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Old subject. Mine is now cracked in two places. Have not found an aluminum one on eBay and would prefer the original black look anyway. Is anyone making a replacement for these yet?
Someone could make a few bucks replicating these on a 3D printer using a tougher material.
Mine too! I have searched and searched and searched and have not found any replacement other than to replace the entire " illumination module". Seems like someone should be able to reproduce a suitable cover trhat would eliminate the need to replace entire module just for cracks on Fascia.
I am curious regarding why your shifter bezels are cracking. Have their screws been torqued too tightly? Has a heavy object been placed on them? Has the gearshift shaft managed to strike them during operation? Or are these cracks just showing up randomly with no outside force causing them? We know all too well about the lousy plastics in these cars. Perhaps this bezel should be added to that list....
I'm in the same boat and have been looking recently... It's not looking good.
The electrics, lights and what not underneath, are fine... It's just the face.
I live in NYC and there are all kinds of people doing all kinds of things. I've been thinking about posting a craigslist add and see if anyone that does 3D printing picks up on it.
I need to see how it comes off.... I've never removed it.
My bezel was cracked when I got the car. It has a great deal of slack in the shifter. I often find it necessary to move the shifter just beyond drive to get it in gear and the shaft is always rubbing against the bezel which now is in pieces. I look forward to any advice for a fix. Thanks in advance!!
My bezel was cracked when I got the car. It has a great deal of slack in the shifter. I often find it necessary to move the shifter just beyond drive to get it in gear and the shaft is always rubbing against the bezel which now is in pieces. I look forward to any advice for a fix. Thanks in advance!!
Careful. That's a different thing. A stretched cable and, it might not be long before the difference in positioning at the stick, in the cable and in the trans don't match up, causing grief... It's not a hard fix, and worth doing before things get too far out of wack.
Wow! I just spend 2 weeks and $20.00 looking for and finally finding the "Little Plastic Screw" that goes in the upper left corner and now I notice that I have a crack also! What's the deal? Is it the heat? This looks like a fairly big job to replace.....Has anyone replaced one of these gizmos? And "By the way" What is that little screw for?
2533217[/url]]Careful. That's a different thing. A stretched cable and, it might not be long before the difference in positioning at the stick, in the cable and in the trans don't match up, causing grief... It's not a hard fix, and worth doing before things get too far out of wack.
Jay, thanks for your comment. I assumed the play in the shift cable was caused by a worn bushing somewhere in the linkage. I Looked for a fix for stretched cable…nothing comes up in my search. What is the fix?? New cable? Thanks
I’ll play devils advocate; the plastic in these cars isn’t lousy. It’s just past the expected lifespan by 10 years +.
if everything was sturdier and made to military tough specifications, then I’d likely be priced out of the opportunity to own such a gorgeous fun to drive car.
Yes, it’s pain in the rear to deal with all the disintegrating plastic connectors and interior parts, Taking the bad with the good is not the most pleasant tasting medicine, but what else can you do ?
Have to agree with Jon89. I have own several much older vehicles where the plastic is WAY better. This is cheap materials in an expensive car. My work is in Injection molding of plastics, and I can tell you; you get what you pay for.
Old subject. Mine is now cracked in two places. Have not found an aluminum one on eBay and would prefer the original black look anyway. Is anyone making a replacement for these yet?
Someone could make a few bucks replicating these on a 3D printer using a tougher material.
I guess you know but the black part and silver part are different parts. Having said that, when i had an xk8 the silver/aluminum what ever, was the wood trim. I had the top plate cracked and looked forever for just that. Typically they want to sell much more including the full shifter. I finally found one and while it was being shipped i got rear-ended and totalled. I still have it but it's only a 4, not 5.
Jay, thanks for your comment. I assumed the play in the shift cable was caused by a worn bushing somewhere in the linkage. I Looked for a fix for stretched cable…nothing comes up in my search. What is the fix?? New cable? Thanks
Hey Man. Nah, no new cable. The cable is adjustable at the shifter, RH side.
I'll try to describe this but I'll say, it's not for the faint of heart. You'll get it, but it can be a bit frustrating IF things don't go right the exact first run thru. These are finicky machines. The jgate can be a real pain in the ****. At the same time, you can do this. It might require a few swear words, an alcoholic beverage and strange body language, lol
Remove the center console (and PLEASE anyone who can, correct my mistakes), put the transmission - battery disconnected - in neutral... Loosen the two 24mm capture nuts holding the cable to the shifter. Leave it very loose. Flopping around but not undone entirely. Wiggle room is key here.
