Process of Elimination…

Well, it has been quite a while since I have posted.  I have been driving the Cad when I have an opportunity and the weather is OK.  We are now in spring so the weather is starting to improve.  The engine has settled down and runs pretty nice now.  I have a tiny oil leak which I think is from the bottom connection of the oil filter cannister – it is not big but it just leaves a couple of drops which are blown back by the fan.  Annoying.

Speaking of annoying, a couple of months ago I left the car parked for about 10 minutes while we went to a park to pick up some things.  When I came back someone has scratched the left hand side of the car.  The scratches are deep enough that the side of the car and the engine hood needs to be resprayed.  Grrrr.

One thing which has been bothering me for a while is a rattle through the transmission selector when idling.  It doesn’t do it all the time, but I really don’t like squeaks and rattles.  I have been trying to find the source for a while.  One thing I discovered was the selector lever was quite loose.  I found that when I put pressure on the selector lever the rattle stops so I decided to see if I could tighten up the lever.

I found that the pivot pin which held the lever in place was loose in the boss which supports the lever and allows it to pivot.

The chrome surround is easy to remove as it is like a bayonet fitting – a quick twist to the left and it can be removed.

 

Once the chrome trim is removed you can push the pivot pin out – actually it fell out!

The pin is 5/16″ diameter and is hardened steel.  This is about 7.94mm, so I bought an 8mm hardened dowel pin to see how close it was to fitting.  After measuring everything I ran an 8mm drill through the boss on the steering column.  The 8mm dowel pin was a nice firm fit.  Easy!

 

I then started on the selector lever.  I attempted to run the 8mm drill through the hole however the drill just got hot.  The lever was harder then the drill bit.  I was already committed to the 8mm dowel so I had to find a way to enlarge the bore.  I used my Dremel with a small stone which I dressed so that only a small section did the grinding.  It took about 15 minutes of careful grinding to open the hole up large enough to let the pin pass through firmly.

   

I reinstalled the lever and inserted the pin with a little bit of lithium grease.  It was a firm fit and needed a light tap with a small hammer.  The difference was significant – it was nice and firm with no slop.

I will have to wait until I drive it again to see if this has eliminated the rattle.  If not, I will have to move on to the next loose item in the linkage system.

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