Been a long time Car Talk Junkie! Thanks in advance for any help.
Quick background: Truck stuck at the top of a hill, won’t budge forward or backward, stick is stuck. Gotta move the thing off this hill. Jam the stick backward, and it comes undone, roll the car back to a flat spot to check it out. It’s stuck in 4th gear. Get it home in 4th.
Question: I deduced that it’s a worn shift fork. Do you think that’s right?
Second question: I can access the transmission from the top through an access panel. I’ve gutted the inside and I’ve got the access panel open, and I’m staring at the transmission. If it is indeed the shift forks, do I have to do anything special to put it neutral after replacing them?
Wow! Servicing the tranny through the floorboards! Kind of like filling a tooth from your rear end instead of your mouth…
More likely a broken shifter fork… When you shift to anything other than 4th, 4th won’t DISengage but now 2nd does, so its locked up in 2 gears at the same time so ONLY 4th is engaged
I saw some pics of the 5 speed version of the trans online. The shifter with forks come out the top. You should see the collars that the shifter forks ride in looking into the tranny. You should be able to reach inside and slide the selectors back into neutral by hand. You’ll also need to fish out the broken bits of the shifter forks bouncing around inside. Yeah, they are aluminum (I think) but they could (or may already have) done some damage. You’ll need to thread the forks back into those collars when you reinstall the cover. THAT’s gonna be fun IN the truck! Good Luck!
Mustangman, I didn’t need that image in my mind, specially as I have a dentist appointment tomorrow.
b
Thanks Mustangman! Since I knew the shift forks were on the top of the transmission, coming at it from the top (so I don’t have to drop the tranny) seemed like an alright strategy.
It’s pushing 100 degrees in St. Louis. So doing the work inside the truck is going to be bundles of fun.
Best,
fillyblynn
It is very likely that this
http://allstategear.com/M50D%20Shifter%20Repair%20Kit.htm
will get the shifter repaired. Hopefully all the wrestling with the shifter didn’t result in any damage to the gears and maybe the clutch didn’t take too bad a beating.
Thanks Rod Knox. Will definitely check this out. The clutch was brand new, and while it did get a bit of a burn getting home in 4th, it should be alright.
And the repair is easily done through the floor access. As best that I can recall only the lever tower must be removed to make the repair but it may be necessary to remove the cover with the forks to get all the synchro hub and forks in their neutral position. Be careful to avoid letting trash fall into the open transmission. And often the gaskets pull away with the covers undamaged and can be reused.
Red Knox, how do I know when they’re in the neutral position?
In the neutral position all the forks grooves line up from left to right. Often a heavy screw driver or small pry bar can successfully move the forks into position through the shift tower hole with the clutch pedal pressed but that isn’t always the case. When the gears get bound up it is sometimes necessary to rock the truck back and forth while prying on the forks and sometimes the cover must come off to pry directly on the synchro hubs. You must look closely at the hubs to determine if they are engaged and which way they must move to disengage.
Very cool. Really appreciate the help.
Do I have to drain the transmission fluid before opening the top?
Draining isn’t required to open the top, but you won’t be able to see very well inside. The level might be low enough to see the syncro hubs and such. If not, just pull the drain plug.
NO. Don’t drain the transmission. The oil level is several inches down from the top.
Awesome. Thanks everybody.