2004 Ballabio false neutrals

[KenBlake]

Hey everyone,

I've read that it's common with the V11 transmission to mis-shift. It's been really taking away from the enjoyment of riding and it seems to be a mechanical problem that should be fixed. My question is what would that entail? Which parts would need replacing and it is their a guide for doing so? I have the workshop manual. 

 

Thanks!

[GuzziMoto]

33 minutes ago, KenBlake said:

Hey everyone,

I've read that it's common with the V11 transmission to mis-shift. It's been really taking away from the enjoyment of riding and it seems to be a mechanical problem that should be fixed. My question is what would that entail? Which parts would need replacing and it is their a guide for doing so? I have the workshop manual. 

 

Thanks!

I am not the big expert here, but my experience is to first look and the external aspects of the shift linkage. It is fairly common for the external shift linkage to bind or catch, and that can cause shifting issues.

To be fair, ours shifts pretty well. And while it is possible to find a false neutral here or there it is rare to actually hit them in use. Usually they are more likely when looking for neutral, finding a false neutral instead of the real neutral.

[Desdinova]

I've had a Ballabio and a I have a LeMans.

Mis-Shifts for me are 90%+ position of my foot.   In fact my lever is setup for the boots I wear, and if I wear shoes instead, it's all sorts of problems.   Yeah!!  I know !!!  but seriously.  Asjusting the lever position can make a world of difference.

The other 10% is when I start to "find" nuetrals, it's because it's either time for an oil change or not enough oil in there.

YMMV

[KenBlake]

47 minutes ago, Desdinova said:

I've had a Ballabio and a I have a LeMans.

Mis-Shifts for me are 90%+ position of my foot.   In fact my lever is setup for the boots I wear, and if I wear shoes instead, it's all sorts of problems.   Yeah!!  I know !!!  but seriously.  Asjusting the lever position can make a world of difference.

The other 10% is when I start to "find" nuetrals, it's because it's either time for an oil change or not enough oil in there.

YMMV

I didn't even realize I could adjust the shift lever but I'll give that a try!

[KenBlake]

I forgot to mention that I've tried filling the gear box with shockproof heavy as is recommended in these parts but it hasn't solved the problem.

[docc]

On 5/31/2022 at 3:16 PM, KenBlake said:

I didn't even realize I could adjust the shift lever but I'll give that a try!

I should be able to find a tutorial with an image of that procedure, but it will be a few hours before I can post it. 
 

edit: Well, here is the image, at least. The idea is to get the arms parallel to one another and perpendicular to the connecting rod.  Check all the fasteners for tightness. Remove the long pivot bolt (mind the inboard lock nut), clean and grease. Adjust the tension for no binding, or excessive play, and anchor it with the inboard lock nut. I found my pivot benefited from a shim between the shift lever and the inboard frame bracket.

Make certain the lever itself is not striking the frame side plate on the downshift or anything above on the upshift.

[guzzler]

G'day 

I had issues like this with mine early in the piece too.

Having the lever sorted out made a huge difference.

Still get the odd one but mostly my fault...

ie tired/ foot position blah blah

Cheers Guzzler

[KenBlake]

2 hours ago, docc said:

I should be able to find a tutorial with an image of that procedure, but it will be a few hours before I can post it. 
 

edit: Well, here is the image, at least. The idea is to get the arms parallel to one another and perpendicular to the connecting rod.  Check all the fasteners for tightness. Remove the long pivot bolt (mind the inboard lock nut), clean and grease. Adjust the tension for no binding, but excessive play and anchor it with the inboard lock nut. I found my pivot benefited from a shim between the shift lever and the inboard frame bracket.

Make certain the lever itself is not striking the frame side plate on the downshift or anything above on the upshift.

Thank you!

[docc]

Here is an image from inboard showing the lock nut without the pesky swingarm in the way:

Also shown is the zinc chromate green LuckyPhill/Chuck-made shift extender. There is current interest in a new run of these (highly recommended!):

 

[docc]

Alright, a couple more points and I'll pipe down . . .

What year/miles is your V11, @KenBlake? There was a recall on the early Sports 1999-2001. Click here to view the recall notice and serial number range.

Shims for the inboard side of the lever pivot:

And, finally, @Lucky Phil's outstanding "How to . . ." 

 

[po18guy]

In my '04 Ballabio, I had some air in the clutch line. Thorough bleeding (including a bleeder banjo bolt at the clutch master cylinder) reduced the false neutrals to near zero. Air tends to return to the master cylinder, as it is the high point in the system. So, where did MG put the bleeder? At the bottom! I do need to adjust the shift lever, which is the rest of the problem.

[docc]

That is a really good point that flushing/"bleeding" the clutch might have an effect on the shifting.

@KenBlake, what year/model and miles is your V11?

[Steve S]

I’ve had 2 Ballabios that suffered with vague gear changes, don’t know why it effects this particular model 

both were fixed by adjusting the ratchet arm inside the cover by turning the eccentric  adjustment and centreing the travel and making sure it clears the casing at the end of travel 

[KenBlake]

On 6/1/2022 at 12:54 AM, Steve S said:

I’ve had 2 Ballabios that suffered with vague gear changes, don’t know why it effects this particular model 

both were fixed by adjusting the ratchet arm inside the cover by turning the eccentric  adjustment and centreing the travel and making sure it clears the casing at the end of travel 

Can you link to a tutorial on this by any chance? 

[KenBlake]

On 5/31/2022 at 5:02 PM, docc said:

That is a really good point that flushing/"bleeding" the clutch might have an effect on the shifting.

@KenBlake, what year/model and miles is your V11?

It's a 04' Ballabio. Thanks!