Need Help With XY 3 speed Manual Gear Column etc.

I just got a new pot for my XY 3 speed manual shift, column type.

And I can't get it to work.

And trying to figure out what's happening I at first thought I had it, quite simple, but now find my idea is wrong and I can't see how it does work.

Can anyone help? Anyone with experience/knowledge of these column shifts?

Here's how it went for me:

I couldn't get the thing to select reverse.

So I studied it a bit and it seemed simple.

The gear changes are all done by a lug on the steering tube engaging in the gear levers at the bottom of the tube near the steering box and moving those levers that then move the gearbox levers.

Okay so far.

Now when we move the gear lever Upwards we rotate that tube clockwise.

So that will move a gear lever down below to the Upward position.

When we move it down we move anti clockwise, same thing happens down below and the gear lever moves to the down position.

When we move the gear lever towards us in the driver's seat that lever forces the tube downwards.

That makes the lug disengage from the lever it has been engaged with and now engage with the lower of the two levers.

Seems dead right. Dead simple.

So if we know pull it towards us and down for first gear then the lower lever in the down position must be first. Obvious.

And the lower lever in the upward position must be reverse. Obvious.

And both levers together is neutral.

And you can engage a different lever without coming to the neutral position first so one lever must always be in neutral. Seems very simple.

Except its wrong.

It is upside down or something.

My car is in reverse when the UPPER lever is Up.

I can put it in that gear by shifting the levers under the bonnet by hand.

So I put it in Reverse, put the pot on, move it down to First and then try to move back up to Reverse - the lever goes up but let the clutch out and the car goes forward. It is not in reverse. I guess it must be in Second.

I can't understand how it works in theory.

And I can't make it work in practice.

Anyone got an interest in this? Seems very, very few know about this. I've posted elsewhere and no flicker of interest.

:)

I've only owned one three-in-the-tree Falcon which worked perfectly but I would imagine the linkages themselves must be arse about in some way for it to not engage the appropriate gear - the honeypot should only go on one way I would have thought?

Yep. It only goes on one way.

I played around some more. I have another column, the bottom part, the column itself. I put my new pot and the indicator part on it and worked it to see how it all works.

I was wrong, I think. If I can trust this old one. It seems the shift tube doesn't come down to engage in the lower lever ring. It is engaged there all the time. It comes down to disengage from it. And then something further up the inside of the shift tube engages in the upper ring and moves it.

Whatever that is I can't see.

But I can see the shift tube come out of the end and the lug come clear out of the recess in the lower lever ring.

So that explains that mystery that was blowing me out so much.

So it turns out default is engagement in the lower lever ring. And that operates 2nd and 3rd. Using the gear lever and moving it towards the driver forces the shift tube down even further and disengages from the lower ring and engages the upper ring. Engaged upper ring enables selection of Reverse and First.

Cool.

So it looks really simple now. Must be the shift tube is not being pushed down far enough. Something wrong with this new pot.

I'm trying to do a temp repair with epoxy on my old pot so's I can put it back on and hopefully test the thing. If it engages gears alright then there's no doubt the problem lies within the new pot.

I'm open to any advice/suggestions of course. Seems pretty straightforward now though.

Are you on Facebook? Sign up to the XW-XY owner's group and ask there, I'm tipping that someone there will be able to point you in the right direction.

My memory a bit sketchy, been so so long since I've fooled around with a 3 on the tree. I've got a manual (book) here I'll have read tomorrow but it only goes up to xw but does cover 3 on the tree. From what I've quickly read, 1st n reverse are on same shifter fork, n 2nd n 3rd are together on separate shifter fork. So I reckon ya on the right path, but by the looks of it there's needs to be some adjusting. However the book doesn't tell me anything about gear change pattern, if I can't find anything in the book my cuz had a few falcons in there time so I can give a buzz and see if they can help n I'll pass that info on

Thanks for that, Andrew. Yep, I've tried that Facebook thing, warrior, got to wait for approval before I can post.

Sure looks to me like the whole problem is the shift tube isn't going down far enough for some reason. There simply doesn't seem to be anything else in the mechanism. I'm working on that.

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hey Abrogard, sorry for taking so long, I added a few pic's that hopefully they help. if your trying to change into 1st and reverse but reverse is still forward gear maybe to shift rods need swapping. as for the shift tube I believe it needs to be pushed down on the steering column so that you can insert a c clip at the top, let me know if this info doesn't help and I'll call my cuz

How'd ya go mate, did ya get it sorted an was any info I provided even in the ball park

Hi. Yep, your stuff was good, right on. But I'm not there yet. And I can't figure out why.

There's no complications. There's just a tube with lugs on it goes up and down through a collar at the bottom of the steering column.

In its normal up position a lug engages the lowermost lever ring which gives 2nd and 3rd.

In its down position - reached by moving the gear stick towards the driver, levering the tube down - that lug disengages and a second lug engages the uppermost lever ring which gives 1st and Reverse.

I'll attach some photos. It is all very clear.

But I can't get the uppermost ring to engage.

Everything seems right. It seems to move the tube the right amount when I operate the lever but the net result is the bottom ring moves again, the 2nd and 3rd gear connection.

I'll put a photo there showing that you'd need quite an enormous amount of movement to move it too far, so's the upper lug engages the lower ring. I think the photos show clearly how it all works. The lugs are lined up with slots the lever rings are in. Of course I can't show the workings when the tube is inside but you get the idea I think.

You could do that and then you be back to operating 2nd and 3rd when youre expecting 1st and Reverse. Just like I am. But it'd be a hell of a travel and you'd have to go past the correct position and ought to be able to feel it and drop into it, which I can't do.

I bogged up the original and put it back on and it doesn't work either, now. So it looks like it is not my made up thing, it is something wrong with the tube somehow.

Mystery. Take it to a mechanic and what can they do? Charge me for an hour or two simply taking the column out and looking at it. $200 for no further along than I am already with a spare here to look at.

:)

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I've had a look through my manual but can't find anything that covers ya issue. the only thing I can find is something about making adjustments so I'll attach some photo's with that info. Attachment 1344Attachment 1345Attachment 1346Attachment 1347 maybe put it back together and install it then try adjusting it, see if that will get all the gears to engage with the lever in the right position and not having it to travel to far. let me know if it helps or not, hopefully ya get it working and can save ya $200