The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Sticking In Gear

I did a search on this but could not find out what this rookie needs to know. For the second time in the past several months, my 54 3100 got stuck in a gear last night. As before, I was able to free it up by stopping, popping the hood, and pulling up on the upper section of the linkage on the shift box. My question is whether or not I need to replace the entire shift box, or if there is a simpler solution such as replacing a spring or lubricating a pivot somewhere. It's not difficult to free up the shift box when it sticks, but there are scenarios where it will be a problem, such as a stoplight at a busy intersection, etc. Clutch is new, tranny is rebuilt, and I had a 3:55 rear end installed, so this should be the last glitch in my drivetrain. Any simple cures?

you need to open the box and clean it out well, check the pawl and the 2 notched arms to make sure the ends/corners are "crisp" and not worn - make sure the space between the notches isn't too wide,reposition whatever you can to make everything tight - might need to adjust where the arms connect to the levers just outside the box, and there is a spring involved, but I don't think it generally contributes to that problem

what happens is you shift and the pawl gets jammed between the two notched arms and moves them both .... very common problem all years

Bill

Red;

Thanks for the advice. I'll take a run at it and see if I can make any improvement. I appreciate your help.....

Most problems I've had with shifting gears on a 3-spd column shift were fixed by simply adjusting the shifter.

My two cents and your mileage might vary