The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline Holy cow, what just happened?!?!?

So I start to leave a friends place in my 1950 half ton with a 3 speed tranny & 216. I didn't take time to let it warm up really good but took off anyway. About that time another car got in behind me. The driveway was slightly uphill & about halfway up the engine started coughing & running rough (like it usually does when it's cold) and then began to buck violently. Since it was pointed uphill it was really bucking & shaking me in the seat! Like each time it was about to die but then would lunge forward again. It really caught me off guard. I was trying to reach out for the choke but it took me a couple of attempts. Finally pushed the clutch pedal & hit the brake, not wanting to roll backwards into the car behind me. Now here's the problem.......... When I shift from 2nd to 3rd it is difficult and the gears grind. Feels like I really have to tug hard to get it out of gear. Also now sometimes it suddenly jumps out of 3rd gear. What happened? Obviously something got either out of alignment or broken. Shift linkage? Was the clutch damaged? Throw out bearing?

Thanks for any advice.

I believe you have a column shift. If so, I would say there is a pretty good chance that you separated a motor mount or transmission mount. That would allow engine / transmission to shift and screw up the shifting linkage.

Saw one that had bad mounts and, on a panic stop, the engine shifted almost 1" forward. Fan just missing the radiator, but shifting was almost impossible.

x2

FYI, when something with a carb is cold and running rough just quickly work the throttle a little (tap-tap-tap). The extra fuel from the accelerator pump will (or should) make it smooth right out. (A lot of guys will actually just do this instead of using a choke.)

I'd also suggest looking at the front mount for the engine and the mounts on the bellhousing.

Just checked this post guys. Thanks for the suggestions. I'll check out the motor and tranny mounts asap. Sure not a good thing to happen if that's what in fact did happen.

Last nite I rode the creeper underneath to look for broken transmission or rear motor mounts and found none. Will inspect the front motor mounts next.

Last Friday I took the day off to attend the New Braunfels swap meet. Washed & loaded the truck with lots of parts to sell. Got about 10 miles down the road & it suddenly popped out of 3rd gear. Then it was getting harder & harder to get it into 2nd gear. Finally it wouldn't shift into 3rd gear at all. With another 30 miles to go I made the smart decision to turn around & head home. Could only travel 25 mph in 2nd gear but eventually made it.

I finally made it to the swap in the company sedan & discussed it with the guys in the Inliners International club I'm a part of. They all think the synchro gear (brass?) got damaged & screwed up everything else. Don't know anything about transmissions so one of the guys mentioned that he just happened to have a newly rebuilt 3-speed at his shop I could have for $75. I'm going to pull the truck to his place & we're going to swap it with the damaged one.

Keep us posted. I would like to know what you find.

Years ago in the '60's I had a '50 chevy coupe and it started jumping out of 3rd. after a while it got so bad I had to hold the shift down to keep it in gear . Never knew what caused it , back then a transmission was like $25 just swapped it out ....

My Inliners buddy, Sonny Rossie, told me to pull off the side panel & look inside to look for broken teeth or other debris, but I don't see the point. I'm just going to replace the tranny anyway.

Are there any links to show how to disconnect a torque tube or a remove the tranny?

This page and the next one will walk you through.

http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/shop/1948_51truck/51ctsm0704.htm

Enjoy, you are gonna get dirty.

Thanks Steve.