B&M hammer shifter headaches...

Bossmanmustang91 · Mar 24, 2013

Anybody have any issues with the b&m hammer shifter in a fox body? I have one in my 91 lx 5.0 and its a pain in the balls. I've messed with the cable a ton of times and have taken it out twice and reinstalled it to try and fix this thing. Nobody can figure this shifter out. B&m s customer service / support sucks. It very hard to go from park to reverse and usually requires two pulls to get reverse and another to go to neutral, then for the forward gears when u pull back to go into over drive your actually in drive and have to push it fwd again to get over drive..... I am thinking of just pulling it out and going with a hurst quarter stick unless someone knows how to solve this problem or of another kind of shifter out there.

mikestang63 · Mar 24, 2013

damn. I posted questions about people having issues with this shifter as I bought one used off Flea Bay and then started reading about complaints. From what I have read the shifter cable is not long enough for the shifter to go through all the gears and won't either go into Park or 1 .

Did you install it per the instructions?

STEP 4. Before connecting the
shifter cable to the shifter, loosen, but
do not remove, the adjusting nut at
the front end of the shifter cable
where it connects to the transmission
shift lever. See figure 1. Move the
transmission shift lever as far back
as it will go, and then move it forward
three clicks. This is the Neutral
position. Move the shifter to the Neutral
position. (See the Operation section
at the end of these instructions.)
Connect the cable to the REAR side
of the cable bracket on the shifter
using the two self tapping 1/4 X 5/8
screws provided with the kit. Snap
the cable end over the ball on the
shifter output lever. Tighten the adjusting
nut on the shifter cable.

STEP 5. Check that the shifter is in
the Neutral position. The transmission
should also be in the Neutral position.
With both the shifter and the
transmission in the Neutral position,
loosen the adjusting nut on the transmission shift lever at the front end
of the shifter cable. Pull forward
lightly on the cable to take up the free
play in the cable and then tighten the
nut while still maintaining tension on
the cable. Check that the shifter will
move to all the gear position without
having to use excessive force. (See
the Operation section at the end of
these instructions.) Particularly
check that the transmission lever
moves to the Reverse position when
the shifter is moved from Park to
Reverse. If it does not, recheck the
cable adjustment procedure above.
If your shifter cable is well used it
may have developed too much free
play to work with this shifter. In that
case you will need to replace it with
a new Ford cable.

STEP 6. Turn the ignition key to the
unlocked position, one notch clockwise
from the locked position, and
put the shifter into Park position before
installing the interlock cable. Cut
the end off of the plastic interlock
cable support as shown in figure 2.
Slip the end of the center wire of the
interlock cable into the slot in the interlock
bell crank. Attach the cable
housing to the base of the shifter
using the supplied socket head 10-
24 x 1/2 screw and nut plate. See
figure 2. Do not tighten the screw all
the way, leave it loose enough so that
cable will slide back and forth in the
slot.

Please let me know as I don't want to waste 2 hours of my time and install a shifter that won't work properly. Of course the guy I bought it off of says it worked no problem. He even included a new cable with it so who knows.

Bossmanmustang91 · Mar 24, 2013

Did it exactly the way the directions said. I bought a new cable from late model resto and aim hoping that solves the problem. I don't think b&m is the same quality it was back when I was building my nova in the early nineties. I only bought it cause the stock shifter was falling apart and the b&m had a nice clean factory look.

mikestang63 · Mar 24, 2013

so you bought yours brand new and it won't shift right? Is your car an orig AOD or a T5 swap as the T5 tunnel hole is smaller and people have issues with fitment. Sounds like you have the same problem with the cable. Maybe the cable is binding or stretched from being the original. I've read about guys dremeling out the cable end to give it a little more room and also fabbing up a small plate to attach the cable to the arm on the transmission to give the cable room to reach.

I bet if you have someone go underneath when you are in P you will see the cable stretched all the way. Try putting in in nuetral, loosen up the cable on the trans, shift it into park and move the shifter arm to park, then retighten it up. Some guys have had success doing that.

You are making me not want to install this thing

Bossmanmustang91 · Mar 24, 2013

Mine is an all original mustang with a factory auto transmission. To be honest the instal was ez both times lol. It really sucks cause the only reason I have an auto is for the wife and with the shifter all screwed up she can't figure out how to shift it. Hopefully w the new cable installed it will work properly otherwise iam gonna go with the quarter stick from hurst, either way ill let u know.

mikestang63 · Mar 24, 2013

thanks... You can also take off the arm on the shifter that attaches to the cable, put it in a vise and try and straighten out the bend in the arm. Maybe that will give you the little extra needed for the cable.

