Attn. E36 People

"ddavidn" (ddavidn) 10/21/2013 at 15:36 • Filed to: E36halp

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Does your shifter gate ever decide not to open for you? I've technically got no idea what I'm talking about, but sometimes I'll be sitting at a light, clutch in, and it won't let me into first. Or second. I usually move around some gears until it lets me into one and all of them. Takes about ten seconds typically. Just wondering how worried I should be that someday neutral will be my only option. It seems likely.

Edit: Never on the freeway or at speed, just when stopped. Not sure if there's a pattern at all. Also, no I can't remember exactly when the trans fluid was changed, but I put redline in it last year.

Archduke, if you dare mention the cooling system, I will throw a radiator at you.

Speedmonkey > ddavidn 10/21/2013 at 15:37

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Yes, but only when dead cold

ddavidn > Speedmonkey 10/21/2013 at 15:38

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I'll keep an eye on the temp, maybe it only happens when sorta cold. But it isn't just the first few stops.

ddavidn > Speedmonkey 10/21/2013 at 15:38

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I'll keep an eye on the temp, maybe it only happens when sorta cold. But it isn't just the first few stops.

Nibbles > Speedmonkey 10/21/2013 at 15:39

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Me too, but not on my E36 ( disclaimer: I do not own an E36 ). It's noticeable in the SPG and even more so in the Dakota. May have to change fluids soon.

Squid > ddavidn 10/21/2013 at 15:47

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Does pumping the clutch help at all? It could be a master or slave issue. Thats all I got as I don't have a Bimmer. . .

Volvosaurus-Rex > ddavidn 10/21/2013 at 15:47

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Have you tried to force it? If you do, and it gives you a good grinding noise, sounds like it might be a worn clutch. Also, do you live in a cold climate? Did this just start happening in cold weather?

ddavidn > Volvosaurus-Rex 10/21/2013 at 15:49

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The clutch should be really good. There's no noise that I can hear. I'll pay closer attention. It is getting colder, but it was doing this in the summer as well.

ddavidn > Volvosaurus-Rex 10/21/2013 at 15:49

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The clutch should be really good. There's no noise that I can hear. I'll pay closer attention. It is getting colder, but it was doing this in the summer as well.

ddavidn > Squid 10/21/2013 at 15:50

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I do hope it isn't the clutch. I'll try pumping the pedal next time.

davedave1111 > ddavidn 10/21/2013 at 15:54

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Sounds like the gear linkage to me. Bushings, little bits of metal and so-on that wear out. They're usually easy enough to replace, but will require getting all the way under the car to do it.

Oh yeah, here you go.

http://www.pelicanparts.com/bmw/techarticl…

Parts to replace:

1- Shift coupler with internal bushing

2- Pin retaining clip (often destroyed or weakened when removed)

3- Ball cup sponge - typically completely disintegrated

4- Shifter arm bushing (attaches to chassis)

5- Shifter arm bushing (attaches to transmission)

6- Lower shift boot (often cracked)

7- Shifter arm pin (often damaged when removed)

8- Shift selector rod circlips

9- Yellow plastic washers/bushings for shift selector rod

10- Shift handle ball cup bushing (almost always heavily worn)

Demon-Xanth knows how to operate a street. > ddavidn 10/21/2013 at 15:55

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Have you checked the cooling system?

Volvosaurus-Rex > ddavidn 10/21/2013 at 15:57

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Oh what the hell am I saying, if the clutch goes out, you won't be able to engage the power at all.

I should probably stop before I hurt myself, but you might check if the tranny fluid is leaking and the level of the fluid (you should be able to get your finger wet by sticking it in the check hole). Alternately, you may have a leak in your clutch master cylinder system.

I'm not really an expert, but I am an automotive engineer and auto-manual swapped a tranny on my E30 first try using just the Bentley and my hand tools.

NaturallyAspirated > ddavidn 10/21/2013 at 16:15

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My Subaru does this sometimes. If I let the clutch out and back in it usually pops right in to gear. I think sometimes the transmission's internals stop too far out of alignment for the synchros to correct, and I just need to spin things up again to get it to stop in a more fortuitous alignment.

ddavidn > Demon-Xanth knows how to operate a street. 10/21/2013 at 16:22

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ddavidn > Volvosaurus-Rex 10/21/2013 at 16:24

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Sorry about the double posts. Kinja, right?

