Stuck gear selector

[Terry Horlick]

I was out for a drive this morning. Lots of winding mountain roads with great views and perfect weather. After about 60 miles or so I was three blocks from home on the way to the stable when I pulled up to a stop at the last big intersection at the bottom of our hill. I could not get the tranny out of third gear for the life of me. I ended up rolling back into a drive-way and still couldn't free it up. So I rolled down onto the street and called for a roll-back carrier to get me the three blocks to home. Once at home I put the car up on blocks and tarted it up. Once the car was driving on blocks it finally popped out of third. I can go through the gears now but the clutch seems to be bearly grabbing (I think). Also it seems a little harder to get into gear, but that may just be my new-found mistrust. Since I bought this car it has always made a little grind noise when pulling it out of first gear... sort of like a bad synchro would make... but my car doesn't have a synchro on first! So the next step was to pull out the manuals. When looking over the section on transmission I see the only maintenance and adjustment mentioned is to check the oil level or to change the oil. I suspect the gear selector needs adjusting and am hopeful that I can do that by just pulling the selector housing off of the top of the tranny. The manual is unclear to me if this is a difficult procedure or not, also is unclear if I am likely to find anything inside there to adjust to get this shifting properly again. Running down the road the shift seems precise... clicks into gear and has no noticable play, only that little noise coming out of first. Oh, yes.... one more thing... this morning I went down about a mile or two mile long steep downhill. I had it in second and it was singing the typical second gear song almost all the way down until just before the bottom when everything went silent!!!! It had popped out of gear... it never did that before. I put it back into second and it seemed just fine until about a half hour later when it did that third gear trick (not wanting to shift out of gear). I would kind of like to make this right as I have planned to use it on a little trip (1,000- 1,500 miles) in about three weeks. Three days ago I ran down the freeway to pick up my daughter at the airport... about 160 miles at freeway speeds, 65-70 mph... with absolutely no problems. Any thoughts, ideas, cautions? Thanks, Terry TC2285 Grass Valley, CA

[Gene Gillam]

Terry wrote:

>I could not get the tranny out of third gear for the life of me.

Terry, I hope you get an "easy fix" answer to this. I have the same problem occasionally where it will stick (normally in neutral though) but can generally fiddle around with it for a few minutes and it'll go back in gear. On occasion I've had to push the car to the side of the road, remove the remote shifter, put it back on, and everything is normal again. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to it...it just wants to hang up. Gene Gillam Saucier, MS -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.338 / Virus Database: 267.9.4/57 - Release Date: 7/22/2005

[Mick Conde]

Terry - This has also happened to me lots of times, please check this one out. On the top of the gear shift remote is a chrome nut ( selector shaft tensioner ) . Inside is a steel spring and brass cup bearing. The brass cup wears out and then into the steel spring and it binds up. Only takes a few minutes to check out, let me know. mick Terry Horlick thorlick@sbcglobal.net> wrote:I was out for a drive this morning. Lots of winding mountain roads with great views and perfect weather. After about 60 miles or so I was three blocks from home on the way to the stable when I pulled up to a stop at the last big intersection at the bottom of our hill. I could not get the tranny out of third gear for the life of me. I ended up rolling back into a drive-way and still couldn't free it up. So I rolled down onto the street and called for a roll-back carrier to get me the three blocks to home. Once at home I put the car up on blocks and tarted it up. Once the car was driving on blocks it finally popped out of third. I can go through the gears now but the clutch seems to be bearly grabbing (I think). Also it seems a little harder to get into gear, but that may just be my new-found mistrust. Since I bought this car it has always made a little grind noise when pulling it out of first gear... sort of like a bad synchro would make... but my car doesn't have a synchro on first! So the next step was to pull out the manuals. When looking over the section on transmission I see the only maintenance and adjustment mentioned is to check the oil level or to change the oil. I suspect the gear selector needs adjusting and am hopeful that I can do that by just pulling the selector housing off of the top of the tranny. The manual is unclear to me if this is a difficult procedure or not, also is unclear if I am likely to find anything inside there to adjust to get this shifting properly again. Running down the road the shift seems precise... clicks into gear and has no noticable play, only that little noise coming out of first. Oh, yes.... one more thing... this morning I went down about a mile or two mile long steep downhill. I had it in second and it was singing the typical second gear song almost all the way down until just before the bottom when everything went silent!!!! It had popped out of gear... it never did that before. I put it back into second and it seemed just fine until about a half hour later when it did that third gear trick (not wanting to shift out of gear). I would kind of like to make this right as I have planned to use it on a little trip (1,000- 1,500 miles) in about three weeks. Three days ago I ran down the freeway to pick up my daughter at the airport... about 160 miles at freeway speeds, 65-70 mph... with absolutely no problems. Any thoughts, ideas, cautions? Thanks, Terry TC2285 Grass Valley, CA Yahoo! Groups Links --------------------------------- Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[LuckyFloridaLin@aol.com]

Dear Terry; Suggest you contact Skip Kelsey and purchase synthetic tranny fluid. You will feel the difference immediately. Tally Ho! Thom [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Terry Horlick]

