Gearshift

[Raiders]

Hi all , I have a 19my phev and have covered 1300 miles but I have recently noticed some slight twisting movement in the gearshift which I haven't noticed before. If u were to hold the gearshift lever say with your finger and thump you can rock it side to side very slightly. This maybe normal but I would just like to see if anyone else's does this out of interest before I pop into the dealers. It's nothing serious but it bugging me if it should do this lol.
Thanks in advance.

 

[anko]

I am afraid nobody else here has a gear shift lever as there are no gears to shift. I guess you are referring to the joystick that allows you to choose between Drive, Reverse, Park, etc. That is just a joystick and all it allows you to do is operate some (micro?) switches. Pretty sure mine allows for some movement too and pretty sure it means nothing.

 

[Raiders]

Hi and thanks for your reply. Yes I'm referring to the joy stick that allows you to select drive/reverse etc.....

So , whatever position it's in there is a small amount of movement in the head of the joystick , wasn't sure if this was normal. Maybe easier to call into the dealers and check the showroom one.
Regards

 

[Mitch]

That's normal.

 

[Raiders]

Nice one thanks

 

[Sumpy]

The gearshift, joystick, wand of propulsive directitude or whatever you want to call it does have some side to side play. I bought my car second hand from Mitsubishi in 2016 and I was aware of the same condition and wondered if it was a fault with that particular vehicle, but having subsequently looked at both new and used models they all have a small amount of play.

Even if the tip from your "wand of propulsive directitude" were to come off in your hand whilst driving the shaft would still be usable.

I really have to stop watching "Carry on films" at christmas :roll:

 

[Raiders]

:lol: cheers

 

[Steel188]

Having read this thread earlier, I paid particular attention to my joystick today, and I have to say that after 34 months and 87,000 miles, there is no free play whatsoever in mine! Sorry.

 

[Raiders]

Oh , might have to pop into dealers just to double check then. Thanks for posting

 

[Sumpy]

Happy new year to you all, having just read that Steel188 didn't have any play it awoke my dormant and retired inner engineer and I started to wonder what the problem is if any. I had looked at four (including my own) PHEVs, all of which displayed some movement in the joystick, which is why I had written it off as normal.
The joystick head just pulls off with little force and is held in place with a retaining clip (which stays attached to the plastic head and shouldn't fly off)
I have no play at all from the metal shaft that is attached to the switchgear in the centre console, so all the movement is from the plastic head. I will take a better look later on when I'm fully awake (and full of caffeine) but my initial thoughts are threefold, the first being it could be wear or damage from normal use, the second is wear or damage from being removed and refitted or thirdly it is a plastic part that has poor tolerances from manufacture meaning that some will be tight like Steel188 has or a bit looser like mine.
I will take a proper look later and report back any findings.

 

[Sumpy]

Just had a proper look at the plastic top of the joystick/gearshift and it does have signs of wear in the plastic from being removed and refitted. This morning was the first time that I have ever taken it off and the wear looks to me as though it has been taken off a good number of times :shock: .

The upshot of this is that I have no worries that this will be a problem with the operation of the car (even with the wear it is not going to break or come off), but is purely down to a tactile feel of operating the car and is something that isn't a problem for me .

If you take it to Mitsubishi (and if you're not happy I think you should), unless your car is new or nearly new with low mileage then I think that Mitsubishi will put it down to wear and tear from the user and will only offer to sell you a new one, which being a Mitsubishi specific part is likely to be a bit pricey.

As I have said in other posts, this is only my opinion and should be treated with the distain that it truly deserves :roll: .

 

[richr]

If it is just wear on the plastic, then maybe a quick solution might be to use something like sealant or a soft glue to take up the slack.

 

[Sumpy]

That would certainly solve the problem, but you would need to use something that won't permanently fix it in place as the top of the joystick needs to be able to come off should there be a need to remove the rest of the centre console.

I am content to leave it as it is, but as a quick bodge you could use some electrical insulation tape around the metal shaft which should remove the slack whilst still retaining the ability to remove the head if needed.

 

[Raiders]

Thanks for the detailed post sumpy , really appreciate the time taken to look at yours.
Cheers

 

[Sumpy]

No worries, in fact thank you, for giving me the nudge that I needed to look at something I've been meaning to do for over a year.

Thanks also to Steel188 for posting, otherwise I would have carried on thinking it was the norm to have a semi-floppy joystick instead of a nice firm one (oh dear, sorry. Sid James and Kenneth Williams again!).

 

[MikkB]

Oooeeerr Matron! Lolz :lol:

 

[Kesto]

I am on my second second PHEV , the new one is only 14 days old. 4 yrs of PHEV driving. I fail to understand the problem you facing. There is no play. I move it gently and then it springs back to position. It is not like a gear shift

 

[Sumpy]

Hello Kesto, the gearstick for want of a better word or the rod that sticks out of the centre console is fine and operates as it should, the problem that has been identified here is the plastic gear knob is loose in its attachment to the top of the gearstick. If you place your thumb and fore finger either side of the gear knob and try to rotate rather than move it left to right and see if there is any play or movement.

A loose gear knob was a problem that I used to get with my old Morris Marina, the cure for that was just to twist the gear knob to tighten it onto the threaded gearstick. The PHEV doesn't have a threaded connection but a push fit one that seems to be a loose fit (on my car anyway ).

 

[jaapv]

Yes, there is a bit of play on the lever. However, this thread made my try and it is the first time in five years that I noticed.

 

[AndyInOz]

In honour of Sid James and the crew, I hearby recommend that we call it the JOYSTICK.

Oo er.