B&M Shifter worries
 

After about 3 weeks of use of my B&M shifter I am still happy but I have noticed something that worries me. Ever since I installed it I feel as though the shifter itself is loose (like it wobbles while in gear and I can move it a little left and right.) Maybe it did this with the original shifter and I didn't notice it or maybe its something worse. It doesn't affect shifting but it bothers me. I didn't put that little locking pin back in because I couldn't figure out how it went back in or what use it would have. Could that be it or could it be the shifter and rod link is getting loose. Any ideas would be helpful. Thanks

Dustin

dustobob, I just did this upgrade....and I am confused as to what you are calling a LOCKING PIN as there are no PINs in the setup at all....are you talking about the INTERNAL SNAP RING? the one that came out of the TOP of the shifter? that is what holds your shifter IN the houseing...and if you didn't put that back in....you certainly will eventually feel something wrong... I know that the housing that you inserted into the shifter housing was snug...and holds it together fairly tight...but if you didn't put the snap ring back in on top of it...it can work its way UP...not out cause its attached to the shift rod on the bottom...but its bound to feel sloppy. if its the snap ring you are refering to....take off the boot...and look at the top of the shifter, I would bet its starting to work its way out of the housing. find the snap ring.....push the shifter back into the housing...put the o-ring in place and replace the snap ring. and while you are at it...crawl back under your car and make sure the bolt holding the shift rod to the bottof of the shifter is still tight. :D

There wasn't enough depth for me to put the snap ring back in with the B&M shifter. Maybe that's the change B&M made for the new part number. However, when I was installing my shifter, I had a hard time getting the shifter housing all the way down. Once I pushed enough for the O rings to seat, the shifters not going anywhere, even without the snap ring. I probably couldn't pull it out if I wanted to. If you didn't push enough to fully seat the shifter, you could have some play. There will be a small amount of play in the lever even when it's in gear.

Sorry I did mean the snap ring not a pin. When I first did it I realized it wasn't all the way in, maybe 1 or 2 mm sticking up above the housing. It was hard but I got that pushed down so now both of the o-rings are not visable. I saw no possible way to put the snap ring back on, to my knowledge all that would do is prevent the entire shifter from coming up which is not my problem, as it is very snug in there. I just feel that the shifter has too much play now, maybe I am just imagining it and the original shifter did the same thing. Whatever, it is not that big of a deal. Thanks

Dustin

WELL I think you guys have a problem waiting to happen.....the shifter not being truely secured in the housing....I don't think B&M made a part that truely doesn't work in its intended car.....for that part number you mentioned is the one I got....and it fits mine just fine.....if you remove your shifter....and measure the depth of the housing...then measure the part of the shifter that fits down into the housing....and add the thickness of the flange part of the bottom dust boot....the stack should be shorter.....maybe something isn't in just right....there is even a groove in the top of the new shifter carrier housing for the top o-ring to fit into. Just my personal feeling....but something is a miss in your installation. possibly the part was machined wrong....but the original TOP o-ring and snap ring should have fit back in to properly secure your shifter.

I bought the B&M shifter part number 45079 long before they made the 071 part number. The only difference between the two is the newer shifter has room for the snap ring. Mine just barely wont fit, but I've had it installed for over a year now with no problems whatsoever. I tried pulling it out from the shift knob after I installed it, just to see how secure it was. I couldn't do it, so I'm not worried about it coming out.

I guess that is good information for these guys to know Eric......mine fit like a charm...obviously I have the newer shifter. I just purchased it from Mitch at Protege5 Online. and in case anyone is thinking about getting one of these....he has a special on them right now.

As I mentioned I just installed my B&M shifter last week....it fits like a glove...INCLUDING the top ORIGINAL O-Ring and Snap Ring, which the instructions tell you to reinstall.....there is NO slop either....its really firm and just by looking at the picture in MY post about the install...you can see that the B&M piece is a MUCH studier shifter than the stock unit.

Let me try and clear this up. There are two different shifter part numbers from B&M that will work in any Protégé. The newer part number is 45071, which B&M removed a small amount of material from the top of the aluminum housing so that the original snap ring would fit back in place. Some of us didn't wait for B&M to produce this new part number, and order part number 45079. That part was originally made to fit the '92-'97 MX-3 and doesn't quite have enough room to replace the snap ring. It wouldn't be hard to modify the earlier shifter to get the snap ring to fit, but isn't worth it IMHO. The aluminum shifter housing fits VERY snug into the stock shifter location. To the point you have to lube the O rings and really push hard to get it to seat all the way down. I've had the 45079 shifter installed for over a year without the snap ring with no problems whatsoever.
The play in the B&M shifter Dustobub referred to is an entirely separate issue. That could just be his shifter or his imagination. We were just guessing at possible causes.

calm down Eric....we got that....I even stated that I have the later model number...maybe not clear enough though......sorry

I was trying to get it across that there should NOT be any slop as he was describing.....and if there is....and IF he in fact does....he should take the time to crawl back under his car as Harlem mentioned and inspect the bolt that attaches the shifter rod to the shifter. :bt:

If I get any calmer, I'll be dead. :doh: I was just trying to clear up the two different shifter part numbers, and point out that the slop shouldn't apply to either part if installed properly. For anyone buying a new B&M shifter, they should buy the one you have, the 45071 so they use the snap ring.

Hey, I have a 1993 mazda mx-3 1.6 liter. The other day I was driving and got pissed off at my car as usual. I slammed down on my shifter and it basically fell through the floor. When I drive it I can still shift and what not, but i have to pull up on the shifter to be able to put it in a gear. If anyone has a clue what the hell I did to my car please let me know, I need to get it fixed.

-eric

Rise from the grave...sounds like something is loose under your car!

I ran into the same thing when I installed mine. I was worried that because I didn't install the snap ring that the shifter would eventually pull out. This is definately not the case. I seated the shifter down as far as I could with both rubber seals fully seated. I then proceeded to try and hammer the shifter down farther to be able to get the snap ring into place. It wouldn't budge a bit. I left the snap ring off and tried to pull the shifter out and it wouldn't move. Since then I've been driving it around and shifting pretty hard with no probs (knock on wood).