5th gear popout fix

[psychopathicdude]

When I got my 87 Pulsar NX SE, first, third, but especially 5th had a nasty habit of popping out of gear (with the clutch in or out). After a while, this really started to annoy me. I didn't feel like having the transmission looked at (for fear of what I might find) and cruising in 4th gear was bad for gas mileage...so I researched other options.

I'm not sure what the real fix is, but I put a bungee cord under the car between the shifter rod (right where it enters the transmission) and a hole in a body panel that happened to the right distance and angle away....The bungee cord pulls the the shifter "up" toward 1st, 3rd, and 5thThe shifter is now very well balanced, doesn't pop out, and feels firmer (that could be my imagination)....Ghetto Engineering triumphs again!

[mmcleo11]

Broken rear engine mount... Causes the gearbox to move and due to the position of the shift linkage, when the gearbox rocks(from hitting bumps/etc) it causes the gearbox to go back into neutral. Very annoying!! I have the same problem at the moment...

If you remove the rear engine mount, you can use Sikaflex to make a new mount and set you back under US$20 Send me a PM if your interested.

[psychopathicdude]

Actually, the rear mount was pretty badly bent, but I've already replaced it. I probably ought to swap out all the rubber isolators (old rubber = bad)....But the new not-bent mount seemed to make the pop-out issues worse, prompting the inventive albeit procrastinative solution with the bungee cord. I think there's a deeper issue here....perhaps the whole engine (or the unibody front end) has moved and the mounts are no longer holding it in the right place, causing the shifter linkage to be "off". I'm looking into it....

[crazylost]

striking rod bushings and (probably by now)1-2, 3-4, and 5th coupling sleeves, main gears, and balk rings........also check your mounts closely....GOOD LUCK

[psychopathicdude]

Yeah....it was only a matter of time. Fifth gear will not stay for any reason....not even if you hold it. It just grinds....new tranny time. I knew I was driving it on borrowed time. Previous owner had somewhat abused it. (It was his first car) I'm not sure if I want to replace it with another CA16 tranny (i hear they're not as strong as a CA18 tranny)....or wait and get the CA18 tranny and bolt it up to a CA18DET. That'd be sweet. It's just a matter of money. In the meantime, i'll probably be driving my SOS. (shitty old subaru)

[psychopathicdude]

I know I'm being a necrothreadiac....my apologies. It's taken me this long to update...

So, I replaced the transmission, and about a week later, my wiring harness was attacked by the local rodent population....The car is now sitting in my backyard, refusing to run (it cranks, but no fuel or spark), for reasons unknown (chewed wires that I can't see). I hate rabbits, I hate mice, I hate whatever it is that doesn't want me to have this car running! I swear, its a galactic conspiracy.

Anyway, with a known-to-be-good, no-previous-problems transmission, there was still a funkiness in the odd numbered gears.... I think the front sub-frame is bent, causing a linkage misalignment. But it doesn't matter now, because the engine is dead.