While messing with the shifter imagine what the cable is and should be doing at the trans under the car,,, and get a sense of which WAY the cable is out of right position, if you know what I mean.
This is optional, as the guy in the video shows you can play it by feel as opposed to disconnecting the cable assembly from the side of the trans entirely IF the cable isn't tooooo far out..... Jack up (higher the better) the front of the car. Get under. Find the couple 10mm (9 or 8mm maybe) bolts to remove the cable assembly from the LH side of the trans. This is a tight fit and no fun. Have a GOOD six point wrench of the right size to remove these bolts if you go this route. Once loose, let it flop while doing what's next.
Carefully remove the socketed connector OFF the ball of the transmission selector arm. A long screwdriver should help here.
Remember and imagine,,, these cables PUSH the car into gears from park,,,, and PULL the cable back into the park direction. This is important to understand as it will help you feel for the "clicks",,, the detents in the transmission when you are manually finding neutral - by hand. Park is the last CLICK towards the rear of the car...
Once bolts are removed you can manually (with your hand) move the selector arm on the trans and feel for the detents in the trans as you move the selector (run the arm, cable unattached thru ALLLL gears forward and back first) and end, finding and leaving it in neutral... It will be the 3rd click from what would be park - just like on the shifter. Again, imagine the action of the shifter if you were using it... Gently reattach the cable under the car - bolt it back to the transmission and reinstall the ball and cup - in NEUTRAL...
Get back in the car and slooooowly, with the shifter in the NEUTRAL position, tighten up the capture nuts while WATCHING shifter for any movement. If it moves (which it really kind won't unless you're a brute) stop and start again INSIDE of the car. Not the underside stuff. With the captures. Tighten it up so that when you finally lock it down you can tell that you are "firmly" in neutral. Then, try the other gears. They should feel better. If they are a little OUT loosen the capture nuts and go in the direction (and you'll be getting the feel by now) you NEED go in to get things where they NEED to be. You'll see it. Feel it. Fiddle with it. Again, drinks and curses are ok.
Reconnect the battery and test you gear indicator lights. If it's good, button things up.
Again, like the dude in the vid says, it is possible to get things right working IN the car, but when it's WAY out, it can be troublesome... Doing it the undercar way,,, it really nails it pretty quick... Jus say'n.
I hope others and more experienced folks will add to or take away from my jibber jabber.
Good luck! It's fun getting to know the workings of these amazing machines
The little Screw that I'm referring to is just above the Left-side of the "J"....Left of the "P"...There's a screw that you can unscrew with the "Key Head'...It has something to do with getting the shifter out of LOCK-UP! As I recall now "If the shifter gets locked-up you can unscrew the "Screw" and stick the Key-Head down in there and it will unlock the shifter.....OR something like that.....I don't remember! Do you or maybe someone else will remember.....
The little Screw that I'm referring to is just above the Left-side of the "J"....Left of the "P"...There's a screw that you can unscrew with the "Key Head'...It has something to do with getting the shifter out of LOCK-UP! As I recall now "If the shifter gets locked-up you can unscrew the "Screw" and stick the Key-Head down in there and it will unlock the shifter.....OR something like that.....I don't remember! Do you or maybe someone else will remember.....
Billy Clyde @ Cinco Ranch
If you mean this (pic),,, in the 2 cars from the XK family I've worked on (my own), I have never found a screw of any kind in this hole/slot.
All I know and remember is that if I was in a pickle, had no power to the car, but I needed to get the car out of park, I could stick a key or some small shafty shaped thing down the hole and feel around for a paddle shaped lever that would allow me to use the shifter if I moved the lever back...
In the photo, top left, there is a silver barrel, a solenoid, that when given an electrical signal (foot on brake) magnetically forces out a shaft built within it to operate the same paddle shaped lever with use of a floppy link set - that moves the lever mentioned above.
The link CAN fall off of it's post/shaft in the j gate (there is nothing that holds it on OTHER than it's positioning) leaving the lock LOCKED. The solenoid (silver thing barely seen in the upper left in the photo) can also fail, I guess, which I have never experienced...
06-08-2022, 11:03 AM
