PreacherG

I am rebuilding my DW bike. The bike is a vintage, early 70's Shimano 3 sp internal hub. My issue is the shifter on the handlebar. It should be a "click stop" type shifter, where the three speed locations are clear. After having this very simple mechanism apart several times for various reasons, it has no stops. It did Saturday, I think. The best I can tell, it is a Shimano 333 AA-H shifter.

What am I missing?? Please help!

Andrew R Stewart 

Your ball went missing. This is the most common reason to loose the "indexing" function when all else is working. The 333 shift lever uses a ball bearing held in a plate slightly thinner then the ball is big in diameter. There's a spring (sheet steel) that presses this ball against the second plate which has three holes in it. The first plate is rotated/moved by the trigger, also moving the cable, and when the ball catches in one of the holes the cable is held in place. This ball (3/16" IIRC) so easily gets lost when the lever is dissassembled. Especially when one doesent know to watch for it. Andy

PreacherG

THANK YOU SOOOOOO MUCH!! I am sure you are correct. I have a loose bearing that showed up on the work bench that does not belong in the front or rear hub, the fork or crank (All are bearing rings, and I double checked). I now know where it goes!

So, if I understand, the base that attaches to the handle bars has 3 small holes. The bearing sits in here. It is then covered by the shift lever part, the cable installed and everything screwed together.

I feel so much better!










9

PreacherG

Got the bearing installed and now it all works again - as designed. With a bit of grease, it moves more smoothly as well. Thanks again for the help!