Floppy gears

[my mucker]

Just about to log on now and an accept cookies widow appeared ?? haven't  seen that before ?? anyway just found out why my gear stick is so floppy !!! looking in the engine bay now and had the wife to move the gear stick for me, i asked her to put it in first gear and move it to and fro like in neutral !! i could see the play was in the main shaft coming from the gear stick where it coupled up to the smaller rods (no play at all ) so my question is ,will i have to replace the main rod ?? or is there an insert you can purchase to replace  the one thats worn on the main rod ??? thanks

[Kieron G]

I recently had the linkage apart on our M49 and noticed there is what looks like a nylon ball which fits onto a socket in the other part of the linkage just where the rods change. Ours has got a crack in it. If M59 has same system I guess that could have broken up maybe.

[bikerbaker]

Best replace the main rod now IMHO.

My son borrowed my M59 in 2018 and got stuck in gear, drove it from Chelmsford to Southend in 3rd. The big rubber bush had detached and was hanging on the rod.

Bought a set of 3 linkages off eBay, cheap as chips. I only fitted the main link though as, like yours the smaller ones were solid.

It was a bit of a faff but took an hour so laying in a puddle with an assortment of clamps and bars, fair bit of swearing too.

[my mucker]

Thanks both for answering, but can you purchase the bush insert that goes into the main rod that comes from the gear stick ??? which in turn couples up to the smaller rods ???

[bikerbaker]

Thanks both for answering, but can you purchase the bush insert that goes into the main rod that comes from the gear stick ??? which in turn couples up to the smaller rods ???

Sorry, I've reached the end of my knowledge (not hard to do).

It's a pity, there are old posts on this with (possibly) helpful images that are no longer live.

[my mucker]

Ok BB you said you fitted the main link ??? is that the one I'm asking about ???if so ,did you buy it ??? or did you just replace the insert ???

[Gadgetman]

I think there's a bit of confusion here about which rod(s) is the issue.
3 stages of linkage:

1st stage is from the gear shift, and to a 90degree 'knee'.
2nd stage is the 90 degree knee...
3rd stage is the 3 link rods from the 'knee' and to the gearbox.

At least that's how it is on my M49 with a MA5 gearbox.
The 3 linkages in the 3rd stage are prone to bending, and of the nylon cups wearing out so that the link pops off. (unsealed, so dirt and whatever else comes by gets into them... )

The knee rests on a nylon ball. Never had an issue with that one, but I guess it can fail eventually?
The knee at least seems to be cheap...
I spotted some bushings, but the description was so vague that it was impossible to tell what thy were for. (Norwegian site)

[Sol]

Go to the catacar.info site, put your VIN number in and go to the section on mechanical > gearbox controls, it shows the diagram of how it all connects and a list of the part numbers to match the drawings.

[my mucker]

Ok thanks G,the play which is a lot is where the main rod from gear shift couples up to the knee!! and thanks to you Zion ,ill try that site now,

[bikerbaker]

Ah! I see what you mean now. Good luck getting your bits.

Reminds me of an AX GT my ex wife had which had a knackered linkage at 3 yrs old and was stuck in gear. Citroen dealer wanted to take the engine out to fix it and laughed at me when I got them to order the linkage for me, said "Bring it in when you need us to fit it". I made a tool, lost most of the skin on one hand but took it back 2 days later!

Thanks to Zion, I've saved Catacar now, sure it will come in useful in the future.