5-speed shifter is a bit loose and sloppy

[eldusto84]

Hi everyone, I am new to this board although I have been stalking through posts for the past several months now. I have always wanted to own a Delorean, and I've reached a point in my life where it's sort of a "now-or-never" type thing. My wife and I don't have any kids yet and she has fully supports me going after my dream car, so after a bit of research and patience, I finally went and bought one!

Anyways, one of the issues I'm noticing right off the bat is that the shifter feels a bit loose. When I place it into gear, I can still wiggle the stick up and down quite a bit, giving the feeling that it's not completely engaged. It also wiggles left and right, but to a lesser extent. The clutch and transmission themselves seem fine...no grinding or any weirdness while driving. Any ideas on what might be causing this, or is this normal for a Delorean? This is the only one I've ever driven so I have nothing to compare to!

Dustin

[jawn101]

Hi everyone, I am new to this board although I have been stalking through posts for the past several months now. I have always wanted to own a Delorean, and I've reached a point in my life where it's sort of a "now-or-never" type thing. My wife and I don't have any kids yet and she has fully supports me going after my dream car, so after a bit of research and patience, I finally went and bought one!

Anyways, one of the issues I'm noticing right off the bat is that the shifter feels a bit loose. When I place it into gear, I can still wiggle the stick up and down quite a bit, giving the feeling that it's not completely engaged. It also wiggles left and right, but to a lesser extent. The clutch and transmission themselves seem fine...no grinding or any weirdness while driving. Any ideas on what might be causing this, or is this normal for a Delorean? This is the only one I've ever driven so I have nothing to compare to!

Dustin

Welcome to the board and congrats! There are a number of adjustments. Side to side is not usually adjusted (the cross-gate cable is set at the factory and is normally right) but fore/aft is adjusted by simple threaded rod linkages. Does the shifter clank when you move it? Not the transmission, but the shifter itself. There are rubber bushings with plastic half-sleeves in the linkage that can wear out over time and cause that noise. My car was missing every single one of them when I got it and it's not a hard or expensive fix. Adding them tightened up and quieted things down quickly.

Parts #7 and #8 on this diagram:

http://store.delorean.com/c-289-4-2-...t-linkage.aspx

Good luck!

[82DMC12]

That sounds pretty normal. I've seen some cars with really stiff shifters and some with really loose ones. As long as it doesn't pop out of gear I think it's ok. I know mine has loosened a bit over the years but it still feels good.

[Bitsyncmaster]

Its a normal thing that a stick shift has some slop when it's in the gear. You will have to get the feel of some other cars to know if yours is not normal.

[stevedmc]

I finally went and bought one!

I'll be praying for you. Welcome to the family btw.

[jawn101]

Hi everyone, I am new to this board although I have been stalking through posts for the past several months now. I have always wanted to own a Delorean, and I've reached a point in my life where it's sort of a "now-or-never" type thing. My wife and I don't have any kids yet and she has fully supports me going after my dream car, so after a bit of research and patience, I finally went and bought one!

Anyways, one of the issues I'm noticing right off the bat is that the shifter feels a bit loose. When I place it into gear, I can still wiggle the stick up and down quite a bit, giving the feeling that it's not completely engaged. It also wiggles left and right, but to a lesser extent. The clutch and transmission themselves seem fine...no grinding or any weirdness while driving. Any ideas on what might be causing this, or is this normal for a Delorean? This is the only one I've ever driven so I have nothing to compare to!

Dustin

Also, what's your location and VIN? Always good to know

[stevedmc]

Could a loose shift linkage bolt cause what he is describing?

[jawn101]

Could a loose shift linkage bolt cause what he is describing?

I wouldn't think a loose bolt would affect play, since it's either a pivot point or it isn't. But I *do* think the lack of bushings around the pivot bolts would do it. It absolutely did in my car. I don't know why they were all gone - all 4 bushings and 8 half-sleeves just went Kaiser Soze on me. Probably some DPO BS, but whatever. Adding them back made a huge difference.

However, if you're in the linkage anyway, do check and make sure your pivot bolts are nice and tight

[Kenny_Z]

Check the rubber bushings in the linkage. When I first got Red the shifts felt soft and I found that one of my bushings was nearly worn away. It was an easy and cheap fix even though it's a bit uncomfortable under the car.

http://store.delorean.com/c-289-4-2-...t-linkage.aspx

The part is number 8 on that page. I replaced all of mine at once even though only one looked bad.

[stevedmc]

Pretty soon someone will chime in and tell you to rebuild the transmission. You should ignore that advice and check the simple things first.