At the moment I am stiring the porridge. Just about rebuilt an XF S Pack Wagon - mainly rust, noisy lifters, backlash in stearing box - that sort of thing. Paint work just about finished - original Citrus Yellow. I have had it since new and it has done 95,000K - I will post some pictures soon.

Got the front seats out to fit Fairmont electrically operated seat rails. and have the console off.

What can I do with the gear change ball joint problem. The whole lot is currently held together with big black cable ties - a legacy of a country trip a few years ago when the complete gear lever came out.

XFSteve

keep an eye on EBAY, there are rebuild kits that pop up pretty regularly

Thanks, I live in e-bay. The Fairmont seat rails are from e-bay together with lots of goddies.

XF Steve

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is that it??


-mitch

happened to me to... there are metal ones on ebay every now and again watch for them i wouldnt mind one either but if you go to ford they will sell you the little nylon nut for $13 or so
or they will sell you a new shifter for $300 lol
but yer the metal ones are the way to go...

Thanks Guys,

Put a bid on the one with 6 hours to go.

XFSteve

If you cant get one, try this, remove the shifter and clean the area of any oil or grease, mix up some 5 minute araldite and apply it to the plastic part of the shifter and fit it into the gearbox, the araldite will stick very well to the plastic but not so well to the ally housing basically forming another thread, this is crude but it does work!
The other fix if the thread is still usable is to tighten it as much as possible then drill 2 small holes through the ally shifter housing and the plastic on the shifter, screw in a couple of self tapping screws, this will prevent not only the shifter from falling out it will also stop the plastic nut from coming undone, I have utilised both these methods in the past and they work very well, they are not bullet proof but they will last if you look after them.

If you can utilise both together, if you have a box that is ok fit the self tapper, this will prevent any movement and subiquent failure of the shifter

^^^^^ bush mechanic, anyone?

Hey if it keeps you going then why not

Thanks to all sugestions,

I purchased an aluminium nut off e-bay and fitted it. The thread in the housing was perfect. The spring detent pressure for reverse selection was a bit light so I added a 7mm spacer (15.3mm internal x 22mm external) on top of the spring under the circlip. This has made a big differance. The top of the inner boot was a bit 'streatched so I added a 5mm wide groove x 2mm deep around this spacer and used a cable tie to secure the top of the boot in the groove.

By the way I cut and rewelded the gear stick, wrapping a wet rag around the rubber bush section. Cutting the ball and inserting it in two halves, as suggested by some, did not seem like a good ides.

RESULTS - Better than original - GRIN

XFSteve

Back last year I was having gear shift problems with a single rail shifter in my XF. Thought I had fixed it but it soon got very sloppy again. I pulled out the box and removed the shifter completely, dismantled it and cleaned it. The wear on the shaft was anout .12mm but the wear in the housing was almost .75mm. The main reason was that the rear plug had dropped out at some time and the whole lot was filled with sand and.... The hole lot was a sloppy mess. Bought a second hand shifter on e-bay but was only a bit better. Had the shaft ground to round and set the shifted body up in a four jaw chuck and bored out the housing 2mm. Turned up a sintered bronze bush to the correct dimensions and fitted the lot back together. It now has a superb "H" pattern and I don't have to lean out of the seat to get 1st gear..... Total out of pocket expense with new shaft seal, extension housing seal and bronze for the bush was a tad over $65. A bit cheaper than the $400 quoted for a compelte new one.

Steve