B&M starshifter query - no manual 2nd?

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GJUK

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Hi guys,

Hope you can help.

I took my Dart out today and was doing a bit of manual 1st > 2nd > 3rd changed with my B&M starshifter, all clunking and clicking as it should. But I had no 2nd gear...

My auto box is full correctly of fluid (checked while warm and in N).

The shifter is not fouling on anything

1st works fine.
2nd when you change up does not engage, the car stays in 1st.
3rd however engages. 2nd seems to be skipped...

In drive the car works perfectly.

Any ideas guys !!!

Thanks!
 
yah adjust your shifter likage 1/4 turn twards first gear ,play with the adjustment a little bit I put a star shifter in my 65 barracuda and hate it , its a drag race shifter ,fine if your just running 1/8s or 1/4s but really hard to downshift a gear when cruzing street at 25 or 35 and some 1 pulls up next to you wanting a shot at a roll , yah just cant down shift and be gone with that shifter like my old stock shifter , but for the other side ,you cant over shift from1st into 3rd or worst hit nutural and blow it up. make sure you follow the instructions in setting and it should hit 2nd and 3rdquik as you can smak it . I dolike that aspect of it ,when out doing burn=outs and testing and making runs ,but I also had TSI build me 1 wicked tranny also.
make sure it adjust from 1st to park, and lock it down tight . Hopefully you didn't hurt your trans ,so check your fluid , then check the adjustment , That after market cable or adjustment hanger moves or stretches at all , can give you more headaches ,it can make you 1/2aturn out and make your life misserble. I almost threw out a good tranny
1 time over a stretched BnM cable , the nose had gotten outa round and I couldn't get 1st and park ,it took me 2 months to figure out it was the cable end . so check your throw close . GOOD LUCK hagr8 year slamin gears
 
I slam it pretty good in ratchet, and in detent otherwise it won't shift out. Hit it hard. I love my starshifter.
 
Thanks guys.

When you say adjust towards 1st, tighten the cable do you mean?

Fluid level is at just on max, checked and it was fresh in ~400 miles back.

I honestly did not realise that you can shift DOWN as well as UP through the gears with these. Mine only shifts UP! Am I correct here?

D to 1 (while stopped all fine)

Then 1, 2, 3 was working.

Now the car is in a state of

1, (nothing), then what appears to be 3.

I'll take a video of the shifter and upload it, maybe its really worn, it was on the car when I imported it as an ex 1/8 mile car.

Thanks!
 
Iirc there were a couple different detent for park on a starshifter. Without that being selected/adjusted to it was pretty much fubar from the go, you couldn't get the cable adjusted at all. Start there and then go thru it like normal, P then 1st, etc.
Edit: what i meant was there are a couple park detent and only one works for chrysler, the others are for chevy/ford, universal shifter and all
 
If it won't adjust correctly it's probably go a bad or pinched cable.

If the cable is unhooked from both ends it should move easily in the housing if not replace it .

Had the same type of problem with mine and found a spot that got smashed when I changed the headers, a new cable and all was well again

[ame]http://static.summitracing.com/global/images/instructions/bmm-starshifter.pdf[/ame]
 
Since you say you have 1st and 3rd gear your description does not sound like a shifter adjustment problem. Sounds like a transmission problem. The front band is responsible for the application of 2nd gear. If it's way out of adjustment you can lose 2nd gear. Another common problem is if it gets too far out of adjustment the band strut can fall off internally. The only way to check for this is to drop the pan and inspect it. If it has fallen off it can be replaced and the band adjusted and you'll most likely be good to go. While your in there also adjust the rear band.
 
fishy68 said:
Since you say you have 1st and 3rd gear your description does not sound like a shifter adjustment problem. Sounds like a transmission problem. The front band is responsible for the application of 2nd gear. If it's way out of adjustment you can lose 2nd gear. Another common problem is if it gets too far out of adjustment the band strut can fall off internally. The only way to check for this is to drop the pan and inspect it. If it has fallen off it can be replaced and the band adjusted and you'll most likely be good to go. While your in there also adjust the rear band.
Click to expand...

Like this?
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z166OBLOVAQ"]Part 18. Front Band Adjustment - YouTube[/ame]

If the band has fallen off I assume this will be obvious to view (get hit in the face by a bit of metal after taking the sump off?)

