loose gear box. and other sj problems.

[thegreenmachine]

i am trying to fix up a sami to get it back on the road. the main problem is that the gear stick feals verry loose. the gears are all in the same place, but they are reali far apart. for example first is nearly touching the dash controles. and second is nearly in the passenger seat ect. i was wondering what is causing this to happen.

also my steering is really stiff evan when driving, i have had a look to see if any of the bars are bent but everything looks normal. the shock is also in good condition but i cant be certain this is not the problem. i was wondering if there is anything els that it could be.

also my air blower is not turing on and as it is coming up to winter i would like to get this fixed ahah. i dont reali know anything about the heating so any sugestions would be healpfull.

thank you for any helpfull knowledge or tips.

[Baratacus]

the sloppy gear shifter is a common problem. There's a locator bolt that keeps the stick in place when shifting. Eventually the end of it sheers off and you need to replace it. Most Samurai sites sell the bolt to fix it and include instructions. Petroworks, Trail tough... etc.

The stiff steering, do you mean it's just hard to turn the wheel or do you mean you get the wheel pulled out of your hands when you hit a bump? Have you modified the suspension at all? What size tires?

The heater blower, check the connections on the blower switch. They can get corroded and if you clean the contacts it sometimse will fix the problem. Check your fuses, check the electrical connection to the motor itself.

[thegreenmachine]

Originally Posted by Baratacus

the sloppy gear shifter is a common problem. There's a locator bolt that keeps the stick in place when shifting. Eventually the end of it sheers off and you need to replace it. Most Samurai sites sell the bolt to fix it and include instructions. Petroworks, Trail tough... etc.

The stiff steering, do you mean it's just hard to turn the wheel or do you mean you get the wheel pulled out of your hands when you hit a bump? Have you modified the suspension at all? What size tires?

The heater blower, check the connections on the blower switch. They can get corroded and if you clean the contacts it sometimse will fix the problem. Check your fuses, check the electrical connection to the motor itself.

thank you very much for the help, the steering is stiff to turn generally i haven't taken it off road so don't know about if i hit a bump. no the suspension is standard and tyres are standard .. i will change this all but just want to get the essentials right. thanks for the help with the heating, i will have a look around.

[ack]

If you are used to power steering in the vehicles that you have driven, it may be that you are unfamiliar with the feel of a vehicle that does not have power steering - like the SJ/Samurai.

One test that you might try is lifting both front tires off the ground then try using the steering wheel. The steering should turn fairly freely. If it does not, it might be possible that someone has over-tightened the adjuster bolt on the top of the steering gearbox. Loosen the retaining nut then turn the adjuster screw counter-clockwise 1/2 turn and NO MORE!. Re-tighten the retaining nut while preventing the adjuster screw from turning. Test the ease of steering again and see if it improves. If it does but not enough, back the adjuster screw off another half-turn as described above and test the steering.

naturally, if there is no change, reset the adjuster screw back to where you found it and start looking for other problems like the steering stabilizer shock binding or possibly a binding steering component like a tierod end or an extremely rough surface on the outside portion of the birfield ball joint. That is the ball shape on the end of the axle where the hub assembly rotates.

There is also the posibility that you have severe toe-out on your front wheel alignment. This would make it hard to start turning but - once you had both wheels over far enough in the direction of the steer, the force needed to steer would significantly change.

Usually the problem with SJ steering gear is just the opposite - it's loose as a goose. That's why I suspect that you may be spoiled by power steering in your other vehicles OR the steering box adjuster being set too tight.

I hope that this helps!

[thegreenmachine]

Originally Posted by ack

If you are used to power steering in the vehicles that you have driven, it may be that you are unfamiliar with the feel of a vehicle that does not have power steering - like the SJ/Samurai.

One test that you might try is lifting both front tires off the ground then try using the steering wheel. The steering should turn fairly freely. If it does not, it might be possible that someone has over-tightened the adjuster bolt on the top of the steering gearbox. Loosen the retaining nut then turn the adjuster screw counter-clockwise 1/2 turn and NO MORE!. Re-tighten the retaining nut while preventing the adjuster screw from turning. Test the ease of steering again and see if it improves. If it does but not enough, back the adjuster screw off another half-turn as described above and test the steering.

naturally, if there is no change, reset the adjuster screw back to where you found it and start looking for other problems like the steering stabilizer shock binding or possibly a binding steering component like a tierod end or an extremely rough surface on the outside portion of the birfield ball joint. That is the ball shape on the end of the axle where the hub assembly rotates.

There is also the posibility that you have severe toe-out on your front wheel alignment. This would make it hard to start turning but - once you had both wheels over far enough in the direction of the steer, the force needed to steer would significantly change.

Usually the problem with SJ steering gear is just the opposite - it's loose as a goose. That's why I suspect that you may be spoiled by power steering in your other vehicles OR the steering box adjuster being set too tight.

I hope that this helps!

thanks for that, i do drive a vitara normally with all the off road gear and it is power steering but the SJ is defiantly really stiff, i have driven many other sj's and this is stiff compared to them all. i will give all of your tips a go, i broke my arm last week so the project has sort of gone on hold so i am just using this time to read up so i can get back to it as soon as im free to move ahah.

thanks for the help. i will let you know how it goes,
also i need a fuel tank for my sj, do you know a good place to bye cheep ones, second hand or new. i have tryed ebay but didnt have a great selection when it came to good condition ones.