sportomatic guys read this maybe you have been here

carrera turbo · 01-06-2009, 03:50 PM

OK what we have here is a 1975 sportomatic with the 3spd tranny, car runs well and tranny shifts smooth and seems strong . the problem lies when you put it in reverse it hangs up wont want to come out. after fumbling with stick and aimlessly striking the floor with your left foot trying find the clutch that isnt there you manage with some force and choice words to drag it out.

im thinking it needs an adjustment and maybe some bushings. does anyone know where to find proper shifter adjustment info.

hers a sporto site i found while searching

http://www.sportomatic.org/

thanks ed

Scott Douglas · Scott Douglas's Garage

PM'd you Ed.

carrera turbo · 01-06-2009, 07:32 PM

thanks for the pics and info that was a big help.

ed

f3nr15 · 01-07-2009, 03:24 PM

Did you get to the bottom of the problem, ed?

carrera turbo · 01-07-2009, 08:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by f3nr15

Did you get to the bottom of the problem, ed?

im working on it. i think its in the linkage. somtimes comming out of reverse the clutch wont dissengage. if you wiggle the stick ever so slightly and go slow it will come out.

im working on a guys 912 for a bit so i will read up on this and get back to you guys.

any thoughts would help as im new to the sporto.

Scott douglas sent me some really good info on the sporto tranny that im learning alot from ,its kinda a road map for the sporto.

thanks guys cheers ed

crater64 · 01-08-2009, 06:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by carrera turbo

any thoughts would help as im new to the sporto.

Scott douglas sent me some really good info on the sporto tranny that im learning alot from ,its kinda a road map for the sporto.

thanks guys cheers ed

Also new to the Sporto so I can't offer any meaningful input...yet. I've been talking with Scott too, and I offered to help keep sportomatic.org going as well. Here's hoping we can all learn together and keep these cars on the road.

(another) Ed

Fishcop · Fishcop's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by carrera turbo

im working on it. i think its in the linkage. somtimes comming out of reverse the clutch wont dissengage. if you wiggle the stick ever so slightly and go slow it will come out.

If the clutch is not disengaging in this circumstance, I'd suspect the micro switch on shifter - it is located under the rubber boot. I struggled for months to "tune" the switch, but ultimately spent the $100 for a new one which solved the issues.

john walker's workshop · 01-08-2009, 04:48 PM

take the contact switch apart and file/sand it clean. it may not be making a connection in the area that contacts when you move the shifter to reverse.

chrisg252 · 01-08-2009, 07:32 PM

I had this problem with my car, a '75 Sporto. Eventually when shifting, very forcefully, out of reverse, the shift lever got stuck in a sort of false neutral- we could roll the car so it wasn't in a gear or park, but we couldn't start the engine presumably because the neutral safety switch was not allowing that . Prior to this, shifting into forward gears was easy, shifting out of reverse was a bear. We had to remove the transmission from the car and discovered a tiny groove about 1/8" long and less than 1/16" deep in the gear shift rod. The linkage was hanging up in this groove when it was shifted out of reverse. We could not determine what had caused it. We replaced the rod and that fixed the problem. And, while we were in there.......... lots of sychros, seals etc. etc. That's what money is for, isn't it? Obviously, I would suggest that you check the wiring and continuity at the shifter and the switches on the tranny case first.
Chris

carrera turbo · 01-09-2009, 09:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrisg252

I had this problem with my car, a '75 Sporto. Eventually when shifting, very forcefully, out of reverse, the shift lever got stuck in a sort of false neutral- we could roll the car so it wasn't in a gear or park, but we couldn't start the engine presumably because the neutral safety switch was not allowing that . Prior to this, shifting into forward gears was easy, shifting out of reverse was a bear. We had to remove the transmission from the car and discovered a tiny groove about 1/8" long and less than 1/16" deep in the gear shift rod. The linkage was hanging up in this groove when it was shifted out of reverse. We could not determine what had caused it. We replaced the rod and that fixed the problem. And, while we were in there.......... lots of sychros, seals etc. etc. That's what money is for, isn't it? Obviously, I would suggest that you check the wiring and continuity at the shifter and the switches on the tranny case first.
Chris

this is what its doing the same as you discribbed above. i have a reciept for a tranny rebuild new syncros etc. that came with the car . as i recall the tranny has about 4,000 miles on it since rebuild. so this is the rod inside the tranny and not the one from shifter to tranny. im really not wanting to remove the tranny at this point but i really cant live with the the shift out of reverse. well im going to go through all the pre tranny pull suggestions then determine if i need to pull tranny.

