F40 Gearbox gearstick not self centering

**nick9one1** · 27th November 2010, 19:53

Hi,

Im over here from www.alfaowner.com as my 2004 156 2.4 JTDm 20v shares the F40 gearbox with you guys.

Basically I can select gears fine but it does not self center (left/right)

If i come out of 5th/6th the stick stays to the right, and if i come out of 1st/2nd it stays on the right.

I have disconnected the linkage from the box and the gearstick springs back to the middle fine. Which leads me to believe its the box thats stiff.

Ive doused everything with wd40 and its made a slight improvement but still not great.

Can I unbolt the 3 star bolts that secure the Transmission Selector Shaft Assy that sits ontop of the box and lift it all out? or is this risky?

Any other suggestions?

Thanks!

**mparks8590** · 27th November 2010, 22:09

i'm not sure if this will work for you

but field remedy for Vx on F40 was to reduce gearbox oil levels to 2.4l

i did this on mine and was much less notchy

perhaps cold weather + old oil has made yours grumpy?

Ps i change mine yearly now

**nick9one1** · 28th November 2010, 00:48

Maybe, I'll give a an oil change tomorrow (weather dependant) with 2.4 litres and see how it is.

**mparks8590** · 28th November 2010, 10:19

yeh

theres also a how 2 on the f40 alignment

http://www.vectra-c.com/forum/showth...ighlight=align

let us know how you get on

**Jezzy** · 28th November 2010, 12:21

Originally Posted by mparks8590

yeh

theres also a how 2 on the f40 alignment

http://www.vectra-c.com/forum/showth...ighlight=align

let us know how you get on

I think the above How2 is more relevant to the OPs problem rather than reducing the oil level, as it's not really a crunching gear change that he's reporting.

**tramman** · 28th November 2010, 12:23

I'm having exactly the same issue, so far changed the gear shift cables as well as the gearbox oil, neither has helped solve the situation. My last option is to remove the gear selector forks, before you do ensure you get a new o-ring as the original one will more than likely break up when you remove the selector. It's basically a case of removing the reverse switch connector, remove three bolts, then remove the selector tilting it to the left side of the car as you do it.

**nick9one1** · 28th November 2010, 13:15

Thanks for all your help.

I think I will give it an oil change anyway.. as I don't think its ever had one.
I'll also give aligning the selector a bash, although all the gears seem to be exactly where I expect them... no crunching etc.

Then I guess the last measure is to remove the selector like tramman suggested. Is there a good guide to this anywhere?.. and how do you go about reassembly?

**nick9one1** · 14th December 2010, 10:31

Bump, anyone got a definitive guide on how to remove the selector?

**Chunklamb** · 8th January 2012, 10:14

Sounds like the same problem as mine. Anyone else had this?

**nick9one1** · 8th January 2012, 10:35

I did it in the end. wasnt that difficult.

Just put the gearstick in neutral, remove the three ribe bolts, remove the cables, and wiggle the selector out. - my 156 had quite a bit of space around the selector so wasnt too hard.

Once I had the selector out I discovered it was very stiff. I had a replacement selector from another f40 but it wasnt the same!

I ended up working out that it was the pivot point that was siezed. So i drilled the end and knocked out the bar that it pivots on, cleaned up inside the hole with wet+dry and replace with a long bolt.

Now works perfectly!