Suzuki Club UK

Hi Guys,

Been having some trouble with my gearbox on my 1988 Samurai. The issues started with 3rd being a pig to get into, the only way it will go in is by selecting neutral then push the gear stick hard to the left then it will drop into 3rd. Now to go along with this she keeps getting stuck in 2nd, and the only way to get it out is to remove the gear stick, select neutral with a screwdriver and put it back together.

I'm thinking it may be the gear stick itself that is worn, I have no idea how many times round the world my Sammi has been as the history from the previous owner was just the last MOT certificate.

Has anybody else experienced this or have any ideas?

Thanks guys
Derik

Is the gear stick really wobbly?

There is a locating pin in the lever housing, if you remove the lever you should be able to see it at the back of the hole and it screws through from the back of the box.

If this is missing changing gear can become very hard.

Ah that would explain why the gear stick is so sloppy, I will have a look at that tomorrow and see if its there. Hopefully it not one of those parts Suzuki want you to take out a loan to buy!

Cheers for the quick response mate

If it has broken there's a chance the end has dropped into the no when you have removed the lever? Could possibly be causing the issues?

Yeah that's a good point, a bit of metal flying round the gearbox is going to do it no favours.
Im guessing that's a box out strip down job if I can't find it

Possibly yes, it is a worst case scenario, luckily Sj boxes are easy to strip.

Fingers crossed its not that bad.

I just noticed you are nice and local, you should come out with us laning sometime

The bolt is about £3 from Suzuki.

Wow that's cheap for Suzuki!

Unfortunately what I know about gearboxes you could fit on a postage stamp but stripping one down sounds like a challenge.

Yes I'd deffinatly be up for laneing with you guys, how often do you go out?

So I've just taken out the retaining bolt and the end has broken away, unfortunately there is no sign of the missing piece.

Now I'm stuck with the choice of pull the box apart and try to find it or replace the retaining bolt and hope it doesn't cause any issues?

Drain the oil and see if it is in the oil or stuck to the drain plug.

Mine snapped off and went down inside the box and it never caused an issue. Presume it just sat in the bottom doing nothing.