Gear selector tower replacement

Pinkythelabrat

A2OC Donor
Has anyone ever tried DIY fitting a replacement selector tower?

Elsawin makes it look pretty straight-forward with no special tools and that scares me!

I'I going to try resetting the cables but I'm struggling to select reverse now and 1st and second are getting worse. I read another post where the seal on a gear selector tower had failed leading to corrosion... I'm in Scotland so it's hard to tell but I think it's worse after a rain... certainly better after a spray of lube for a few days.

Might see if Steve or anyone has one lying around but wanted to see if it is actually doable.


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Balls! Not a modification! Stupid wrong forum area! Can someone move me please? Such an idiot! Again!


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I would try changing the gear oil and cable adjustment first, made a huge difference on mine. Both are simple to do.
Gear selector tower is the matter of selecting neutral first, then pulling it up and putting the new in if nothing else works.

Regards,
Boris
 
What about the selector inside the car, mine seems really tight compared to the Mrs mk5 astra!
Is that just how the A2 is or is it something else?
Anyone else have this problem?

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Thanks for comments folks.

It has gotten a bit worse and I've still not done the reset. The last two days I have not been able to engage reverse. Push down and far as you can left - feels like it's in reverse - clutch up and you go forward. Could not get first or second easily either but reverse was gone.

Skooshed some lithium lubricant on the selector tower this afternoon and it's much much better. Reverse is back and first and second are much better.

I've tried to reset the water catcher but I'm still thinking some is missing and it does rain a touch here...

I wonder if perhaps the water is getting into the tower and washing out the thin lubricant. Someone else posted about the water getting into their selector tower because the seal had failed. Anyone think this sounds like a possible cause?



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Hi Pinky,
I recently dismantled my old gearbox, 203000 miles, the oil was very dirty and viscose as I realized when putting the new oil in.
My selector tower has some free play, but was working fine. The comment on water getting in, there was no water in mine, but it spent last eight years in Cyprus. I suppose in long rainy winter weather in UK it is possible to get in the box if the drain pipe is missing.
Since its been better after lubrication, why not changing the oil as well as linkage adjustment?

Regards,
Boris
 
Hi Boris. I had the gearbox oil replaced a couple of months back. I asked if it was okay and he said yes but they aren't the most enthusiastic mechanics. I also lubed the tower so it felt good afterwards.

I wonder if the selector tower's corroded inside a bit and it's the sticking of the bits which is making selection difficult.


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Is it possible to take out the middle console with seats in? Yes. Am I good at gear cable adjustment? No. Five attempts to get it right.
Did the garage do this as I asked? Doubt it! The locking collar was welded solid. Took half an hour to decouple it. Liars!
Ps this is not a procedure for the faint-hearted or the fastidious. Glove up!


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To test if the cups are catching the water I put my mobile on record then placed in in the engine bay, replaced the bonnet then poured water over the bonnet to see if they where working properly!

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To test if the cups are catching the water I put my mobile on record then placed in in the engine bay, replaced the bonnet then poured water over the bonnet to see if they where working properly!

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Thanks Craig. I read your post and tried this but my director/producer skills aren't anything like yours and I couldn't get the positioning to work.

I've put toilet paper with red felt pen on it in the cup and a separate piece cable tied on the hose next to it. If it gets wet the ink will run. Simples.

Failing that I'll be resorting to an endoscope.


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To test if the cups are catching the water I put my mobile on record then placed in in the engine bay, replaced the bonnet then poured water over the bonnet to see if they where working properly!

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I'm trusting that you mobile phone is NOT an iPhone as they all break at even the slightest signs of water !!!
 
Thanks Craig. I read your post and tried this but my director/producer skills aren't anything like yours and I couldn't get the positioning to work.

I've put toilet paper with red felt pen on it in the cup and a separate piece cable tied on the hose next to it. If it gets wet the ink will run. Simples.

Failing that I'll be resorting to an endoscope.


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I think what you want to do is but toilet paper around the gear change tower (where you think water is ingresing into the bearings) then replace the bonnet and simulate a rain shower. Then leather off the bonnet to remove any water droplets then remove the bonnet and see if the paper around the tower is wet.

Yur idea of seeing if water is present in the catchment cup / pipe will only tell you is some water is being caught, 90% of the water may be missing the cup/pipe and therefore dripping onto the tower bearing !!!

Cheers,
 
No it's not an iPhone wouldn't have one of those if someone gave it me free lol
At the time it was a S5

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Is it possible to take out the middle console with seats in? Yes. Am I good at gear cable adjustment? No. Five attempts to get it right.
Did the garage do this as I asked? Doubt it! The locking collar was welded solid. Took half an hour to decouple it. Liars!
Ps this is not a procedure for the faint-hearted or the fastidious. Glove up!


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Do you have any tips for removing the consoles near the gear lever please? I was thinking attempting this but don't want to break any of the plastic bits! Cheers.

Yat
 
I think what you want to do is but toilet paper around the gear change tower (where you think water is ingresing into the bearings) then replace the bonnet and simulate a rain shower. Then leather off the bonnet to remove any water droplets then remove the bonnet and see if the paper around the tower is wet.

Yur idea of seeing if water is present in the catchment cup / pipe will only tell you is some water is being caught, 90% of the water may be missing the cup/pipe and therefore dripping onto the tower bearing !!!

Cheers,

Ah, yes. A fair point! :)

I'll revise that plan...

Thanks bud.


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Do you have any tips for removing the consoles near the gear lever please? I was thinking attempting this but don't want to break any of the plastic bits! Cheers.

Yat

I printed out the pages from Elsawin to see where the clips were. I find it a lot easier to pull wen I know where I'm pulling against to avoid flex and breakage.

As is mentioned elsewhere you don't need to remove much to do the adjustment - I only removed more because I'm running wires.

If you get a spudger or your fingertips under the chrome ring around the base of your gear stick fairer and pull up it comes off easily. The rubber boot underneath hides the pins you need but it's so thin you can feel the alignment home you need - it's at 7o clock or so (with noon = forward). If you poke a little hole you can slide the 5mm pin down and it's obvious when it catches the other hole properly - the stick locks.

As previously mentioned release the clips on the cables before you lock things as I had to wrestle with my clips and probably would have broken something if the ends had been locked - it was handy to be able to move the cables a bit.

In the video the guy says to pull the tension out of the cables - this is less pressure than I thought. I gave them a pull then just released locking clips while they weren't under pressure - gave a much better gear change then pulling and releasing while under tension.

I also covered my tower in wd40 to release everything then covered it in Moly grease afterwards :)

Good luck!


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Excellent! The dieselgeek videos do make it seem like a simple enough job. Of course they're demonstrating it out of the car! So the 5mm pin just pokes through the rubber boot then. Will get cracking on it. Many thanks!
 
Also wrap a bit of tape around the top of whatever you use for the pin to stop it dropping down too far.

Simon.
 
My 'pin' was a drill bit (with tape' and it was about 5mm too long and caught on the bottom of the knob - had to snap the end off. A 5mm bent nail looks perfect tho.


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