FE-FC Holden Discussion Forum

Hi all,sold my FE to a mate and its back after one day,he stopped at a corner and when he went to move off there was no gears,the big u shaped piece of metal has fallen out of the column i have not been able to get it back in by feel from in engine bay,and cant get box into first gear to run up on my ramps,
any ideas how i can get this back in?.
p.s i have original type manual fe-fc book and its nearly useless  

Nicko,

No doubt somebody will tell you how to get the linkage back together - but if you need to get the car up on ramps, why not get the thing into gear by manipulating the linkages at the gearbox end - will mean crawling under the car on the gound.  When I need to do that, I roll the car half out onto the roadway so the dip formed by the street gutter gives me a bit more clearance under the car.

Martin

Hi Nicko,
I had mine apart a few years ago when I had no spring through the nuetral gate, traced it to the spring in the column had been cut shorter by someone, as its hard to put your fork in.
Easiest way is to take the plates off from around the steering column and work from inside the car. This enables you to push down on the spring with a big screwdriver and the fork fits in easier. I tried under the car but had no luck. The book is right just look under gear linkage repairs.

ChrisB  8)

nicko   i played with the linkages on my g/box recently
& found it quite accessable from underneath, using a pit or hoist. the part (selector lever)attaches to the hole where the screwdriver is pointing.if you need a better pic, its much more clear in the fb workshop manual
hope this helps
cheers trev

thanks for the photo Trev,when i look at the lever it has a curve with two prongs which i assumed would go around control tube,but in your photo it looks like it sits on that little groove that your screw driver is pointing at which is a little confusing to me.(thick head)lol.

nicko   i may have another column here with all parts attached..ill check in the daylite & send more pics
a small bolt goes thru a hole on the back of the forked bit & locks onto the hole at the point of the s/driver
..should have you totally confused by the time its over ...haha ;D

The 2 forks go around the tube and the bolt goes through the hole shown in the photo.  If you look at the gear selector lever, there is a small raised boss around the bolt hole - this goes into the hole shown in the pic and acts to positively locate the lever once the bolt is done up tight.  There is also a special washer under the bolt which has a small section cut out of it which locates up against the gear shift tube.
You have to pry the spring back with a large screwdriver in order to get the lever in.
Once the lever is in the bolt is easier to do up if you get a helper to manipulate the gear shift lever to get it into the best position.

Ken

had a closer look today and the hole that screwdriver is pointing to has snapped in half alowing lever to drop out.

Hi Nicko,
I see in the parts wanted section that you are after a steering column and was wondering why you cant repair the one you've got.
Regards ACE  8)

i am unsure whether i can weld the little slot and get it flat so bolt will work,thought if i can get an old column for $10-$20 i could do the whole job in a few hours and he would have a good spare.

Glad to see you give a good warranty with your car sales, Nicko  ;D ;D ;D

Yeah! Yeah!  I know - it's a mate, and you want to do the right thing, anyway.  Good onya - you're a gentleman.

Martin