Lotus Elise Service Notes page 270

Lotus Service Notes Section HE
FH.1 - INTRODUCTION
The transmission assembly is an 'end on' type, mounted on the left hand end of the engine unit, and
comprises of the clutch housing, five speed gearbox, final drive gears, and differential. The unit is supplied by
Rover, and is designated 'PG1', with Rover publication RCL 0124ENG covering the description and overhaul of
this transmission. A conventional bevel gear differential is fitted for the Elise application. The gearchange
mechanism is different to that used by Rover, with the two cables running beneath the power unit (see sub-
section FG.2).
The transmission serial number is printed on a bar code label fixed to the top of the clutch housing.
FG.2 - GEARCHANGE MECHANISM
The gearlever is spring biased towards
the 3rd/4th gear plane such that it must be
moved against light spring pressure to the left
before selecting first or second gear, and
against similar pressure to the right before
selecting 5th or reverse gear. An inhibitor
device within the transmission selector mecha-
nism prevents the selection of reverse gear
directly from 5th, by requiring that the lever
first be moved across the gate to release an
interlock.
2 4 R f o h s T n
A two cable mechanism is used to connect the gearchange lever with the transmission, one cable ('shift')
to transmit the fore/aft movement of the lever, and a second ('crossgate') for the sideways movement. The
steel gearchange lever incoporates an integral pivot ball which pivots in a two piece nylon socket in an alloy
housing. The housing is mounted on a fabricated steel bracket which incorporates abutments for the two
cables, and is fixed to the cabin floor crossmembers. Both gearchange cables run down the centre of the cabin
floor, beneath the fuel tank bay, and under the engine to connect with the transmission selector shaft at the
bottom rear of the power unit.
A vertical extension to the gearchange lever, below the pivot ball, connects via a ball joint to the shift
cable. Fore/aft movement of the lever is thus transmitted directly to the cable, the rear end of which is
connected directly to the transmission selector shaft via a short leg.
Crossgate movement of the gear lever is transmitted to a second cable via a short horizontal leg protrud-
ing from the left side of the gear lever pivot ball. Vertical movement of this leg is translated into a fore/aft
motion by a foreward mounted bellcrank lever, the other end of which connects with the crossgate cable. The
rear end of this cable links via another bellcrank lever, and a ball jointed link, to a lever on the transmission
selector shaft, to which is imparted a rotational movement.
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