1930 lincoln hard shifting

[mikesbrunn]

i have been taking my 1930 lincoln out for drives recently and after  30 minutes it becomes difficult to shift into gear    is there some kinda adjustment?      seems to be when it is hot

thanks- mike

[studeboy]

The oil gets thinner when it is hot. What weight oil are you using?

[John Kelso]

You would probably get a better response if you post this question on the Lincoln Owners Club site, the group for L and K owners.

studeboy is on the right track, most likely your using the wrong oil, I have no problem with my 24

[charlespetty]

My 1930 Lincoln shifts about the same hot or cold or as well as any non-syncromesh gearbox of the era.  600W gear oil is recommended.  Jay approves.  

[Bloo]

Could your clutch be dragging a little?

[ramair]

Mikesbrunn, might be helpful if you gave us a little more background on car, like I have had the car for many years and it just started to be difficult to shift or I have had it many years  and it shifted fine but recently I had all oils changed.  Each of those scenario have I different reason for giving you trouble.  I have even had a early car that shifted great for years and all of a sudden it gave me trouble, I had not changed the oil recently but what I did have is thin oil transferring from the engine to the transmission which the transmission did not like.  More details the better your response will be

[alsancle]

My wild ass guess is that the clutch or flywheel is heating up and causing the problem.  You can mess with the oil viscosity but I've had mixed results going to a heavier oil.

[Mark Shaw]

21 hours ago, mikesbrunn said:

after 30 minutes it becomes difficult to shift into gear 

This clearly indicates gear lube is losing viscosity & probably causing the problem. 

The first and most cost effective & simplest thing to try is heavier gear lube.

[nsbrassnut]

I have a '14 Hudson with the wet cork clutch. It's always a bit harder to shift hot then cold. I use a modern 460 W gear oil, similar to the old 600W in the transmission which improved it a lot. But even that thins out when hot. But when it really hard to change get it out of gear warmed up, then its telling me that the clutch fluid had mostly leaked out again and the clutch is sticking. Draining and refilling the clutch fluid (50-50 motor oil and kerosene) brings back an smooth clutch.

 

And an odd possibility to consider. I did try adjusting the clutch fork to get more movement when the clutch pedal was pushed down when I was starting out learning about the car thinking that this would provide more free play. There was a point where it actually got worse to shift. It turned out that the clutch lever could move the clutch plate enough that when the pedal was pushed down the clutch disc was pushed too far open and it would start to drag "on the other side" so to speak.

 

Re-adjusting the clutch arm again to more of a "mid" position and some more test driving and I found middle position that provided a good clutch release that worked better overall.