QuestionQUESTION: I was driving and was in first gear on compression at about 10 mph and powered around a corner and accelerated to a quick 40 MPH backed off quickly and I felt the shift lever slide forward in my hand about 3/4 to 1 inch. When I went to take off at the stop sign the gearbox was stuck in 1st gear. I pulled the shifter-nothing, I rocked the car and applied gentle pressure to the lever-nothing. I drained the oil and pulled the side cover - no pieces or chips of metal, oil looks good. Any suggestions or ideas of what could be wrong?
ANSWER: Hi Len,
Unfortunately the small cover under the tunnel carpet is not large enough to get access to the internal parts of the transmission. There are several things that can fail in the shift mechanism that can make it stay in 1st gear.
You say "I pulled the shift lever and nothing" Does that mean the shift lever moved normally and nothing happened? Or did that mean you pulled the shift lever and it wouldn't move? Or did it mean you pulled the shift lever and it was floppy loose and did nothing?
If the lever is floppy loose and does not do anything, pull the tunnel carpet and remove the metal shift tower to see if the lever itself has broken or come apart. You need to pull the engine and transmission if either of the other two were the situation and disassemble the tail shaft housing and side cover to see what happened.
Let me know.
Howard
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: I need to be more specific. When I said I pulled the shift lever, I removed the tunnel carpet and unbolted, and removed the metal shift tower and the lever. It was not broken and appeared to be in good condition. The side cover I removed was accessed from under the car,it is on the passenger side of the gearbox. and it exposed the gears, or internal workings. Nothing was broken. Have you experienced the shift forks having a tendency to jam? Or are you thinking it is more likely to be the sift rails that control the forks? I will need a good manual to rebuild the gearbox. Any suggestions?
AnswerThat is why I asked about the lever not moving or moving and not doing anything. There are three rails, one for 1st/2nd, 3rd/4th and one for reverse. All of the rails must be in neutral for any one to be moved into any gear. That is why I wanted to know if the lever moved normally or what. All of that does not matter because you have to remove the engine and trans to access any of it. Once you have it out you can remove the side cover again and watch the shift forks when you try to shift the lever. I think your problem is in the tail shaft housing. But you won't know until you get it out.
Let me know.
Howard
