QuestionQUESTION: Brad - My '49 Packard Custom Eight (with OD) gear shift lever is locked in the reverse position. When I last drove the car I parked it on a slight incline and put the standard transmission in reverse, as is my habit. When I attempted to drive the car again the shift lever was (still is) stuck in reverse. By the way, I keep the OD locked out as I live in the CA hill country. With considerable effort I'm able to pull the shift lever down into neutral poaition and back into reverse position. Can I engage the OD (button in) while the car is stationary without causing damage? Perhaps I should jack the rear of the car up and let the wheels spin (in reverse) while pushing the OD button in? I'm hoping that some action of that sort will relieve the lockup condition. Please let me know what you think, I look forward to hearing from you. Thanks..., Jere Brunton
ANSWER: It sound like there is wear in the shift levers at the bottom of the steering column. With someone holding the clutch down, the front wheels blocked, move the shift levers to align them in neutral. I think that will get the car out of reverse but you will probably need to rebuild the shift linkage. It may be necessary to jack up one rear wheel to get the car into neutral but I don't think so. Try to align the shift levers and let me know.
Brad
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QUESTION: Brad - Thanks for the prompt response. I jacked the rear wheels up and fiddled with the shift linkage under the hood while the car was in reverse, clutch pedal in. We succeeded in getting the transmission out of reverse and into a forward gear, not sure which one. I pushed the OD button in and revved up to the point where the OD kicked in, so I don't think the OD is part of the problem. I don't know what shift linkage configuration to look for when things are in "alignment". There are three levers (at the steering column) that are supposed to manipulate two links (the third lever goes to a vertical axis about which the two links pivot). I assume "alignment" means that the two links should be in alignment (parallel to the steering column) for the transmission to be in neutral. I wasn't able to pry them into that alignment for lack of a proper tool. It may well be that there is wear in the shift levers at the bottom of the steering column but you'd think that I would be able to manipulate the levers and linkage back into proper operation, but no success yet. I've driven the car many years with no shifting problems at all. Anyway, I won't be able to get back on the job until Thursday (10/25) and I'll inform you then of the status. If you have any flash of insight before then I would really like to hear from you. Thanks..., Jere Brunton
ANSWER: The two shift levers with linkage that goes to the transmission actually shift the gears. One is for first and reverse while the other is for second and third. Each will move up or down and you should be able to feel the detents in the transmission. There should be three detents on each lever. The middle detent (click) on each is neutral. The levers are white metal and will wear. there is a pin in the shaft that comes down from the shifter and it will wear the grooves in the levers causing them to not complete a shift, in other words the transmission is stuck either in two gears or only half way engaged. Replacing the arms is the cure.
Brad
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QUESTION: Brad- I learned a little about the old Packard today, but not enough. I can't quite get the the shift levers at the bottom of the shift assembly aligned (neutral) so as to insert a 3/16 rod through the holes in each of them. The reason that I can't is that the two shift levers want to move as a unit instead of independent of each other. They should move back and forth independently should they not? Tomorrow I'm going to remove the two "turn-buckle" adjusting rods to try to get the two shift levers to move more easily without pushing/pulling against the idler links. Assuming that the shift levers do need to be replaced, how difficult is the job? It looks like the selector rod assembly is held in place at the forward end by a U-bolt clamped onto the steering column housing. If I take the U-bolt off, can the forward end of the selector rod assembly be "angled up" so I can tap the shift levers off. If the job is much more complicated than this it may be above my paygrade as a mechanic. I appreciate very much your patience in this matter, thanks again..., Jere Brunton
AnswerIf the two shift levers want to move as a unit it indicates to me that the pin that runs through the shift rod, the pin that is supposed to mess with a slot in the shift forks and move only one shift fork, is wedged between the two shift forks out of alignment with either lever's slot. By taking off the U bolt you may be able to then line up the levers. But it sounds like the unit should be rebuilt.
Brad
