Fastbird
Veteran Member
Yesterday I took a Sigma 5 shifter off my buddies 01 Golf that he's selling, and was going to put it on my car. My buddy has had this shifter on his car for 6+ years without issue. Driving his car home on Thursday I noticed the shifter was VERY stiff, and thought he might have trans issues. Swapped on the stock stuff out of my 05 yesterday and his trans suddenly felt fine.
What I noticed was that the spherical bearings on the Sigma 5 were STIFF. Like REALLY stiff.
So today I went about trying to loosen them up, and in the process sent Jim an email. Explained the situation, told him I understand if he limits support. I spent a solid couple of hours working motor oil into them with no real change in stiffness.
Jim and I emailed back and forth and after I explained that I could loosen the bolts and let the ball of the bearing rotate on the bolts, it felt better (suspecting this was putting the shifter load on to the bolts, which was my primary want for talking to Jim in the first place).
Jim and I ended up talking, and I'm shipping the shifter to him on Monday. He explained this was an early shifter, with steel on steel spherical bearings. He's since moved to a brass and teflon setup, which is much more reliable in the northern salty conditions. He's upgrading the spherical bearings to the new ones, said it won't cost me much, and he's happy to do it to ensure someone is happy with his kit.
THAT is customer support right there. So I had to give him a big public thank you.
What I noticed was that the spherical bearings on the Sigma 5 were STIFF. Like REALLY stiff.
So today I went about trying to loosen them up, and in the process sent Jim an email. Explained the situation, told him I understand if he limits support. I spent a solid couple of hours working motor oil into them with no real change in stiffness.
Jim and I emailed back and forth and after I explained that I could loosen the bolts and let the ball of the bearing rotate on the bolts, it felt better (suspecting this was putting the shifter load on to the bolts, which was my primary want for talking to Jim in the first place).
Jim and I ended up talking, and I'm shipping the shifter to him on Monday. He explained this was an early shifter, with steel on steel spherical bearings. He's since moved to a brass and teflon setup, which is much more reliable in the northern salty conditions. He's upgrading the spherical bearings to the new ones, said it won't cost me much, and he's happy to do it to ensure someone is happy with his kit.
THAT is customer support right there. So I had to give him a big public thank you.
