Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Help with B&M shifter grinding

I bought my 1999 csvt with the B&M shifter already installed so i am not sure what to do. The shifter grinds and doesnt always engage 2nd gear. If i concentrate on actually putting it in it works but not all the time. This really bothers me. I have seen posts that say you need to remove the centering spring and it will work fine. I am not familiar with what it looks like but when i took the shifter cover off i noticed that there was a spring that wasn't attached to anything but the shifter would still center itself. Can anybody show me a picture of what the centering spring looks like and or text on how to uninstall it. Is this the fix i am looking for or should i put the old shifter back in( the original owner gave me the original shifter)? PLease help people think i dont know how to drive stick and its a ***** when i try to start out at a light and a woman in a minivan with 17 kids flys past me as i'm grinding in second.

uh, where'd I put that pic at ... uhh, oh here it is!



The spring has two "legs" that go around the rod there on the right. If you pop the legs off from around the rod (I hope this makes sense), but leave the spring part where it is, it might make a difference. The spring will be able to "spin" around on the rod that goes through it.

More advice: Have someone who can drive stick take a quick spin and see if they have the same problem (if the spring doesn't fix it). The synchros are prone to crapping out and grinding going into gear is a symptom. Hope it isn't, because that's a tranny rebuild and big $$$. I've had it done twice (once on my dime).

The centering spring isnt in, the guy must have removed it already, but i noticed that the stick moves back to the middle anyway. I am able to get he car in gear on most occassions but sometimes it just won't go, you definintly think synchros, i just got the car checked before i got it, wouldnt they have noticed it?Can you give me your email address incase i have furhter questions. If you feel it is a bother just tell me and i will understand
thanks again

well it could be your synchros, but it may be just the problem a lot of SVT's have is going into 2nd gear period. ever since i have owned my Contour SVT i have trouble getting it into 2nd gear. especially with the weather being cold it never wants to go in gear.

Thanks alot guys, i really appreciate the help, and phatsvt the name suits you, i love the cars..
If anybody has any mroe advice im listening, thanks again.

Thanks alot guys, i really appreciate the help, and phatsvt the name suits you, i love the cars..
If anybody has any mroe advice im listening, thanks again. erichouse8@aol.com

1)Use the 'Tranny cocktail' 2) if that has no improvement its syncro hub.....

Since you're a newbie:

Tranny Cocktail

Go with 3 qts. Mobil 1 Synthetic ATF and 2 oz. friction mod. I just did this for the first time (had oil in there for new diff break in) and the difference is amazing. Never shifted so well.

Oh yeah, and we (me & chknhwk) used a funnel with a "bendie straw" attachment to fill the trans. Just had to remove intake stuff up to the throttle body to get clearance.

Hey PA, I put my B&M in yesterday and now it is much more difficult to get into second as well. I have not done the cocktail yet (obviously) and I was wondering how much different your shifter felt after installing the B&M. I'll show it to you on Friday.
(When I pick up my mobil 1 for the cocktail.)

Points to note:-1)If the sycros are shot the cocktail wont help,you need it to prevent the problem,it wont fix it if you already have a syncro prob. 2)If the syncrs were shot before the shifter was fitter they will be shot after ! 3)No a correctly installed shifter should not cause any grind ...4)The latestest boxes do have revised syncrs & shifter forks which help the 2nd gear problem...most of us dont have them...the internals are 2000+ Mondeo type...