Manual shifter binding when moving into neutral

askperry · Post by **askperry** » 25 Jan 2020, 19:15

I have an issue with my manual shifter on my 2006 S40 T5.

When I move the shifter backwards from 1st gear, the shifter binds and requires some force to move it to the right, into neutral. Then is clunks into place.
When I move the shifter forwards from 2nd gear, the shifter binds and requires some force to move it to the right, into neutral. Then is clunks into place.
I have no problems moving the shifter any other direction.

Because of this when I try to shift from 2nd to 3rd it usually slips into 1st instead.

askperry · Post by **askperry** » 28 Jan 2020, 17:52

I disconnected the (left to right) shifter cable from the transmission and movd the selector lever on the transmission manually. The problem still happens (no shifter attached). So something is wrong in the transmission. The selector lever is attached to a cover plate. I'll open it and see if there is anything there that is easy to fix. Maybe I'll get lucky and find my long lost luck penny wedged in there. :p

askperry · Post by **askperry** » 01 Feb 2020, 10:19

Turns out the cover plate is an actually a module that slides out. I'm working on getting to it now. Has anyone ever removed one? Does it slide up and out?

askperry · Post by **askperry** » 01 Feb 2020, 14:08

I've confirmed that the problem is in the Gear Selector module. I don't know what is causing the problem yet. The pin in the shift gate still won't move back to the neutral position unless it's bumped or hit. In the picture below, the pin is sitting on the side (bottom) of the shift gate when my hands off of the selectors on top.

askperry · Post by **askperry** » 04 Feb 2020, 19:01

After beating, cleaning, fine-sanding and re-lubing every contact point I could find, I decided it was just time to buy a replacement. Just when I was about to put it down, I hard tapped the lateral shift lever, 3 times with a hammer, where it enters the top of the gear select module. That did the trick. The module works now.
I'll finish putting everything back together tomorrow and go for a test drive.

askperry · Post by **askperry** » 05 Feb 2020, 18:54

Ok. I took it for a test drive for a few miles and no problems shifting at all. I'll get back with you all in a few days.

askperry · Post by **askperry** » 01 Jul 2020, 21:17

It's been a few months and all is still fine.