the car, here's rod in question It has two bands of corrosion mixed with dirt on it (worse nearer the balljoint end, under my thumb). I cleaned this away with some fine wet-and-dry paper., ahead of lubricating it before putting things back together. This rod is supported in the 'tube' it came out from by a plastic sleeve at either end (which I didn't take out). So, be careful in your choice of lubricant so as not to affect the plastic. I used (and hope its OK!) some spray-on white lithium grease. Note for refitting: there's a flat section just beyond the tread which the (possibly loose) lever in the rubber cover (mentioned previously) fits back onto when reassembling.
Carefully reassemble in the classic reverse order. Don't forget to twist the battery tray to refit the bonnet release cable as it goes in, carefully refit the various plastic clips holding wires in place, and crucially, fit back the removed ECU earth wire before the battery goes back. Refit the ECU plugs, then replace the battery leads (positive first).
All is now OK. Before I started the lever in the car needed to be physically pushed from side to side and didn't spring back to the centre. but now... it springs effortlessly to the centre. (Tried to paste iPhone video in but wouldn't let me – wrong format