87 club car is getting harder to shift.

[motorman3000]

When I picked up the car it seemed to shift pretty easy from forward to reverse and back. Lately it seems to be getting harder to shift either way. Would lowering the idle down have anything to do with it? I did lift the car.... would that make a issue? Any help would be great. Thanks.

[Springbok]

It's probably a combination of the lift angle possibly affecting the cable routing, and the shifter cable just being old. Mine got a bit harder to shift after my lift and got worse over the few months after the lift. To help free it up a bit, I removed the cable, hung it vertically in my garage, and sprayed PB Blaster down into the top end and let it soak down though the cable overnight. That made a big difference for about a year or two until it started getting stuck again. I bought a new cable earlier this year and it's been great. So the issue is likely to be in your shifter cable.

[meimk]

Yep, cable and routing. Check for rubbing, pinched or binding places where the shift cable routes to the rear end. When a lift is done it changes the relationship between the cable, the bracket and the lever arm on the trans axle. It can be as simple as cutting zip ties that held things in place before it was lifted, but don't quite line up with things after the lift. If all of that looks good then it may be time to lube or replace the cable.

[motorman3000]

Springbok, when yours was doing it, did it seem like it just wouldn't go into gear? When I can shift it, it shifts fine. Sometimes it seems as though the gearing isn't lining up to let them mesh. Hope i'm making sense.

[Springbok]

Originally Posted by motorman3000

Springbok, when yours was doing it, did it seem like it just wouldn't go into gear? When I can shift it, it shifts fine. Sometimes it seems as though the gearing isn't lining up to let them mesh. Hope i'm making sense.

Mine did the same thing. It still sounds like the cable. The most noticeable issue was shifting into reverse. It wasn't always super-hard to shift every time, but once every 3 to 5 times it was so hard that I had to get off the cart and kneel next to it in order have enough leverage to push it into gear. I'm surprised I didn't break off the handle. Once I lubed the cable things got much better.

In order to level out the cable routing, I also cut a small notch in the frame near the back wheel where the cable was pushing down on it after the lift.