Unable to change gears after 2" lift and 30" wheels upgrade

Hi all, 

I recently upgraded my 2012 Jimny from the standard wheels to 30" wheels, alongside with at 2" body lift to accomodate them.
The car drove great before, but after this upgrade I am having big troubles changing especially into 1st and 2nd, when the car is still and the engine is running (yes, I press the clutch

I kept trying to "debug" this with some strange results, but without a clear conclusion. After taking the car for a long drive (aprox. 50km) everything starts working fine again, but only for about 1-2 days, before barely being able to shift into 1st and 2nd, especially when the car stays still with engine on. If engine is off I can change gears easily. 

I found a way to change into 1st right before stoping at the traffic light, only so I can leave easily again, but often I have serious problems and the noise that comes out from forcing into gear doesn't sound healthy at all.

I forgot to mention, it just got a new clutch and the problem still persists

Please help !!

2 inch body lift might be causing the clutch cable to be misaligned or out of adjustment but it's a bit odd that it is an intermittent issue. Did you do the work yourself or did a garage do it? Nothing around the gearbox is pinched or otherwise damaged?

Hi olgv,

Was the gearbox oil changed? I had a lot of difficulty getting into first gear when cold after my 2003 had the wrong fluid put in the gearbox.

Cheers, mike
 

Gearstick needs bent after a body lift to make it work properly. also the transfer box stick too (if a stick model)

Thank you guys and apologise for the delay in getting back (I was relying on the forum email notifications).

@Lambert, a specialised (but pricey) garage did all the works: adding the spacers, replacing front and back springs as they were worn (1 broken), etc. The problem first appeared after taking the car from the garage. When I went back to tell them about it they said that nothing can be from the lift and that I should check the clutch as it was pretty stiff (which it was). Looking with the naked eye around the gearbox nothing seems damaged.

In an attempt to fix it I took the car to my mechanic so we check the clutch cable (first suspect) and realised that the tiny cap which covers the clutch adjustment hole was missing. Therefore my clutch was getting water (though never had problems with it before). With this occasion we changed the clutch all together and replaced the gearbox oil as a maintenance operation @Jimnyz.
The first 1-2 weeks after changing the clutch and oils everything was ok until the problem came back.

Last week was painful... for about 2 days now it works ok.
I tried everything: not reversing for a while (seemed to do the trick for a bit) then shifting all the way to 5 even if driving slowly, parking flat or sloped on sides or front, back... what not. Nothing makes sense

@Riccy can you tell me more about the bent operation please, that sounds it might help. How much and what angle you would have to bent it?
When it does not work, the behaviour is as I would not press the clutch and try to change, while the engine runs. Kicking it in gear with force (heart breaks) gets it to engage. Another way around it is to change in right before stoping at the traffic light, this also gets it engage every time.

I also checked the clutch cable in the mean time seems ok, confirmed as when it works it works well.
This stick bending sounds intriguing, any delays are highly appreciated. 

Thanks

Bending the stick is a trial and error thing. You are trying to get it to sit central in the opening in the body floor for it to come through. From memory it needs bent slightly backwards to get it central. Its already bent at odd angles, so you are adding another bend.
This usually shows up as being needed more on the transfer box than the gearstick, but can happen on both and shows as the stick hitting the body when changing gears or being unable to get certain gears. You would probably have noticed it straight away and it wouldnt come and go if that was the problem.  

From the problems crunching into gears and selecting from stationary I would suggest its not the stick however. It sounds more like a problem with syncromesh inside the gearbox. Does it get easier if you double clutch? or try and match the revs to the gear desired when changing? that would narrow it down a bit. 

Also things to check are the rear engine mount, gearstick linkage rubber bushes and the gearstick selector box, any of these can make gear changes tricky if worn out. The gearstick bushes can be replaced with classic mini exhaust bobbins for cheap, but the proper ones are not exactly expensive and last much better (see forum shop).