I decided to update an existing article that was written more than a year ago. In that case, the rattling of the gearshift lever was not particularly strong and was eliminated quite simply, which will be written about at the very bottom.
In the meantime, I want to give a short instruction on how to eliminate lever rattling on Kalina. For this I needed the following accessories:
- Open-end wrench or socket wrench 13
- Pliers
- Electric sharpener
Why does the gearshift lever rattle on Kalina?
The main reason for this problem lies in the very design of the attachment of the lever to the rod. To put it mildly, it is not perfect, but it can be corrected at minimal cost and in just a few minutes of time.
So, first you need to lift up the lever casing, and then unscrew the fastening nut, which is already shown in the photo below almost completed:
When the bolt is removed, we also remove all the washers and the metal sleeve. And this whole damn thing looks like this in parts:
So, the reason for the rattling is that when connecting this entire structure, a small gap appears between the parts, which is the source of strong vibration.
To achieve a smaller gap, it is necessary to slightly grind off the metal bushing, which prevents these washers from being compressed more tightly. I would like to warn you that you need to grind very carefully and very little, literally 1 mm. If you overdo it, then the lever will move with very great effort.
As a result, after connecting the bushing with washers into a single structure, as was shown first, we get a picture when this gap has decreased:
I messed up a little and sanded a little more than necessary (which I warned about above). As a result, when the fastening nut is tightly tightened, the lever moves tightly when switching. But I loosened this nut a little, literally half a turn - it shouldn’t come off!
When everything was done, I started the car and gave good speed, and there were no sounds from the lever. But to be sure, I decided to take a ride. I accelerated to about 70 km/h in third gear and left the gas pedal. Previously, in this situation, the rattling was simply terrible, and the only salvation from this was a hand on the lever! Now there is not a single hint of extraneous sounds or vibration.
Anyone who has not yet eliminated a similar defect on their Kalina can use this advice, just grind the bushing minimally. It’s better to improve it a second time than to screw it up the first time!
Below is material from an old article that talks about a similar problem, but it is easily solvable and is a thing of the past!
Many owners of the Lada Kalina very often have the following problem: when accelerating, as well as when braking the engine, the gear lever begins to rattle. A similar problem arose with my Kalina after about 15,000 km of operation.
At first, these extraneous sounds did not irritate me much, but every day the rattling of the gearbox lever became stronger, and to be honest, it’s not very pleasant to listen to it every day. I decided to tackle this issue. So, eliminating the cause can occur in different ways, depending on the complexity of the problem.
Fortunately, in my case it was enough to pry and remove the upper cover of the lever, on which the gearbox diagram is extruded. It is better to pry off this cover with a thin screwdriver so as not to damage the plastic parts. After we managed to remove it, we wrap its inner circle with a thin strip of electrical tape and insert it back. After this, this lid fits much tighter and does not rattle.
Of course, there are other sources of extraneous sounds, but for me everything worked out as simply and quickly as possible. The picture above shows exactly what needs to be wrapped with electrical tape.
In this article I will talk about possible causes and malfunctions due to which the reverse gear on the Lada Kalina does not engage. You will also learn how to find and fix a malfunction in the reverse gear locking mechanism with your own hands.
- Before you start drastic actions and disassemble “anything and everything”, check the gear shift lever itself, this may be the reason. The linkage and cardan are quite often the cause of this breakdown. The splines could also be worn out or the clamp loosened. In this case, you will need an inspection hole.
- A faulty release bearing is an option. Although it is unlikely, since in this case all gears without exception would be engaged with a characteristic crunch and with great effort.
- Reverse gear may stop engaging due to problems in the reverse gear locking mechanism; in order to confirm or refute this, remove the gear shift knob along with the dashboard between the seats and perform a visual inspection.
How to remove the old one and install a new gearshift pad with your own hands
After driving a VAZ-1118 for some time, many owners of this car noticed that the Kalina gearbox lever was rattling. Moreover, this rattling sound resembles the sound that was present in earlier cars of this plant (from VAZ-2108 to VAZ-2110). The fact is that the mechanical transmission is structurally controlled according to one type.
Driving a car when the interior is noisy is not very pleasant. Therefore, it is better to get rid of this problem, since the experience of many drivers shows that rattling does not go away on its own. On the contrary, as the mileage increases, it becomes increasingly louder. Ordinary driving turns into real torture for people sitting in Kalina, causing particular discomfort.
The main cause of this problem is an imperfectly executed system for attaching the gearbox lever to the linkage. The car owner can take two ways to correct the situation: fix the problem yourself or have the car repaired at a service station.
REQUIREMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS
Figuring out what and how we could improve, we agreed on one thing: not to touch the gear part, namely the shafts, gears, and synchronizers. Otherwise, huge financial costs will be required to launch a new gearbox into production - without high-precision equipment, it will not be possible to ensure the proper quality of engagement, operation and synchronization.
Main elements of the VAZ-2181 gearbox:
2 - secondary shaft;
4 — fifth gear fork;
6 — reversing light switch;
8 — gear shift mechanism;
What is a backstage
There is no clear definition of a rocker even among experienced drivers and mechanics. After all, this term refers to different parts of the device connecting the lever and the gearbox:
- interior gear selection mechanism (SMMS);
- rod connecting the lever and gearbox (on boxes 1118, 2180);
- jet thrust (on boxes 1118, 2180);
- drive cables (gearbox 2181);
- gear selection mechanism (GSM), located at the gearbox;
- gear shift mechanism (GSM) inside the box.
