Transmission will not shift - 37 Dodge

[37DodgeSedan]

Help! The transmission on my 37 Dodge will not shift. I had the engine rebuilt and bolted the transmission back to it outside of the car. The gear shift lever, plate, and housing had been taken off for clearance issues. The transmission had been in neutral the whole time until after the engine was back in. I went to put the shifter back in an the left gear shift rail moved toward the engine into 1st gear. I went ahead and finished bolting it down thinking nothing of it. Now it will not shift. The clutch pedal is all hooked up and the fork is still in place. The clutch plate had words that said this side toward engine so i think the clutch is assembled correctly.

Does anyone have any ideas?

[keiser31]

Just went through that exact scenario with the replacement of my clutch in my 1931 Dodge. Had to remove the transmission and put the gears in neutral and re-install the transmission.

[37DodgeSedan]

I would think if the clutch works I could take any pressure off of the trans and be able to fix the problem without removing it. With the floor board off i have full access from the top of the transmission. I just do not know what to disassemble or or how to put the gears back in neutral.

[jpage]

Does the shift lever move at all?Some times the gears are aligned just enough that you will not be able to pull or push the lever into gear. If that is the case ,try turning the engine over a bit or turning the rear e-brake drum to see if that helps. If the lever will not move either something is out of place or jammed. There is a little detent ball between the shift forks that can be dislocated if the forks were out!. If the forks were out,it is possible that the sliding gears have slid into a locking position. We used to lock Model "A" trannies so to tighten the u-joint bolt! .Remove the cover and shift forks(watch out for the detent balls) and slide the second gear forward or backward to see if that corrects the problem. If that helps ,position the sliding gear in a neutal position and reinstal the shifter forks. Hope this helps! To take the tranny apart,remove the cover screws and lift off the shift tower cover. You will now see the two shift forks. Across the forks are two "U" shaped channels held on with slotted phillister hd. screws. Remove the screws and take off the channels. These can be exceptionally tight so make sure you use the correct size screwdriver! The felt oil retainer just pulls out of the front channel;there is only one! carefully lift out the shift forks;one is right and the other is left and I'm pretty sure they only fit one way. Watch out for the detent ball between the forks and underneath the fronts! Now you'll be able to see the gears. The front part of the mainshaft will have long splines with the high and 2nd spd. sychronizer. This is what the left fork slides into. Next gear will be 2nd gear and the next low and reverse. The rt. fork slides into the groove on the low and rev. gear. What happens sometime is that the 2nd gear and low gears wil slide into the other gears at the same time (without the forks to keep them in position) thus locking the tranny. Moving them into nuetral will correct this. If the forks were not removed there's a chance that something fell into the tranny that has jammed the gears!

[37DodgeSedan]

I removed gear shift rails/forks and there were 3 roller balls place. The clutch gear sleeve still will not slide back from 2nd gear to neutral. If I turn the rear wheels by hand the gears in the tranny do not move but if I turn the universal joint both the wheels and the gears all turn if I have the clutch pushed in. Looking at the transmission diagram in the shop manual I see an additional clutch gear spring and ball. Could that be what popped out when 2nd gear when to far forward? If so, does that mean pulling all the gears out or is there some other method? Does anyone have any other ideas?

[jpage]

That synchronizer or clutch gear sleeve will probably not slide by hand as that detent spring locks it in place. You may have to pry it with a screwdriver. the sleeve slides rearward to engage the 2nd gear and forward to engage neutral and high. The splines must align before the gears will engage. If the gears spin while turning the drive it must be free but something is locked if it will not shift. I don't think you could push the clutch gear sychronizer so far to release the detent ball. You should be able to slide the other two gears by hand.

[37DodgeSedan]

It is actually stuck in 3rd gear not second since the left gearshift rail is forward toward the engine. Should i still try to pry it with a screwdriver?

[jpage]

If the sychronizer is all the way forward it is in high gear. Neutral would be when the synchronizer is halfway on the splines marked by the detent ball. I would gently pry the synchronizer(clutch gear) rearward .If the tranny has sat for a while the old grease may have dried out and is causing the detent ball to hang up or it's just stuck on the splines.You might try a squirt of WD40 on the splines and gear cover then carefully try to pop it back. Make sure you pad the pry bar as to help prevent slipping and possible chipping should it slip.

[jpage]

Did you ever get anywhere with the tranny problem?

[37DodgeSedan]

Just came in from the garage. Work was keeping me away from working on the car until late today. With some persuasion it finally popped back and now i can move it thru all the gears. Thanks very much for all the help!

[jpage]

Anytime!