broken shifter

[Alk-3]

Hey Everyone. Today I went to go run a few errands, and got about a block away from home when the shifter literally fell off. I went to bring the truck into neutral and then into second, but when I went into neutral the shifter bar just fell off in my hand. no force was used at all. upon inspection, it seems it was only holding on by the thinnest bit of metal, and the bar was cracked I guess for some period of time. long enough to begin to rust a bit.
Anyway, I pushed it home (it was in neutral) and welded it back on. it's a temporary fix, but it seems to be holding okay.
Has anyone had this happen before? or heard of this?
How do I replace the lever? I popped the boot off the tunnel, but I can't see how the whole thing comes apart to replace it.
I have not had time to search, or look at the green bible, but any help is appreciated in the meantime.

[knac1234]

From what I've read, it seems somewhat common. I have a spare lever housing in my stash that has a broken lever. Hasn't happened to me yet, but the ball at the end of my shifter wasted away, necessitating replacement.

Off the top of my head--and others will probably give a bit more detail.....

-Pull off the tunnel cover.
-Remove the entire shifter assembly (best way I can describe it is a squarish housing through which the shifter goes, ending in the aforementioned ball that sits inside of the gear selector assembly). I think it is 4 bolts.
-I believe there is a large circlip holding the shifter against a large spring and a large ball part way up the lever. Remove that circlip, remove the spring and lever, and reinstall the new one with some grease.
-Replace the shifter housing and then the tunnel cover.

I may be off a little in my description, but it was VERY easy to do

Julian

[SafeAirOne]

Not uncommon. I've had it happen to me twice. Once on the original shift lever and once on the same welded shift lever a year later. I think it's worse when there's a diesel engine on the front of the transmission. The vibrations cause stress cracks. Even more so when there is a weld bead to concentrate the stress.

Like Julian said, just remove the floorboards + transmission hump and remove the 4 bolts holding the shift lever/pivot assembly, then de-gunk it and it'll be pretty obvious where to go from there. For some reason, I recall reassembly being a minor PITA because it's lightly spring-loaded, but my memory is a bit fuzzy on that.

[bobzinak]

I too have broken, or should i say have had them break on me. and it always seems that they break at the worst itme with little warning. New ones are available, but they are not the double bent ones that came originaly on the rover. also the newer ones have a nylon ball at the end that can be a little sloppy. the better ones are the original ones with the steel ball and o ring on the ball. The steel in the pivoting ball is very hard steel, I know cause I have drilled out the stub of the shifter and welded it back on. I finally took the last one that broke to a local machine shop and had them machine the shift lever hole to 1/2 inch, purchased some 1/2 inch steel rod, bent it and had them tig weld it together. that was several months ago.and it still is holding together. I think that the breaking off is how the attatch the shift lever to the ball. my guess is some sort of press fit. and it stresses the shift lever joint point. I cannot recall having any other vehicle that has this problem. they really shouldn't break, ever.i love my rover, have had it for over forty years, but some of the parts just do the marque justice.I mean how hard would it be to make one that doesn't break.my two cents...rove on, bobzinak.

[Myron]

Yep, happened to me just like it did to you. I was coming back from a beer run, only a mile or so from the house, and went to shift from 3rd to second. Shifter came off in my hand. Walked home with my beers (didn't have the top on the car at the time, and didn't want to risk stolen beers), called a friend, and went back with a 200,000 mile Saab to tow it home.

For me the biggest thing was replacing it with one that looked like early SIIA. Finally gave up and bought one from our hosts for a SIII, ran a die around the top to take my early IIA knob, and then heated it and bent it to match the early IIA bends. Looks great and no trouble shifting these last 10 years.

Myron

[Howsomever]

I carry a spare shift lever with my spare parts wherever I go. Like a fuel pump................if you have it you don't need it. Bought my spare from Tim Cooper at a Rover swap meet for ten bucks complete with bracket. Easier than trying to get it welded on a trip. I have not broken one yet but have been with others that have.

[ignotus]

I have broken several over the years. The worst was 2 days before my wedding in '76, we were taking the 88 to the Grand Canyon for the honeymoon. I had the mechanic at work make one up with a larger diameter shaft turned down to fit in the ball end. That one lasted 10 years and I now have it as an onboard spare. The 88 got in an accident and I kept the shifter.

gene

[disco2hse]

Sorry, I know its completely off topic, but the thread title keeps reminding me of this old favourite.