I am curious how long did it take for pace setter STS to get into smooth woking condition with out modifying the ball. Its been 3 weeks and it still wouldnt pop into the middle position when the car warms up but its perfect whe the car is cold WTF . Thank you.

 

Depends on what setting your shifter is at. If you've got it any lower than 50% throw, it's going to remain really notchy. The reason it's really tight is because you've completely changed the leverage of the shifter therefore you're making the syncros work REALLY hard at entering a gear. Not a good thing at all. Also, if you've got the shifter on a really short throw, chances are you're rubbing the heatshield which makes the shifter really tight.


Dave

 

I have it at 50%. ANd no the gears are perfect. Its very stiff in neutral position. If you move the shifewr to the left it would not return to the middle.

 

so what is the benefit of a short throw shifter then? You make it sound pretty horrible and the positives do not outweigh the negatives.. lol

 

benefit is that you shorten the throws - lol - in other werds, you get into gear faster(also since the throw is shorter, the rpms wont drop as much) with a smaller chance of you screwing it up, for example, shifting from 3-4

 

Believe it or not I rather have the stock shifter. If this b*tch will not become normal in 1 week I will burn this shifter.

 

I have the pacesetter at 50% and love it. If your shifter is very stiff in neutral, something is wrong with your installation and your shifter is most likely scraping up against the heat shield. Take the heat shield off and either bang it in with something or cut a hole in it. While you're at it, see how your shifter feels with the heat shield removed.
As for third gear: this is an issue with the STS. Although the shifter may feel like it is in the middle, it is slightly more toward the gate between 3rd and 5th. So you'll have to push the shifter up and to the left slightly to get a smoother shift. That's what I do.

 

Man thats not the problem.

 

uh, lol.. I'm not that dumb.. lol, I can understand what a "short throw" means i can see how my post wasn't clear..


190hpkilla, when i tried it in your car, when we met by the Bay, it was notchy as ****, it was much smoother before, but the throws were definately shorter.. If it's either, or.. then it sucks..

 

what about just cutting the stock shifter like a couple inches?? wouldnt that shorten ur throw and the shifter would look better cause it is lower??

 

no

 

if the shifter does not return to the middle in neutral you may want to check the spring on the linkage. mine was a little off and it was doing the same thing, but then i adjusted the spring and it works much better now.

i have my smc set on the shortest throw and i LOVE it. very stiff and notchy, I won't lie, but man i prefer the notchy compared to the truck style of the stock shifter. i drove a stock 5 spd max a few weeks back and I could not believe how sloppy the shifter seemed compared to mine.

 

he already did that.

 

Mine took like a month to get used to. I think I have mine on the middle setting.

 

Mines the oppostie you move it to the right and it does not return to the center. Had it for 2 months.

 

I had mine for over a month, Its just fine. Although I didn't set my throw too short there is still a difinite nocticable difference. This is still a good mod for those who have a 5 spd. As you know the stock's throw is so much longer that even a moderate adjustment on the ball is worth the $$ (its cheap anyways). Like I before said I've set my ball maybe 3/4 -1 ball higher than the stock shifter and by puting a big dent in my heat shield it hasn't given me any problem. (except when I first installed in and misplace the bushings). I have to admit this shifter's throw is not gonna give u the super short throw that some of u may be looking for without sacarficing some of the things that are mentioned on this thread but if you are skill enough to race w/ a 5spd it doesn't really matter how short ur shifter's throw is. I still would recomend this mod to anyone. You may not agree but this is the way it has work for me so good luck to u all!

 

U guys are so blinded by this peace of sh*t mo fo shifter. How can u recomend something that is bullsh*t. u say it yourself it doesnt move and very stiff in neatral and still say its the best mod. MY GEARS ARE NOT NOTCHY its the dam neutral that messed up. I hate this shifter and hope this company goes out of business and no body gets this garbage . EVER!

 

meet up with someone who has the **** and compare.

 

I've had my Pacesetter STS for about 3 months now, and i love it, but it seems that the throws have gotten longer since it was first put in, so i'm wondering if the ball didn't work itself down. and aslo the spring kept popping off and rattling on my cat so i took them off, now it just sits in neutral to the right or the left. You get used to it. And also, sometimes mine will be really loose filling and nice and smooth, then i can turn the car off, start it back up and it will be stiff as all hell.
anyone know waht that is?

 

If you want you are more then welcome to join me when i burn my STS. I hate it. Nobody get this bull.

 

Sounds like the installer is to blame here. I've had my shifter at all kinds of various setting and I don't have any of the problems you have. A STS is a very simple design. There's nothing on the shifter that would make it screw up UNLESS the installer FUBAR'd the install.

Issues concerning the Pacesetter STS:

1) If the shifter is not returning to the neutral postion, then the installer might not have installed the return spring correctly. If you put the return spring on the wrong way, the shifter will be very stiff because you are binding the spring. Simple as that.

2) If you go with a very short throw, then you're chances of rubbing the heatshield go up. This IS NOT a design flaw. This is the way it is. You can't design an adjustable shifter any other way. Honda guys have the same problems. If the shifter is rubbing the heatshield, you simply remove the heatshield.

3) If you've removed the heatshield and the shifter is having problems returning to the middle position after the car has warmed up, then it's pretty clear that the shifter is probably resting on the cat converter. The clearance between the cat and shifter must be very close, and when the cat warms and expands the shifter is grazing the cat.


My STS has been great and I've driven Maximas with the stock shifters and the difference is night and day. The stock shifter is rubbery and the throws are way too long. My shifter feels very mechanical and it clicks into gear much like a T56 tranny (6 speed) in the F-Body. At the 50% setting, my shifts are 2.5" shorter overall than stock. That's pretty significant. The only thing I notice about the STS that's negative is a little more engine vibration thru the shifter. I can live with that.

The Pacesetter STS is far from junk.


Dave

 

Dave,

I have a pacesetter STS as me and Cbr2 are converting as soon as he finds a donor car in an auction.

I'm glad you posted this, it re-affirms my confidence in short throw shifters.

I'm gonna go read the instructions more thoroughly(sp?), but doesn't it clearly state what you have just said? I mean you just went over the basics of the problems they might be having, and how they could be solved, and you proved that it is simply installers error.

 

I agree with that. I have let about ten of my friends to drive my car since the the tranny swap and everyone has commented on how well the shifter felt.

 

I dont know Dave? I have taken apart the shifter with Chimp DJ and it seems to be ok but it is still very stiff. The spring is there but the plastic is melted all the way at the bottom NOT THE BALL IT SELF. Many people have this problem because the ball is WAY bigger then stock and has problems fitting. Thank you.

 

What plastic is melting?

Did you grease up the ball and reinstall the two piece bushing (goes around the ball)? When you reinstall the shifter, MAKE sure the ball housing does not seperate.


Dave

 

I LOVE IT! THE CREAM RISES TO THE TOP!

 

Well the plastic wasnt melted it was the white greese that looked like it. I took this peace of sh*t apart today and filed the ball down a bit to fit perfecly into the rubber housing and it works amazing. Yes its an awesome mod but why am I the only the who has the white ball bigger then normal??????? The company is **** for making a mistake like that but after it was fixed its perfect. A lot of people have fitment problems and this should be addressd to PAce ****er