Fitting a gear shifter ball joint repair kit

[Hillclimb182]

Has anyone tried to fit an Ebay-sourced repair kit to their gear shift? The new black rubber ball joint housing is rock hard compared with the original and I can find no way to insert the nylon cups into it. I have even considered slitting it with a Stanley knife and then glueing the edges together once it is assembled.

 

[Landyman]

I fitted the plastic ball joint holder to my Clio 182 yesterday, l got mine from Renault and including the circlip it was a fiver.
The old one didn’t want to come out, l had to use water pump pliers on the shift rod to get it out.
The new one went in OK but the rod was a swine to line up, it didn’t want to go over far enough and was not easy lying under the car with the part six inches from my nose.
You’ll need circlip pliers to get the clip in, but the circlip is tiny and my pliers wouldn’t do it.
I levered the old one out with a small screwdriver and used a pair of precision wire cutters to compress the circlip in order to fit it.
You won’t get the circlip in without a tool of some sort to compress it.
But once fitted, the gear lever was a little less, erm, floppy.

 

[Hillclimb182]

I fitted the plastic ball joint holder to my Clio 182 yesterday, l got mine from Renault and including the circlip it was a fiver.
The old one didn’t want to come out, l had to use water pump pliers on the shift rod to get it out.
The new one went in OK but the rod was a swine to line up, it didn’t want to go over far enough and was not easy lying under the car with the part six inches from my nose.
You’ll need circlip pliers to get the clip in, but the circlip is tiny and my pliers wouldn’t do it.
I levered the old one out with a small screwdriver and used a pair of precision wire cutters to compress the circlip in order to fit it.
You won’t get the circlip in without a tool of some sort to compress it.
But once fitted, the gear lever was a little less, erm, floppy.

I should have made it clearer in my original post that it was the ball joint at the bottom of the gear stick that I was struggling with, rather than the one in the gearbox casing. I have replaced the latter a few times, mainly because wear in the groove has caused the circlip to fall out (I have now fitted a retaining plate, which has cured the problem). I agree with Landyman that it is a fiddly job, particularly if it has to be done in a wet paddock.

 

[Landyman]

Oh right..... l have just ordered a complete new gear lever/housing for mine, which is still available from Renault.

I was going to just replace the ball joint but the rubber boot has fallen to bits and that’s not available so l decided to fit the complete assembly

 

[Landyman]

Big improvement to the gear shift with a new lever assembly.
Hardly any side to side play in the lever and the shifting is more positive. Also the lever is less floppy.
Sadly it doesn’t come with a new gear knob and Renault want £85 for one.
I damaged the original getting it off and so have ordered one off Ebay to try.
If not it’ll have to be the Renault extortionate item.
But l did get £185 for the BMS shifter so that does cover the lever (£85) and knob (£85) l suppose.

 

[Louis]

You got £185 for a BMS? That's mad. He charges less new!

 

[Aliween1400]

Big improvement to the gear shift with a new lever assembly.
Hardly any side to side play in the lever and the shifting is more positive. Also the lever is less floppy.
Sadly it doesn’t come with a new gear knob and Renault want £85 for one.
I damaged the original getting it off and so have ordered one off Ebay to try.
If not it’ll have to be the Renault extortionate item.
But l did get £185 for the BMS shifter so that does cover the lever (£85) and knob (£85) l suppose.

What was the thread pitch on shifter knob
also where did u buy ball joint link ☺