2nd gear was working. Is there a DIY document for adjusting the bands without taking the sump off? Perhaps I could try that first before ripping it to bits.
Can I confirm though, in D all gears work, so does it still sounds like the band?

Thanks for the other replies, I will check the cable and the shifter is correctly installed!

:)
 
I think if it works fine in drive, the problem is the shifter. When I put a shifter in, I adjust the cable so when I have my wife click the shifter slowly through the gears, I make sure the adjustable head on the cable at the trans lever fits easily into the trans lever in every gear while I move the trans lever into each gear, I have my wife move the shifter handle into the corresponding gear.
 
If second is there when it's in fully automatic drive then it's the shifter.
If second is not there in full auto drive, then it's the trans, and like Fishy says if second is never there at all it's either the front band needs adjustment or it came apart inside.

Also, if you have it in manual second and it just coasts when you let off the gas it is def the band.
(coasts meaning you let off the gas, the engine idles down and it feels like neutral)
Also described as no engine braking.
 
From your first post, you say in D, it shifts fine. So its likely in the shifter, or cable, or attachment bracket at trans. If you have someone extra hanging around, have them shift it manually and note the lever position at the trans. This way you can isolate where the issue is
 
Hi guys, update for you

Went under the car, and the adjuster (shown in the video I posted for the front band) was very loose, just moving around on its own, the securing nut was doing nothing.

Nipped it up, turned it out 2 full turns and secured. Will see if it helps but that was very obviously (at least one if not) the problem.

:D

Thank you!!!
 
GJUK said:
Hi guys, update for you

Went under the car, and the adjuster (shown in the video I posted for the front band) was very loose, just moving around on its own, the securing nut was doing nothing.

Nipped it up, turned it out 2 full turns and secured. Will see if it helps but that was very obviously (at least one if not) the problem.

:D

Thank you!!!
Click to expand...


How many turns in did it take to hit bottom before you backed it out 2 turns and tightened the nut?
It might have already dropped the adjuster tip and strut if that didn't fix it.
Pulling the pan and putting that stuff back together isn't a big deal compared to no second or a broken band. :D
Sometimes if the strut did drop, it ends up on top of the valve body and that has to come down also if you can't find it with your fingers.

We'll just hope that tightening it up fixed it till we hear different. :D
 
TrailBeast said:
How many turns in did it take to hit bottom before you backed it out 2 turns and tightened the nut?
It might have already dropped the adjuster tip and strut if that didn't fix it.
Pulling the pan and putting that stuff back together isn't a big deal compared to no second or a broken band. :D
Sometimes if the strut did drop, it ends up on top of the valve body and that has to come down also if you can't find it with your fingers.

We'll just hope that tightening it up fixed it till we hear different. :D
Click to expand...

Hi,

Everything was really loose. The securing nut was 2 threads out, just flapping around doing nothing.

The inner part, I had to turn 4 turns or so to get it to 'bite'. From there I wound it back 2 turns as per the video. and secured it all.

The fact there was a 'bite' must mean its still connected inside the transmission?
 
GJUK said:
Hi,

Everything was really loose. The securing nut was 2 threads out, just flapping around doing nothing.

The inner part, I had to turn 4 turns or so to get it to 'bite'. From there I wound it back 2 turns as per the video. and secured it all.

The fact there was a 'bite' must mean its still connected inside the transmission?
Click to expand...

That sounds like enough to cause it skip 2nd and go right to third, but maybe not enough to drop the parts (hopfully)

My car did that when I test drove it the day I bought it.
I drove it 160 miles home, and the next day I tightened up the way out adjuster and it had second again without any problems (3 years later and it still works perfect, and I'm not super easy on it.)
Hope your comes out the same.
 
guys,

In the 'locked down' modd (having pulled the shifter all the way back to 1) should I be able to ratchet down as well as up gears?

I don't appear to be able to go from 3-2-1, the shifter is not letting me.

Thanks!
 
No it won't ratchet down, so don't go buying a rmvb lol.
If you really need quick downshift replace that mullet looking t-handle with a ball (bored pretty deep) and you can flick the lockout lever with your index finger like it's a trigger.
And you gotta ditch all that OE grease that's better suited for hanging wallpaper than for smooth easy shifting. I clean out the grease with pb blaster, and then lightly rem-oil (.super lightly)
 
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