Sloppy gear stick (Felicia)

[levitaylor]

Why has the gear stick on my Felicia become sloppy.It feels as if it is in neutral even though a gear is selected.Is there some sort of bush in the gear steady rod that has perhaps become damaged?Has anybody any ideas?

[anewman]

It's unlikely to fail or cause any damage, but if you prefer it to be firmer, and not end up rubbing the knees of passengers, the linkage needs sorting. It's probably just the 2 nylon bushes at the bottom of the gearstick. But personally I'd drop the lot and change all the little bits as they don't cost very much.

Oh, is the sloppy movement just left to right? (As that's what mine is like at the moment - not got around to trying to sort it yet.)

[Captain Sisko]

Mines the same but it doesn't slip out of gear.
If you really want to feel sloppy then drive my uncles Corsa!!!

[graphite58]

I had a Felicia Estate that had a very sloppy gear leaver - I took it to a dealer who said there was nothing wrong with it. Four days later the bottom of the leaver snapped off and I was left with no gears. Had to put it into a gear by getting under the car and pushing the rods directly and then start the car with the clutch down and limp it home (which fortunately was only 2 miles). I should add that this particular car had done over 300k!

[anewman]

Originally Posted by graphite58

I should add that this particular car had done over 300k!

[phiggman]

my pickup is yhe same.......its a lot like stirring soup!!!!! never fails to go in or out of gear. 140k on her

[philje123]

I thought i would post in here rather than making another thread on something with the same subject.

I'm trying to sort a load of things on the car so that i can then decide wether to keep or not... and one of those things is a fairly sloppy gearstick.

I'm confused as to what parts i need to sort this out...

Is it these:

Skoda Favorit/Felicia to 1996 Gear Selector Shaft Repair Kit - £14.99 : Skoda Parts, Jorily, The Skoda Parts Shop - Probably the UKs largest independent skoda parts supplier

and/or these:

Skoda Favorit/Felicia Gear Lever Repair Kit - £8.99 : Skoda Parts, Jorily, The Skoda Parts Shop - Probably the UKs largest independent skoda parts supplier

Thanks

Phil

[saskia7]

yes ive got the same problem although skoda dealers where i live are very few if non existant. i over came this by using a bungie strap i just looped over the rod then clipped on the nearest point to give a little resistance. it stop the sloppyness. and stop the rattling at idle too. But im not sure if the Mot man would approve though. living in Bulgaria it doesnt seem to matter though, but it works perfectly and does not interfear with the gear selection at all.

[iansmith]

"But im not sure if the Mot man would approve though. living in Bulgaria it doesnt seem to matter though,"

One way of avoiding the MOT man
Houses cheap as well they say

[anewman]

Originally Posted by philje123

Is it these:

Skoda Favorit/Felicia to 1996 Gear Selector Shaft Repair Kit - £14.99 : Skoda Parts, Jorily, The Skoda Parts Shop - Probably the UKs largest independent skoda parts supplier

and/or these:

Skoda Favorit/Felicia Gear Lever Repair Kit - £8.99 : Skoda Parts, Jorily, The Skoda Parts Shop - Probably the UKs largest independent skoda parts supplier

AFAIK primarily the first one for the sloppy gear stick effect. The big rubber thing holds the gear steady rod and renewing that stops gearstick rattling noises. The two white little round nylon things sort out side-to-side free-play.

While you have the car on ramps and have the linkage off, probably best to replace the other bits for the sake of it (that's the approach I take anyway). Unfortunately for Jorily I think a dealer may be cheaper on those parts.

Spring pin - this is the thing you need to knock out when taking off the linkage and needs to be renewed each time it is removed. Part number N10439701

Nylon bushes - depending on which linkage your car has there are either 6 or 2 of these in the whole linkage, but I believe generally only the two at the bottom of the gearstick need replacing and if present the other 4 are more challenging to replace. Part number - 115518060 (only cost pennies)

Bolt - the one which the bushes fit over. Part number N90790801 (when I ordered one of these from dealer I think it was special order and had to wait)

Rubber mounting (for steady rod). Part number 6U0711563A

Spring sleeve for rubber mounting. Quantity 2. Part number 6U0711898.


Parts probably worth replacing for the sake of it while you're there.

Selector shaft oil seal. Part numbers - for 1.3 10.94 - 05.96, 002301227, for 1.3 06.96 - 06.97, 002301227B.

Selector shaft gaiter - for 1.3 10.94-05.96 (seems not to be used on other cars) - 115292800

Gaiter (bottom of gearstick) - 6U0711411

Sleeve (goes around the ball joint on gearstick) - 6U0711590

Seal (for sleeve above) Qty: 2 - part number, N90347001

Ring (fits above sleeve) part number - 6U0711238

Dust protection cover (fits between steady rod and car to stop muck getting in) - part number - 6U0711122

May also be worth having some M8 spring washers to hand to replace those if needed. Part number N0120273 quantity 3 (2 for bottom of spring pins on steady rod rubber thing, one for the bolt securing the bushes at bottom of the gearstick).

All the above shouldn't break the bank from a dealer's.

Tub of multipurpose lithium based grease also needed. They're £2.49 in Wilkinsons I think.

Hopefully I've made no errors

[philje123]

Brilliant!!

Thanks very much for your help....

Now... where did i put that haynes... hehe

Phil

[WardyWales]

I had a similar problem to Graphite58, gear stick went progressively more limp over the course of a couple of weeks and finally the bracket on the end of the support arm that holds the lower bearing in place snapped, this caused the gearstick to drop about 2 inches and not select. Managed to get it home by lifting the stick up and then changing gear, next day went to the scrapper to try and get a new supporting arm but couldn't find one the same, so in the end did a quick welding job on the one that snapped, refitted and been going well for ~60k miles since.

Good luck sorting yours out, worth checking for wear anywhere on the support rod while you have the car up.

[Glen_scim_feli]

Sorted this problem on my felicia. However there are 2 types of gear rod from the base of the gearstick to the transmission. One has a hydraulic damped UJ and is straight, the other has a plain UJ, is cranked at the gearstick end and hangs from a peg underneath the car.

Mine has the cranked open UJ type and of course I bought the straight damped UJ one didn't I......