str8dogg

I just spent about $250 on clutch and cylinder parts for this damn truck '89 F150. Got it all put back together and it rode fine. The cousion that covers the shifter hole was my next project, but it is simply foam. Here is the problem. I drove it yesterday and parked it. Got up today to shape a foam peice to put in the hole, so I took the shifter out (as a whole assembly) by unscrewing the three screws. Now I put it back in but the shifter isn't changing gears. The shifter is in neutral but the tranny is in gear. If I remove my foot off of the clutch, the truck moves. I can't put it in any gear to move forward or reverse. Now it is sitting in the middle of my driveway taking up space. Please don't tell me that I need another tranny???

DixieDarkhorse

sounds like the shifter put the tranny in gear while you were removing it so when you put in back it was in gear and the shifter is in neutral.

wde3477

Suggest that if it were working fine before you got into it - it is likely something you did.

Don't worry too much - it should be fixable. Had a similar situation many years ago with a Jeep 3-speed on the floor. Took off the cover just to see what was inside and when I put it all back together - I had 4 reverse gears and no forward gears. Took a while to live down that 'master mechanic' moment. :-)

str8dogg

Sorry but the problem is still there. What do I need to to get it back into gear or out?

wde3477

Eh, no experience with the newer manual trannies - but that hasn't stopped me before. Take my advice - I'm not using it :-)~

But seriously - suggest to have a good look at your shifter - move it around between gears to see how it moves. Then look into the tranny to visualize what the shifter mechanism should be moving and where things in the tranny should be for the neutral position according to the shifter neutral position.

If memory serves - the Jeep had two shifting forks - didn't get either lined back up in their ringed slots properly so the forks were moving nothing in the tranny.

I know this isn't much help - but it appears to be a slow day here on the forum, and I can appreciate how much you want to get this fixed.

Good luck, and keep us posted.

str8dogg

I don't know what the gears are supposed to look like in ANY gear, neutral included. Should I be poking a screwdriver in there to try to position the levers in there, or would that screw things up worse?

Just call me Sean

iTrader: (1)

All you did was put the shifter in wrong. You missed the spot where the shifter was supposed to go and when you went to shift you pushed it into gear. Try to determine which gear it's in and when you try to put the shifter in again position it as if it were in that gear. Or just put it in crooked pointing at each gear until you find the right one. It will go back in but you will have to mess around with it a bit.

wde3477

Suggest that if appropriate caution is used - a screwdriver would be OK. Consider how much leverage the shifter lever can put on things. Just don't want to break anything off or drop anything down inside.

Is there any way you can throw some pictures up here? Give us a better idea of what we're dealing with here, as I've never seen the insides of one other than the Jeep, and it had the shifting forks attached to the shifter.

Suggest that if your shifter just has a ball on the end - you're looking for three things (assuming a 4 or 5-speed) to line up across the width so that the shifter can be moved back and forth across the neutral range. You should be able to move the mechanisms in the tranny fore and aft, with hopefully a detent or stop in the middle - this should be the neutral position - just have to get the other mechanisms lined up with this one you just moved, and all should be good to go.

You'll want to make sure all tension is off of the transmission - perhaps block the wheels with the parking brake off, and depress the clutch while trying this.

str8dogg

Here are some quick pictures hopefully you can tell what is going on here. I don't know how it is supposed to look in neutral, so if anyone out there can tell me, I would appreciate it. As of right now, if i put the shifter in, wiggle it around and such, it won't put it in the correct gear. I am thinking maybe raise the rear and play with it until it catches!?? What cha say? I can't afford another tranny or any more tranny work for that matter.

wde3477

Wow - that was quick with the pics!

Wondering about the pawl on the right - which is the leftmost throw on the shifter - the 1st/2nd or the Rev/1st fore and aft throw, depending on your tranny. It doesn't look to be lined up correctly as compared to the middle and the left pawls.

Offhand, I would suggest to try prying it back/aft - look at the two thingies on the left - try to move the rightmost thingie (sorry - technical terms escape me) to look like the leftmost two.

Perhaps Sean's comment about trying to put the shifter in that position and lowering the shifter in might be worth considering. Looks like it would be the left and down position on the shifter.

Hang in there, but be careful - if all you've done is remove the shifter to get in this situation - don't think that any damage has been done. Only looks like one ring is out of position at this point. Just need to be careful that we don't get too crazy and cause some real damage by getting multiple rings out of line.

Need to be really careful when trying things out - could get in a situation where multiple gears are engaged which would not be pretty if the full motor torque were applied.