Therefore, we will talk about the maintenance and replacement of each of the devices to which this term is applied, and also show what it is to check and replace the Kalina gearbox linkage.
SYNCHRONIZER
The first samples were equipped with a three-cone synchronizer. But calculations have shown that double-cone, cheaper ones, can withstand the required torque with a margin (see pictures). Among other advantages, they made it possible to get rid of the problematic cone on the gears of the first and second gears, which is in contact with the synchronizer ring and requires high precision in manufacturing. The ring set now creates two friction surfaces for smooth and efficient synchronization. In addition, the German manufacturer (Ho¨rbiger) applies an additional coating to the intermediate ring, which reduces wear and ensures stable operating parameters, including the required coefficient of friction.
Structure of VAZ-2110 (A) and -2181 (B) gearbox synchronizers:
2 — intermediate rings;
4 — synchronizer clutch;
6 — clamp;
Replacing the backstage of Lada Kalina sedan (VAZ Kalina)
I decided to update an existing article that was written more than a year ago. In that case, the rattling of the gearshift lever was not particularly strong and was eliminated quite simply, which will be written about at the very bottom.
In the meantime, I want to give a short instruction on how to eliminate lever rattling on Kalina. For this I needed the following accessories:
- Open-end wrench or socket wrench 13
- Pliers
- Electric sharpener
SWITCH MECHANISM
The new mechanism is a separate module. It can be installed last and removed if necessary without disassembling the box. This is technologically advanced not only in production, but also in repair. Already at the concept stage developed by the VAZ team, a selector grill appeared in it, clearly repeating the gear shift pattern and setting the lever stroke when selecting gears. The mechanism includes a lock against accidental reverse gear, which is only accessible from neutral.
The characteristics of the mechanism were selected on the original simulation stand. The tester sits down on the seat and begins to go through the gears, while the automatic system imitates the shift pattern, forces and lever strokes implemented on a specific production car. You can also upload your own settings. Don't like an overly tight lever? A couple of taps on the keyboard and the effort is reduced. So, step by step, we selected the optimal settings for the “eighty-one”. The computer processed the data and produced parameters for constructing an accurate mathematical model, according to which those very tricky central plates were made.
Traditional first aid methods
If suddenly during a trip you discover that the pedal has treacherously failed and there is no longer any hope that the car will last until the planned trip to the car service center, you need to know 3 possible options for further action.
The first is to ask a friend to hold out the frozen car in tow, the second is to call a tow truck. But what to do if your friends are far away and there is no tow truck? In this case, there is a 3rd option: try to restore the clutch yourself so that it works until you get to the service station.
The driver is required to do the following:
- turn off the engine;
- use the lever to set first gear;
- simultaneously with turning the ignition key and starting the engine, press the pedal.
ROPE DRIVE
The single-rod gear shift drive was replaced by a cable. The unpleasant vibrations on the lever are gone, there is less play, and shifting is clearer.
Lightweight aluminum German gear forks are equipped with anti-wear shoes made of plastic. Previous parts were cast from steel, and to reduce wear, a bronze layer was applied to individual parts, which wore off over time and tinted the oil with golden powder.
VAZ-2181 is the first AVTOVAZ gearbox for which a computer calculation of all parts subject to loads was performed: crankcases, forks, levers, etc. Thus, the design was not only optimized, but also made more reliable.
1 — gear selector levers;
3 — selector grid;
5 - central three-dimensional plate.
Thank you for your help in preparing the material.
Mikhail Votinov, Vladimir Petunin,
Design Features
The steering system of the Lada Kalina includes an electric power steering and a steering column that is adjustable in height and tilt. The steering mechanism is a steering rack with a variable transmission ratio. The rack engages with the engine crankcase through a gear having helical teeth, the pitch of which varies along the length of the rack. The figure shows the design of the Kalina steering rack.
The steering rack on Kalina is pressed against the gear by a spring. Friction is reduced by a plastic insert. The spring pressure is changed with an adjusting nut (the factory-set gap between the rack and the shaft is 0.1 mm). The second end of the rail rests against a plastic sleeve. Adjusting the gap helps eliminate knocking noises.
The steering system shaft is installed in bearings (one in the column bracket, the other in the electric booster housing). The column bracket is attached to the pedal bracket (front) and to the body bracket. The column bracket with the pipe is connected in the form of a hinge of two plates, which allows you to change the position of the steering wheel, and the range of movement is limited by the slots in the plates.
To fix the position of the pipe, there is a lever connected to the adjusting sleeve. It is screwed into a coupling bolt located in the slots of the plates. When you turn the lever, the bushing rotates, loosening the fixation of the plate, which allows you to change the position of the steering wheel. Springs between the plates and the bracket pull the pipe up when the fastening is loosened.
The steering system of the Lada Kalina has two tie rods and swing arms. The rod consists of external and internal tips and an adjusting threaded sleeve, which, when rotated, changes the length of the rod. The required adjustment of the rods is fixed with bolts. The rod is connected to the swing arm using an external tip that has a ball-type joint.
Kalina's electric power steering reduces the force applied to the steering wheel. It is assembled on the basis of an electric motor with a gearbox located under the steering system casing. The amplifier is controlled by an electronic unit that receives signals from sensors of vehicle speed, shaft rotation and steering torque.
The principle of operation of the amplifier is based on the fact that when the car is stationary, the torque on the steering shaft is the greatest, and when moving, it decreases with increasing speed. There is a power steering indicator on the dashboard.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=13qasRZk8gA