thanks to all that have responded

and keep the info coming

cheers ed

carrera turbo · 01-09-2009, 09:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by john walker's workshop

take the contact switch apart and file/sand it clean. it may not be making a connection in the area that contacts when you move the shifter to reverse.

thanks john this will be my first step and see how it goes from there.

cheers ed

carrera turbo · 01-10-2009, 02:00 PM

heres another thing i would like to know about. the car when selecting gears while at idle seems to clunk going into gear. when i say clunk its not a violent clunk but its just enough to make you think you maybe doing something wrong to the car.

i have adjusted the fuel mixture to the recommended 1.5% at idle and the R.P.M.s are at 850to 900 depending on engine temps.

do any of you other sporto guy and gals experience anything like this. im comparing to my land rover that when put into gear barely lurches forward.

thanks ed

f3nr15 · 01-10-2009, 02:12 PM

Do you mean to say that the clunk is associated with the car lurching forward when you shift at idle?

I had a similar problem in that the clutch uptake was too forceful when shifting in to 1st or 2nd at idle, and the car would lurch forward. There is actually a control screw valve on the engine that adjusts the force/speed of the clutch uptake, adjusting this sorted out the problem for me. I'll see if I can find a pic of the location of the screw.

carrera turbo · 01-10-2009, 02:27 PM

yes that is exactly what it does. it sure shifts good on the roll nice and quick. but at idle when cold it will allmost kill the motor.

thanks for your help.

ed

chrisg252 · 01-10-2009, 08:38 PM

Here is a photo of the vacuum controller from a '75 Sporto- it's situated on the left side of the airbox. I believe that you adjust the amount of vacuum by turning the square brass spindle that emerges from the top of the unit.
I was being a bit flip when I said the linkage was hanging up on mine. What I think happened is related to the shift rod, which has a waisted section. If you look at the PET for the Sportomatic, there is a switch labelled the Bridging Switch, located on the left side of the case. When the shift lever is in either P or N it "bridges" the current supplied to the starter and allows the starter to operate. When a gear is selected, a small rod labelled a Cam Follower is pushed out of the waisted section and no longer "bridges" the current flow. My cam follower was slightly bent when we opened the case and either had caused the groove in the rod or the groove in the rod bent the follower. The follower was getting caught in the groove, it got progressively more difficult to select or deselect R ( which is in the same plane as P) until the whole mechanism seized up. You may be able to access the follower by removing the switch from the case. We took the whole thing apart so it was a non issue.
Good luck,
Chris

carrera turbo · 01-10-2009, 10:23 PM

thanks chriss

i found that adjustment and will play around with it and see what i can figure out.
going to have to do a complete once over on all connections and adjustments.

you have all been a big help.

cheers ed

carrera turbo · 08-27-2010, 10:12 PM

Hey guys the sporto is getting the motor removed for a heart transplant while i rebuild the original numbers motor. I will post pics and progress of any upgrades i do while im swapping it out. if there is anything i should do to the sporto while im in there let me know guys.

cheers ed

carolinawillys · carolinawillys's Garage

turn you microswitch on the shifter so the contacts are toward the driver. If it is backwards, it can't open the circuit when pushing to reverse.

Solved my similar problem.

carolinawillys · carolinawillys's Garage

Also, check the gap between the contacts on the Sportomatic microswitch. the gap should be .012 to .016 in. If the gap is too big on the rear contact, it won't stop the clutch to allow it to go into reverse. I bought a new switch and after installing, the gaps were way to big and would not allow it to engage the clutch and get into reverse.