The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline Help with my shifter please.........

1950 half ton with 3 speed on the column.
Problem is that when I shift from 1st it won't always go into 2nd gear. The way I describe it is that I have to give it a shove as far up as the lever will go for it to go into gear. And......it feels very "thin", like it's barely in gear. Shifting into 3rd is perfect.

I know one of the shifter rods probably needs adjusting, so........which rod do I adjust and do I pull the rod up or down to get it adjusted so it goes into 2nd gear sooner in the throw?

Many thanks!

Place your trans in neutral. Under the hood the shifter box arms should be parallel. If not, loosen the shifter rod clamping bolts and realign the shifter box arms to parallel. Re-tighten the shifter rod bolts. At the same time, check the shifter box arm bushings for wear or looseness. Maybe they need replacing. And don't discount adjusting your clutch too.

Thanks Drew. So.........the shifter arms should be exactly parallel?? I'll double check that this weekend. There isn't any problem getting it into or out of 1st gear. It's just 2nd that's giving me problems. Hopefully that adjustment will take care of it.

Clutch needs either replacing or adjusting for sure, but that's another problem all together. It isn't the reason the shifter isn't going into 2nd.

Thanks again.

So I lifted the hood today to examine the position of the two shifter linkages and they were perfectly parallel, just like Drew recommended. Drove the truck today to HF to pick up some vehicle dollies and the truck continues to have difficulty engaging in 2nd gear. I shift from 1st to 2nd and it never goes into gear easily. I nearly always have to give it an extra push upwards to get it to go. It's like there isn't any more room to go upwards and then it just barely goes into gear. It's bothersome, to say the least.

Any other ideas guys? Seems to me something is out of adjustment.

This sounds like what happened to my truck. when you are holding the lever up in 2nd with the clutch and you let the clutch out (keeping pressure on lever upwards), does the lever go up then engage second gear correctly?

Mine did that and it turned out the clutch lever that goes into the tranny was pushing one of the shift rods out of second, so when the clutch was not depressed, it went in fine. So i adjusted the nut and the clutch lever and now no more problems.

I probably did that the wrong way but it works.

You can also inspect the shift rods from the steering column down to and including the shift levers on the side of the transmission. Look for wear on the rods and levers that could cause sloppy incomplete shifting. Drain the trans and remove the shifting lever plate so you can see how badly the shifting forks are worn inside the trans.

Dalyman72 & Truckcamper43, thanks for sharing your ideas. I'll crawl underneath the truck this weekend when I have more time. Will jack up the truck (will use stands too!) and will inspect the levers on the tranny and the shifter rods to see if there's any slack. If so, I'll order new parts and replace. I may even be brave enough to take off the shifting lever plate and look inside. Hope what I see inside doesn't scare me.

I still believe that there is something out of alignment or adjustment that is prohibiting me from shifting into 2nd gear easily. It sometimes grinds the gear when I let out the clutch because it didn't go into gear. I have to depress the clutch and try it again, this time with more of a push at the top of the throw. It's frustrating for sure!! It also feels like when I do get it into gear that it's barely in gear........feels "thin, if you know what I mean.

Thanks again for the input guys.

Get a shop manual,or go to a sight called old manuals I beleive and there is a step by step way of adjusting and telling what you need to fix.You'll need to check the shifting box thats on the column and adjust the shift arms and shift handle.It will be alot easyer with the instructions there in front of you.


Pete

Thanks Pete. I'm going to look at that shop manual this weekend after I crawl underneath the truck.

didja get 'er done?

I'm a highschool football official and I had a game to work this past Friday night and another on Saturday afternoon. I was "out of gas" on when I got done and didn't feel like crawling under the truck on Sunday. Had to spend the day getting ready to ride with my manager on Monday morning.

Hope to get to it THIS weekend. Will give an update on what I find under there!!

Aw cmon we all know there's no pressure on high school football refs!! Get up under it!

just kidding don't throw a flag!

Another possibility... There's a coupler on the shifter rod along the steering column, near the firewall, inside the cab. When mine decides not to shift, it is slipping at the coupler. When it completely refuses to grab and shift out of first, I pull over, pop the hood and move both levers back and forth a couple times to free everything up.
I haven't been able to locate a replacement coupler in any of the usual e-catalogs.