Bit the bullet and fixed my loose/floppy gear selector lever last night. The guidance provided in this thread, and wider forum proved invaluable.
My biggest issue was removing the steering wheel airbag. Took me a couple of hours at least. After that things improvement dramatically.
I followed the procedure outlined in reply number 14 of this thread so thanks to all who participated in that response creation and content.
My observations were that the issue I had, is as others have said was caused by white grease drying out over time and trapping the white plastic spring loaded v groove detent plunger in a low position thus stopping the white plastic v groove cam from being held by the plunger which results in the gear lever being loose and floppy. I cleaned all the old white grease off all parts and reapplied new white lithium grease to the areas where it had been.
Gear,selector lever is now shifting positively and returns to the central position after every gear change. I did have,to find tune the torque on the lever torx screw to get the correct feel to the lever as too tight jammed the movement and too loose meant less positive shifting.
Thanks to everyone for their help, advice, guidance and shared experiences in resolving my issue.