> Only takes a few minutes to check out, let me know. mick

Mick, thanks for the idea. It only takes a few minutes to check out, unless you have installed a heater core right over the plastic transmission tunnel cover. Then you have to loosen up the heater and push it aside before lifting up the plastic tunnel cover to access that nut. Moss has the brass part for $7.95 and the spring for $1.00, washer for $.40. That's $9.35 plus shipping. So if that is the problem the repair will cost under $20! Well obviously that can't be it! Mick you must be slipping! When I ran the car up onto the rollback it was on a goodly uphill slope. Well I was low on brake fluid (persistant MC leak) and got air into the system... shezam, no brakes!!! I filled them today, but am really thinking about fitting a dual master cylinder with a remote tank. A friend suggested a VW mc, anyone with experience or with other suggestions? I just cleaned off from re-filling the master cylinder and mis- adjusting the clutch. It is majorly hot here and I now need to bleed the brakes, re-adjust the clutch, pull off the heater and trans tunnel, open the little nut and have a look-see. Then either order parts or make parts.... Good thing there is a tomorrow, I'm done in for tonight! I'll post my observations when I get that checked out. BTW, what weight oil does this tranny like? 90 wt? 160? Gl4? Also that heater is GREAT, even here in warm Northern California. You don't need it in rain or snow if the top is up, but in top down weather at night it is really wonderful to be warm and toasty as you cruise around. Your significant other really appreciates the heat, ALMOST enough to forget about mussed up hair! Thanks, Terry TC2285 Grass Valley, California, USA

[LuckyFloridaLin@aol.com]

Dear Terry; Skip Kelsey usually recommends Red Line 75W 140NS All Synthetic for the tranny. Not to be used in Differential. Glad you made the crown and pinion available before putting it on Ebay. Tally Ho! Thom [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Terry Horlick]

Mick, Ok, I went out and pulled the nut (not chrome). Then pulled the spring and gasket. Then pulled the plunger. This can't be right, it looks like it is very worn. (see photo at: http://pages.sbcglobal.net/thorlick/images/shifterplunger.jpg ) I assume that if the rod moved sideways due to some wear or looseness or a gorilla slamming through the gears perhaps the rod could jump out of the worn plunger. The correct plunger shown in drawings in the Moss catalogue looks to be flat topped. I am thinking of grinding this thing flat and ordering a replacement plunger. Then I will see if all is well in the shifting department. The plunger obviously has an oil hole in it, but no way to get oiled. It looks to me as if placing a few drops of oil into that spring would be a rightous thing to do periodicaly... and not a period of once every eon either! If I am about to greviously err by flatening this plunger please drop me a line immediately!!! Thanks, Terry

--- In mg-tabc@yahoogroups.com, Mick Conde wrote: > Terry - On the top of the gear shift remote is a chrome nut ( selector shaft tensioner ) . Inside is a steel spring and brass cup bearing. The brass cup wears out and then into the steel spring and it binds up. Only takes a few minutes to check out, let me know. mick

[Terry Sanders]

Terry, this is an anti-rattle device and should be lubricated.....the part that contacts the shifter rod should be curved. Yours looks a little worn. If it provides too much drag on the shifter rod, then it could contribute to a hang up.... Terry in Oakland Terry Horlick thorlick@sbcglobal.net> wrote: Mick, Ok, I went out and pulled the nut (not chrome). Then pulled the spring and gasket. Then pulled the plunger. This can't be right, it looks like it is very worn. (see photo at: http://pages.sbcglobal.net/thorlick/images/shifterplunger.jpg ) I assume that if the rod moved sideways due to some wear or looseness or a gorilla slamming through the gears perhaps the rod could jump out of the worn plunger. The correct plunger shown in drawings in the Moss catalogue looks to be flat topped. I am thinking of grinding this thing flat and ordering a replacement plunger. Then I will see if all is well in the shifting department. The plunger obviously has an oil hole in it, but no way to get oiled. It looks to me as if placing a few drops of oil into that spring would be a rightous thing to do periodicaly... and not a period of once every eon either! If I am about to greviously err by flatening this plunger please drop me a line immediately!!! Thanks, Terry

--- In mg-tabc@yahoogroups.com, Mick Conde wrote: > Terry - On the top of the gear shift remote is a chrome nut ( selector shaft tensioner ) . Inside is a steel spring and brass cup bearing. The brass cup wears out and then into the steel spring and it binds up. Only takes a few minutes to check out, let me know. mick Yahoo! Groups Links [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Paroor]

Hi Terry, Why not take the forks shifting the gears and check out for wear ? Then you can see the worn out area clearly. We welded and filled the worn out area. This may also help for better shifting of gears. Madhu -----Urspr ngliche Nachricht----- Von: mg-tabc@yahoogroups.com [mailto:mg-tabc@yahoogroups.com]Im Auftrag von Terry Horlick Mick, Ok, I went out and pulled the nut (not chrome). Then pulled the spring and gasket. Then pulled the plunger. This can't be right, it looks like it is very worn. (see photo at: http://pages.sbcglobal.net/thorlick/images/shifterplunger.jpg ) I assume that if the rod moved sideways due to some wear or looseness or a gorilla slamming through the gears perhaps the rod could jump out of the worn plunger. If I am about to greviously err by flatening this plunger please drop me a line immediately!!! Thanks, Terry