ZF Adjustment for Reverse

Hey Whats a "SwenDog"

Is that what they serve at the Swedish soccer games. " get your peanuts, pop corn and SwenDogs here "

Sort of like Stienbrenner's "Yankee Franks"

HHHhhhhhmmmmmm.......with a name like Swendog, me thinks you may do most of your thinking in the in and out fashion.

Dear Swendog....there is more to life than just the constant "Pursuit" of the in and out motions. Some times you gotta think in the Radial plane to get the shift to roll the gear selector from gate to gate. It's like they say "Sometimes you just gotta"

But then again you might have to cheat the shifter rod forward a smidge. to engage reverse and still get 1st. Not sure if there is a way of allowing the shift lever to move a greater distance forward to help engage reverse.

Hey what did they call you when you were just a young Pup?

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Originally posted by Doug.H:

Dear Swendog....there is more to life than just the constant "Pursuit" of the in and out motions. Some times you gotta think in the Radial plane to get the shift to roll the gear selector from gate to gate. It's like they say "Sometimes you just gotta"

But then again you might have to cheat the shifter rod forward a smidge. to engage reverse and still get 1st. Not sure if there is a way of allowing the shift lever to move a greater distance forward to help engage reverse.

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Swendog:
Lets trade some tips. You tell me where the female Swendogs congregate in the South West USA and I tell you a fews tests to get your Pantera into reverse. Deal?

I'd pull the shift gate off right by the shift lever and see if you can roll the stick a little more to the left and a little further forward.

A clue to look for: any indication the motor or transmission has been removed? Like polishing on the ZF? A new trunion bearing?

These clues may mean that the shift linkage was dissassembled and reinstalled, but it was reinstalled with the shift linkage 'RADIALLY' off by a tooth or two.

You can adjust the linkage to move further forward or backward at the knuckle after the trunion bearing located by the driver's side motor mount, inside the right rear fender well.

Now it's your turn! Please contact the Swedish Swendog Society and give me the heads up on where the Female Swedish Swendogs are hanging out in New Mexico, Texas, Arizona and Colorado, 'cause I'm gassed up and ready to do a road trip if they're this far South and West!

You may try adjusting the shift arm going back to the transaxle. Also, the is a small bushing where the arm attaches to the transaxle. If that bushing is worn or there is a lot of movment there that too could be where it is hanging up.

First, lets be very sure you are getting full clutch disengagement. Reverse is the only gear in your ZF with no synchronizer, so this is exactly what happens if the clutch hydraulics are beginning to fail. Step 1- with the engine OFF, get someone to put the clutch pedal flat to the floor and hold it. Step 2: go back to the rectangular access hole in the bellhousing and stuff a feeler gauge in between the flywheel and clutch disc. A reading of 0.030" is ragged-edge marginal in a completely stock Pantera. Any less and you are dragging the synchronizers on each shift, and grinding in reverse. Dragging synchros will wear rapidly, and replacement is expensive beyond belief.
Once you know the clutch is releasing sufficiently, and the linkage is all adjusted per your red Owners Manual, simply shift to 2nd before shifting to reverse and see if that works any better. Finally, there are bronze linkage pieces inside the rectangular aluminum box on the drivers side rear of the ZF. There is a metric setscrew inside that MUST be tight for reverse to select properly. A ZF shop manual is a must for this, though.

Thanks Jack. I'll give it a shot.

Originally posted by jack deryke:
First, lets be very sure you are getting full clutch disengagement. Reverse is the only gear in your ZF with no synchronizer, so this is exactly what happens if the clutch hydraulics are beginning to fail. Step 1- with the engine OFF, get someone to put the clutch pedal flat to the floor and hold it. Step 2: go back to the rectangular access hole in the bellhousing and stuff a feeler gauge in between the flywheel and clutch disc. A reading of 0.030" is ragged-edge marginal in a completely stock Pantera. Any less and you are dragging the synchronizers on each shift, and grinding in reverse. Dragging synchros will wear rapidly, and replacement is expensive beyond belief.
Once you know the clutch is releasing sufficiently, and the linkage is all adjusted per your red Owners Manual, simply shift to 2nd before shifting to reverse and see if that works any better. Finally, there are bronze linkage pieces inside the rectangular aluminum box on the drivers side rear of the ZF. There is a metric setscrew inside that MUST be tight for reverse to select properly. A ZF shop manual is a must for this, though.[/QUOTE]

quote:

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Originally posted by tmoug:
You may try adjusting the shift arm going back to the transaxle. Also, the is a small bushing where the arm attaches to the transaxle. If that bushing is worn or there is a lot of movment there that too could be where it is hanging up.

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I also still have had reverse problems with my orange car for months, unresolved yet, and think that maybe there is some slight movement at the trunion bearing. I got a new trunion �bushing� (looks different than the current bearing) on ebay, and may try replacing that if it doesn't tax my mechanical and contortionist capabilities.

I tried adjusting the slave to get over .04 when measuring at the bell housing (just to experiment with extra throw to see what would happen), and then put it back around .03 or so. When at .04 it still hangs up on reverse, so I think it is some other issue than the amount of throw from the slave.

I also looked into the small box on the trans, but didn�t see any brass items in there or anything to tighten. Someone also mentioned to watch out for the reverse switch at the small box on the trans, so I let that out all the way, until the reverse lights weren�t even working, and that didn�t solve the hang up in reverse either.

Is there possibly some adjustment to do at the bar at the rear of the trunion bearing?

This stuff isn�t easy, and is why I mostly try to stick to simpler mechanical duties like waxing my car.

Once the shifter box cover is off,access to the metric allenhead is through a rubber grommet; as I said, a ZF overhaul manual is critical. The clevis on the end of the shift road also wears so theres often slop between the shift rod and the stub shaft sticking out of the shifter box, and the hole in the rod cannot be easily drilled for a larger bolt. Normally, the clevis holes must be worked on. Finally, the trunnion bearing under the left header sometimes goes out or the big nut holding it loosens. This also causes ragged shifting. Aftermarket trunnions re available but may not fix this problem forever.
Another thing that is done by Pantera service shops is to remove & discard the 'extra' shift-detent in the console. This part is totally un-necessary as the ZF already contains a detent mechanism and having two such often causas slow rough shifting. Remov\al of the detent just behind the shift-stick usually tesults in smoother shifting but does nor affect reverse.

In my case, the reverse light SWITCH was screwed ALL the way in, preventing the proper alignment of the shifter SHAFT (within the shifter box),to the LEFT, to engage reverse. Once I unscrewed it a couple of turns, getting reverse was like a Brand New gearbox. Good-Luck, Marlin.