Right, the clutch works fine 99% of the time so I doubt it's too worn.

You're more of an expert than me. There's definitely no fluids in the garage where it parks every night. I guess I'll go about checking fluids this week.

ddavidn > davedave1111 10/21/2013 at 16:25

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Very hepful, thanks. I hate getting all the way under this car. Too damn low!

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > ddavidn 10/21/2013 at 16:38

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Yes, I just shimmy it in neutral a bit, then I'm good to go. You should get the fluid changed, it really helps.
Also.
.
.
SOON...

davedave1111 > ddavidn 10/21/2013 at 16:38

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Yeah, it's one of the jobs on my list for my E30, too.

I need to get a new jack anyway, and I'm currently half-persuaded that the £30-£40 for a new trolley jack might as well become £450ish for one of these tilting lifts:

http://www.cjautosheywood.co.uk/3in1.shtml

I have a feeling sanity will prevail, because there's enough other things I could spend the money on, but it's so tempting...

ddavidn > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 10/21/2013 at 16:40

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Cool. You're the best.

Also the worst.

Don't jinx my cooling system.

ddavidn > davedave1111 10/21/2013 at 16:41

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That does look fun.

davedave1111 > ddavidn 10/21/2013 at 17:08

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I'd only seen it on ebay before I googled just now, but that site has some really tempting stuff at I-thought-those-cost-more prices.

£700 for a side lift?

Or £2k for a proper two-post lift?

LuczOr > ddavidn 10/21/2013 at 17:29

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NO NO NO NO NO, don't listen to any of these people. Nothing is broken or worn, it is totally normal for your car to sometimes not go in gear when stopped. At a stop with the clutch depressed, neither the output shaft nor the input shaft of the transmission are turning. In this case, your synchros are not doing anything and if you try to put it in gear, it's not unlikely that the engagement teeth will just run straight into each other like this:

-><-

-><-

As opposed to when it's spinning and your input and output shafts are spinning at slightly different speeds and your engagement teeth almost always go together like this:

->

<-

->

<-

and such, slip in happily.

LuczOr > NaturallyAspirated 10/21/2013 at 17:31

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This guy is correct.

ddavidn > davedave1111 10/21/2013 at 17:46

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What I wouldn't give to have a proper lift in my garage. Though shipping to USA might be a deal-breaker.

ddavidn > LuczOr 10/21/2013 at 17:54

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I really need to learn how cars work. Thanks for the lesson. I guess instead of working, I'll spend the next hour figuring out how transmissions work...

davedave1111 > ddavidn 10/21/2013 at 18:00

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I'm guessing it's all Chinese stuff those guys imported a container-load of to the UK. If so, I expect someone's done the same in the US, too.

If not, you can probably make a bit of money importing them yourself.

http://www.alibaba.com/showroom/tilti…

Squid > ddavidn 10/21/2013 at 20:56

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The master should be relatively easy to replace, the slave depends upon if it is an external or internal slave. If it is external thats a breeze to do. You could always try bleeding and flushing your fluid in the clutch system. If you haven't done that in a while, it may be worth while to do as the fluid is probably old and used up.

ddavidn > Squid 10/22/2013 at 00:33

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I should probably do that.

Squid > ddavidn 10/22/2013 at 01:03

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Get a pressure bleeder. They make life so much better. Even a Mightyvac is worth its price as you no longer need to do the "Pumping. Holding. Release." routine with a friend. Easiest place to start when diaging tranny problems generally is the hydraulics of the clutch system. If it isn't that then there may be something else wrong with the tranny its self, but I'm not an expert.

DasWauto > ddavidn 10/25/2013 at 11:24

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LuczOr is right. Because you are stopped the gears aren't turning and may not lined up to engage. Happens to me sometimes when I start the car and try to engage first or reverse. It's easily fixed by putting the car in neutral, releasing the clutch to get the gears spinning, pushing the clutch in again and selecting the gear you want.

ddavidn > DasWauto 10/25/2013 at 11:27

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Yup, once he told me that I realized I was just a big dummy, and engaging the clutch does the trick. Still some good info in the other posts, as far as trans maintenance.

DasWauto > ddavidn 10/25/2013 at 11:28

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Indeed. I have to re-do the linkage on my e30. I've got the parts, it's just a bit of a pain to reach.