185/200 bottom end shifter

[donwon]

all right I had the bottom end of what I believe is a 85' 200m with a shift pattern of neutral (bottom),1,2,3,4,5(up) and getting the shift shaft, which is put together correctly according to the manual, installed in the casing I am ending up with excessive play in the shifter. I have the shifter spring located on the perch in the casting behind the stopper plate and after installing the spacer casing, clutch, centrifugle clutch, the triangle ball plate(can't remember what it's called) with it's counter part's, right side casing, and clutch adjustment while engine idleing all installed like manual say's, I still have play in the shifter that doesn't spring back. it with shift into all gears like a shift kit in a 400 turbo trans there is no pause in power transfer just quickly with a hard bite. and the shifter is stiff. when I want to shift down it does the same thing but I have to go through 3 inches of shifter slack that has no spring tension. anyone familiar with these bottom end have an idea what i'm putting together wrong or sound like there is a broken part you might know of? can't get it right and I've been over each step 5 times with a fine tooth comb with the same results and i'm stumped. thanks for any thing you guys come up with.

[Gearheadtom]

It sounds like the clutch doesn't disengage when you shift like it's supposed to. I'd double check the clutch adjustment. Loosen the lock-nut, back the screw out until it get's tight (it will still move with some force), at this point the free play should be gone, then turn the screw in about an 1/8th turn, and tighten the nut without the screw moving.
If that doesn't work, something must not be right inside the case, so you'll have to pull it back apart and see.

[donwon]

I have tried adjusting the clutch from one extreme to the other and everywhere in between with no change to the slack in the shifter just a harder or softer slaming of the gear. I figure there something with that shift shaft spring or the clutch lifter that's on the shaft but everything looks like manuals diagrams.

[donwon]

it appears that the slack I have should be taken up by the clutch lifter, ball retainer, and lifter cam. but when assembled there isn't enough tension on the clutch adjustment spring to keep those parts in place. if that makes sense. that's where the slack looks like it's at.

[ps2fixer]

Does your clutch have the correct number of plates and pads? Just another idea for you, pretty stumped on this one.

[donwon]

yes all correct number of plates and disc's. i'm about ready to tear into another good motor I have in the shed just to make sure it's together right. anyone ever get into this type engine this far? if so, how loose was the shift shaft when installed in the motor without the lifter cam/ball retainer installed. as in if you had the shifter pedal on the shaft and picked up on it, would it just fall down or would you have to pull it down? I would think it would fall down with out those ball retainer and lifter cam parts installed but I don't know for sure.

[ps2fixer]

All the engines I worked on it would return on its own even with the right cover off. If it don't return, I'd take a wild guess that the shift shaft is bent that the shifter connects to. Since you are into the ending, you could pull it out and see how it looks. Should be like a $20-30 part on ebay if needed.

I had one engine where I had to manually return the shifter, but it shifted fine. The left case was put together wrong and was bound up on the shifter. Kind of hard to explain and I didn't grab a pic of it. This was a 250es though.

[donwon]

I think your right about the shaft being bent. last night I took the right cover off the good motor I had in the shed and with the ball retainer and clutch lifter off it would drop on its own and you could take your fingers and slide it up, down left and right with ease. on the motor i'm currently working on you have to tap the shifter out with a rubber mallet. I used a 2 foot level as a straight edge and you can see it is very slightly bent. so i'm going to swap them out and see if that fixes the problem. i'll let you all know if works, at least then we'll have a thread on bent shafts for these motors on the advanced search lol.

[ps2fixer]

Good stuff, glad it wasn't a major problem in the transmission or something :). Being a 3 wheeler, the shifter is in a pretty high danger zone lol.

[effort=results]

my 185 was doing the same thing and it ended up being a crack arm on the lever that the clutch adjustment screw is bolted to.

[donwon]

well turns out that the shifter being bent is what caused the shifting problem. swapped one from a good engine into it and it works great. now I have to get one off ebay to replace that one. problem resolved guys thanks for the input.

[captainweezy]

I'm sure i have a good shifter. If your interested in buying from a member here(me) send me a pm. Just shipped 6 boxes out today.