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Tranny Question


Keith L.

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It's been some time since I posted. Relocated to Vegas, but my "41 3 window is still in So Utah. My question is...My transmission locked up in second gear and I can't get it free. I had to drive home ( about two miles) in 2nd. The clutch is OK. Any sugestions on freeing it up would be appreciated. I shouted and cursed at it, but it did no good.

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Cussing hard enough usually does the job Keith, but when it doesn't, I have usually found that the gear shifter mechanism is trying to put the transmission in second and high at the same time, and can be fixed by detaching the shift rods from the arms on the side cover, and massage and cajole and cuss at the shift arms. This will work if the shift rods are mis-aligned, occasionally a inner spacer in the synchromesh breaks and allows the synchro collar to move too far, and that causes it to lock up, if that is the case, the transmission will have to be removed and repaired, a sizable job. Good luck!! Keep us up-dated as to your progress

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Rolf, thanks for getting back to me so soon. Your answer to my question begs more questions from me. Before the lock up, I replaced the bushings and rubber gromets in the shift linkage, perhaps when I reassembled I miss-aligned something. Is there a way to tell if an inner spacer is broken without tearing the trans apart? If I do elect to rip into this, how extensive of tools do I need to do the job? Will I need to press bearings in and out? Are parts readaily availabe? Are there manuals out there showing how to rebuild Ford and Zephyr transmissions? I've rebuilt lots of stuff on cars, transmissions not being one of them.

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A couple of things could have happened that caused the hang up in second gear. There is a "detent" system on the transmission side cover that restricts the movement of the shifting forks. You might first remove the side cover and check for this before removing the transmission. You might get lucky if this is the case and be able to work the synchro collar back into the neutral position with out removing the transmission. If the lever detent ball has gone past the second gear position on the side cover you will have to address this problem.

If you can't work the synchro collar back the ball(s) and spring(s) in the sychro hub may be jammed and you may end up removing the transmission in order to remove the tail shaft assembly to get at the sychro assembly. Lets hope the problem lies in the side cover and that you are able to move the synchro collar back into place. If you can move the collar back inplace make sure the collar can be moved back and forth engaging both high and second without jamming up.

You don't really need any special tools for work on these transmissions.

Hope this helps.

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Guest imported_V12Bill

Keith, If the last thing that you touched on the car was the shifter grommets, than in 9 out of 10 chances that is where you messed up. The shifter arms on the steering column should be even with each other in the neutral position. To get the trans out of second gear, remove the shift rod from the arm and move it by hand to get to the neutral postion .

Re-insert the rod in the upper arm and note if the arms are even with each other. In the neutral position make the adjustment on the rod until the arms are even with each other.( Continentals have the rod adjustment down at the transmission end of the rod).If the arms are even your problems should be over. I don't think that your problems are internal.

Bill

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Yes, the grommets were the last thing I touched. About two months went by before it locked up, but then I didn't drive it much in those two months. I changed the grommets because they were pretty shot, the rods were bent and the trans never shifted very smooth. The new parts didn't seem to change much, but then perhaps I had it mis-aligned. I'll take your suggestion, Peechers and Rolfs and check it out, thanks.

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Hi Keith,

This problem brings back an old memory of my 1947 Ford. That car would do the same thing with monotonous regularity. It turned out to be the shifter linkage. The shaft that is attached to the shift lever on the steering column has a pin that engages the 1-R linkage or the 2-3 linkage depending on the position of the shift lever. My linkage was a little sloppy (I had rotated the shift lever over to the left side of the steering wheel for obvious teen-age reasons) and if I wasn't careful (especially on a "speed-shift"), the shift linkage would drop into second before the shift rod dropped into the proper position. The transmission was in second gear, but the shift lever was stuck in what appeared to be neutral. This turned out to be an easy fix, though embarrasing. I just had to shut the car off, open the hood and manually move the shift levers to where they were on the same plane. That unlocked the shift lever and put the transmission back into neutral. I hope your problem is as easy as mine was!

I'm amazed that I remembered all of that!

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Phil,

I remember many times opening the hood on my 66 Ranchero and having "unlock" the transmission shifter. It took me a year to get adjusted to where it didn't lock up, or I thought it didn.t. My college son borrowed it one day and within a hour was calling me because he had locked it up. I finally got it to where it shifted perfectly and sold it. I just sold a 57 Ranchero I had for several years and I could never get it adjusted to where it didn't "fall" out of second from time to time.

Anyway, my 37 LZ is on hold, I was going to paint it this year, but sold my 17 Model T and 57 Ranchero so that I could buy a running and pretty solid 36 Cord Westchester (needs paint, a floor plan and has the original interior). I think it will make a nice stable mate with the LZ.

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