Need quick help!! how to get shift rod bushing on?!??!?
 

i'm right in the middle of replaceing the shift bushings and i cant get the new shift rod bushing on. is there some trick??? i've tried everything i can thnk of and it doesnt budge. waynes book is useless since all it says is "install new bushing". i need a fast answer...


thanks everyone

A little white lithium grease and pressure. I put just small amount, then put the flat part of the bushing on a piece of wood and pushed down. It will then slide right in the cup.

Which bushing the one in the support just below the shifter or the "ball and cup" one?

i've tried that, the bushing is still too stiff, i put tons of the lithium grease on it, and still nothing, any other ideas?

Is it the cupped one? That's a bear. Heat it in hot, hot water before attempting to put it over the ball with some grease.

Oh, shoot, that's on a 914.

Is it the pair in the coupler? Or in the tunnel.

no no, its not the two in the coupler or the end ball, the circular one that is hed on the rod by the bracket, i cant find a picture or i'd show you...

#1 or #2

#1
http://hypertec.ws/todd_porsche/phot...r-Images/2.jpg


#2
http://hypertec.ws/todd_porsche/phot...-Images/10.jpg

I used a vice to grab it on one side and a c-clamp to tighten the other side until it popped it.

this one...
bad picture i know...http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1107033102.jpg

#2

Ahhh yes #2

It is a pain but I did it by clamping it in, I guess you could do it with vicegrips as well..

Good luck!

well, i dont know how the rest of you did these stupid bushings so easily but mine has been a pain in the ass, i boil it, stomped on it, used vice grips and a vice and half a bottle of lithium grease and i finally got it on, just to realize that it still doesnt fit right and it now too deformed to use, i dont know if pelican sent the wrong bushing or my bracket was messed up, but now i have to buy both again. waynes book wasnt much help since it assumes everything is going smooth. i really wish i never had started this...

Dont give up! it will look deformed until you take the time to pry out the leading edge so it snaps into place!

The metal ring of the bracket has to be fully seated into the groove of the bushing.

This may require a small screwdriver to do a little orying to get the leading edge re-expanded and beyond the toothed edge of the metal bracket.

Make sure it is totally seated properly or it will look like it is screwed up!

its is in place, and there was no snap to it, and its still deformed, and sooooooo tight in there. i think my bracket may have been bent in or something, cause i really dont think this is how hard it should have been, all the posts i've seen say people had to apply pressure to get it in, but i had it in a vice and had to really push it to get where it is now and it doesnt come close to fitting back over the rod...

Can you post a photo?

sure, gimme a few minutes though

I have done a bunch of these and it is never easy but it is never hard enough to dammage parts. do you think your bracket may be out of round for some reason?

it doesnt "look" out of round, but i'll measure it once i get the bushing out...the pictures arnt that great, but let me know what you think...http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1107042810.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1107042827.jpg

Biosurfer1 - I have to leave the office but I will try to check back on this thread..

Thanks
Todd

Don't give up! I had a difficult time with that bushing to. I tried to press the bushing in with a vise and bent the bracket. Didn't realize it until I reinstalled everything and after tightening the bracket in place, the shift rod would bind. I loosened the bracket and the shift rod moved smoothly. Had to order another bracket from our host. Took a few days to get, not a stock part.
Take your time, boil the bushing for 10 minutes and make sure that it is seated over the retaining teeth on the bracket.

Hope this helps,
Alan

Show the other side!

I think that is where your problem is!

oops, one more...http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1107042910.jpg

looking down the shaft hole I can see distorsions of the busshing at the other end where the toothed side of the bracket is - I dont think it is fulley seated in the bracket!!

ya, it looks like there is a small piece bound up on a tooth or two, but i cant get to them with the screw driver, i guess i'll mess with it a little more and see if i can get it to smooth out. thanks guys

see where the teeth are holding on to the leading edge of the bushing and causing indentions in this photo.. You need to pry between the teeth and the bushing to pull the leading edge of the bushing further out beyond the teeth a hair. This should return the bushing to Round.

Once it is unbound it should work just fine on the shift shaft.

Just double check fitment.

Thanks
Todd

well i got it over most of the teeth, but it still looks slightly off, maybe once i get it back on the rod, it will round out better,,, thanks for all the help todd.

as long as the shaft (tube) slides in there fine, it doesn't matter what it looks like

The way I see that last pic, the bracket is OOR. It's eccentric towards the top of the pic. Smack that puppy back to round!

Biosurfer1 - You are welcome!

ok, now on to the next problem, i got the new bushing on and after boiling it again, was able to round it out, but when i went to install it back on the rod, it wont go on, too tight. is it even supposed to be this tight? the old one was able to slide along the rod and rotate about it with ease, i cant even get the new one on, is it ok to use a dremel and shave a little off? any other way to get it on, cause there isnt much space to try to pry it on inside the tunnel. thanks again

You have to got to have been sent the wrong part -- but yeh shave it down - wrap sandpaper around a wood rod or use a reamer -- be sure it is smooth and the shift rod slides easily

you know you're gonna have to do this again in a few years, right? it's a wear item.

the coupler bushings went a hundred times easier which seems to be the opposite of everyone elses experience. i'll see what i can do with this bushing and if it doesnt work, i guess i'll just order a new one, and maybe a new bracket while i'm at it...i've had about enough of this already.

Don't give up. The reward will be worth the trouble. While I had my carpet out cleaning them, I replaced the ball\cup bushing, rod bushing and the coupler bushings. What a difference they make. I know my syncros are about shot, but all these new bushings make shifting the trans much more pleasant.:)

i'm sure that new bushings will help, that wasnt the problem, its th fact that not many people have had trouble with the shift rod bushing and mine has been nothing but a pain in the ass, so i'm worried that something isnt right on another part, but hopefully i can get it on tomorrow and report back on if it was worth it.

Just did this last week. Had the same exact problem.

I solved it using a giant vise with two pieces of steel larger than the part.. Put some gease all over the bushing, put it in the vise and close.

Then use a big socket on the outside of the bushing (the size of the bushing) and a little one in between the size of the shift rod. Put all of this back and the vise and close it up tight.

Final step... hold the metal end of the bracket in the vise and use a large screw driver to get the lip of the busing over the scaloped metal side.

The whole thing took 15 minutes- once I figured it out.

The shift busing project is pretty easy- except for this step. It was a bear!

The good news if it makes a big difference.

Good luck.

Ged

i tried to sandpaper it out before i saw your post, i probably should have thought of that before the sandpaper....anyways, i may have over done it, now the bushing slides right over the rod and i think there is too much front to back play, i'll try it anyways tomorrow and if not, i'll order another from pelican, at $7.30, it wasnt a very costly mistake, hopefully the next will go much smoother.

biosurfer1 -
All the ones I have done, I have never boiled one.
I guess it is ok to do this.
I just wonder what effect it has on the part.

Thanks
Todd

well i just had to fork over $48 to get a new shift rod bracket and bushing since i think the old one is the reason that nothing seems to work right. hopefully the second time will go smoother, this is one of the worst decisions i have made with a porsche to do these shift bushings, i really hope they are somewhat worth it in the end...