Bossmanmustang91 · Mar 24, 2013

Lol tried that already.... Never ends.

mikestang63 · Mar 24, 2013

only thing left I can recommend is fab up a small bracket and attach it to the arm on the transmission and then to the cable to extend the arm out a few inches.

Bill Gordon · Mar 24, 2013

I've had mine in for almost a year. No shifting issues, just the gear indicator LED bulb has gone out twice. B&M has sent new bulbs, no questions asked.

snakedoc257 · Mar 26, 2013

I have had mine in for about a year and no problems. Install was kind of a pain, but its working fine. I do need to go back and research it though, as I thought this shifter had a neutral lock out. I can shift into neutral without pulling up on the spoon, but as far as shifting from park and reverse, I've got no issues. I really only put this shifter in because my factory one was shot and I couldn't find a replacement anywhere.

Bill Gordon · Mar 27, 2013

snakedoc257 said:
I have had mine in for about a year and no problems. Install was kind of a pain, but its working fine. I do need to go back and research it though, as I thought this shifter had a neutral lock out. I can shift into neutral without pulling up on the spoon, but as far as shifting from park and reverse, I've got no issues. I really only put this shifter in because my factory one was shot and I couldn't find a replacement anywhere.

I looked through my install paperwork again. I don't believe they have a neutral lock out, only the reverse lockout which is NHRA required.

mikestang63 · Mar 27, 2013

Bill Gordon said:
I looked through my install paperwork again. I don't believe they have a neutral lock out, only the reverse lockout which is NHRA required.

Did you ever figure out the problem and get it corrected? Also. wondering if anyone has installed the shifter without having to remove the center console. Seems you could bend a small wrench to get the front bolts off and on and save a good 1/2 hour.

Bossmanmustang91 · Mar 27, 2013

New cable.... same problem. I called B&M and got no where so I called American Muscle they are sending me a new one and letting me return the old one. The guy i spoke too at American Muscle said that B&M's have been having some quality issues. Gotta love American Muscle and Late Model Resto.... Allways a pleasure to deal with and they stand behind what they sell.

mikestang63 · Mar 27, 2013

Bossmanmustang91 said:
New cable.... same problem. I called B&M and got no where so I called American Muscle they are sending me a new one and letting me return the old one. The guy i spoke too at American Muscle said that B&M's have been having some quality issues. Gotta love American Muscle and Late Model Resto.... Allways a pleasure to deal with and they stand behind what they sell.

That really stinks. I'm going to do the install this weekend and hope the damn thing works. The guy included a like new cable. Wondering if the solution is to fab up a small extension bracket to attach to the shifter arm on the trans so the cable isn't stretched out.

Bossmanmustang91 · Mar 28, 2013

I pretty sure my problem is in the shifter itself.

Bossmanmustang91 · Mar 28, 2013

Mike in the pic of your mustang is she lowered?

mikestang63 · Mar 28, 2013

Bossmanmustang91 said:
Mike in the pic of your mustang is she lowered?

Don't think so. I bought it bone stock 6 months ago. The only thing the PO did was add a set of flowmasters, a K&N FIPK and 17" cobra rims. The springs look stock to me. It maybe the 17" rims with the lower profile tires that help get rid of the 4 X 4 stang look. I'm thinking of throwing on some H&R or B springs but its not a priority as I'll wait to redo the whole suspension at once with UCA/LCA arms, bushings, struts, etc.

What was it with the shifter that caused the problem?

mikestang63 · Mar 30, 2013

Just finished up the install in my garage. Took me a little over 3 hours taking my time and readjusting that DAMN SHIFTER CABLE TEN TIMES. I bought mine used so there was a little massaging to get the shifter to fit flush with my tunnel, had to readjust the indicator bolt, and you have to disassemble the top part of the shifter and reverse lockout handle, springs, and pin to get the console to fit back in. Seems the PO totally removed the park lock out cable from the car- the things you find out when you take stuff apart- so I need to be careful when starting it and make sure its in P.

If you follow the directions from B&M you are screwed, as their is no way to get the little pin back into the bottom of the reverse lockout handle with the selector plate on.

Also, the the shifter does take some effort to get into park and 1. It is liveable for now but I may just throw on the new cable at some point. IT does look cool though and the slapping of the shifter to change gears is fun. I'll post some pics later after I have a Corona or two for my aching back.

View attachment 131256

View attachment 131259

Bossmanmustang91 · Mar 30, 2013

Looks great

mikestang63 · Mar 30, 2013

Bossmanmustang91 said:
Looks great

did you get yours figured out. It took several times to get that cable adjusted. The cable was binding a little and rowing back and forth between the gears helped to finally get it to work. It does take some use to having to lift up on the lockout to get in and out of P or D to R

Next weekend will be the U/D pullies and the Taurus fan with FAL VSC.

B&M hammer shifter headaches...

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