The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop broken tranny?

Greetings,

I have a 4 speed manual transmission in a '68 C20 with the "granny" 1st gear and am having a problem with it. Recently, I shifted the truck into reverse and the shifter became stuck in what appeared to be neutral. The shifter seems loose in that position but the tranny is stuck in 4th gear. I am hoping that there is internal shift linkage that is out of whack rather than the whole tranny. Any suggestions? Thanks!

Daniel

Hi dmcneil. That would often happen to my dads GMC if you weren't careful when shifting into reverse. Only difference is that his transmission would be stuck in two gears at once. In order to get it unstuck you'd have to take the shifter out of the top of the transmission. Then you'd reach in with a prybar to the shifting rails and pry them back into neutral. It was all done by feel, but you might be able to look down inside with a flash light to see the problem. It could be too that someting slipped on the rails. But sounds like what ever is wrong you can fix by just taking off the top of the transmission, which isn't too bad of a job. Good Luck.

PaulyBuilt,

Thanks for the info - I think I can handle that. One question - do I have to remove the tranny to get at the top of it or can I get at the top while still installed?.

Daniel

I enterred some similar info for you under Slickriffs thread, trans 101.

dmcneil, you can get to the top of the tranny while it's still installed or at least you should be able to. Pull back the floor mat and there will be a portion of the floor board that is removable. The bolts or screws holding it down might be kind of rusty, so be prepared for that. Under that sheet metal is the top of the tranny. Good luck, Paul.

You don't have to pull the whole top off the tranny. All you have to do is pull the shifting lever out. It's about a 30 second job. The cup that hold the lever in has 2 little ears -one on each side. Use 2 big screwdrivers and push down on both sides of the cup at the same time then turn the cup counter clockwise. It is spring loaded and will pop right up. Pull the shifting lever out and look inside the tranny. Use a big screwdriver or small prybar and slide the shifting forks into nuetral (the slots should be lined up) Put the lever back in, put the cup back into position, use the same 2 screwdrivers and push the cup down and turn clockwise and you are back in business. You should block the wheels and make sure there is no bind on the tranny otherwise you won't be able to shift the tranny into neutral. Some times you might have to put the clutch in. The whole job is very easy and self explaining once you get into it. Hope this helps. Don

Hello to all who wrote in. I was able to repair the problem with your help. It seems the 2 ears Don mentioned were loose and had drifted out of place allowing the shift lever to be displaced. It appears this had happened before since the ears were being kept in place using a wire tie. When this got slippery w/gear lube it moved and the ears moved allowing the shifter to move around too much which broke the pin keeping the lever in place. The lever had fallen to the bottom of the tranny which meant I had to open the inspection plate to get it back (and allow me to remove the broken pin). I have since replaced the pin and am using a hose clamp to keep the ears in place. Easy peasy!

Thanks to all who wrote in! It is an easy truck to work on but it's nice to have help out there.

Daniel