The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk 50 Shifting problems

I have a 50 AD with 3 on the three. Just recently my gear shift locking up on me. When it does I have to manipulate the shift levers at the control box by hand to un-lock it. Basically putting back into neutral. I made all the adjustments the manuals show but it still locks up. How ever I did notice the coil spring in the control box has a piece of the coil at the 1st & rev lever that is sticking straight out. Could that be the problem? Any Ideals? Are replacement springs available anywhere.

I'd bet it is caused by slop in the bushings. Replacements are available from the usual vendors. In the mean time, learn to be very deliberate through the shift pattern. My burb sometimes does it even with good bushings if I'm not careful.

very common situation on these old 'bolts, partly caused by sloppy shift lever movment, always follow the "H", don't try to "cut corners" .... the spring ends keep the spring in place, but maybe what you're seeing is the spring broke [yes, most vendors offer them] - you can see one end [straight] in this pic and the other end is a hook seen here .... the most important part is that the forks be perfectly aligned when in neutral and that the inside corners of them aren't real rounded off - and while you're in there clean out old grease and re-grease it [don't pack it full] - you may also need to adjust the arms outside the box that go down to the trans, they can slip over time if not tight enough, and as Cletis mentions make sure the bushings there and at the trans are good

Bill

Here is a tip that often helps; shift with your fingers curled back towards you as this helps follow the "H" pattern. If you shift with the back of your hand facing back toward you the natural tendency is to push the lever in a diagonal move from 1st to 2nd which hangs up the levers.

Ok the spring end coil I was looking at matches the one in the picture. However it not in the same position in the box as what is shown in your picture. Should it be in the position shown? I never cleaned any grease out of the box. So I never notice how specific the springs are. By the way I did install new lever bushings about 1500 miles ago and until this happen it has been shifting very good.

the spring does need to be properly positioned, the hook end may have broken off allowing it to rotate - usually after decades the grease gets semi-solid and packed around the edges, good to clean it out

Bill

I have not had a chance to check but if that spring is rotating because its broken could that be whats causing the problem