How High Do Yer Springs Sit On Yer Balls?

[ceejay]

Ha, it's not what you think.

We are talking about the detente balls and compression springs on
top of the shifter rails in your elan gearbox.

If you've had jumping "out of gear" problems, perhaps it's because
the springs have weakened over time... it does happen.

Check the pictures out below.

When the jumping out of gear problem is experienced, the following
procedure is recommended.

1: Carefully remove the gearbox cover and invert it.
2: Place the three selector springs in their recesses in the gearbox
cover and measure how far they protrude "above" the face of the cover
with the gasket in place.

Heights of Gearbox Detente Springs.

Sufficient tension must be applied by the springs to the detente ball
bearings that engage with the grooves in the gear shift/selector rails,
over time springs lose their tension, which can then lead to jumping
out of gear, it?s a sign that things are beginning to wear, and time to
instigate a fix.

The spring height dimension must be within .335/.375 in. (8.5 to 9.5mm).
If necessary, make adjustments to the dimension which can be achieved
with the addition of steel shims .25 in. (6.35mm) diameter x .048 in.
(1 .219 mm) thick, the shims are inserted below the springs in their
recesses with the cover inverted on the bench.

When the jumping out of gear problem occurred years ago with
our S2, I machined & installed a set of shims as per above specs
and the problem disappeared immediately.

If jumping out of gear has been a bugbear for you, then this
is the fix, the dimensions are also provided in the
Lotus W/shop manual.

Happy gear changing
Ceejay.

[rgh0]

Yes a good solution and I have done the same on my gearbox. You just need to check you dont need a shim so thick that the springs coil bind when the ball comes out of the notch on the selector shaft and make it hard to change gears.

cheers
Rohan

[ceejay]

The shims I have used are max... any more and there would be dramas.

[Henry VIIII]

Are new springs hard to obtain then?