Stuck in gear

[Europa73]

This does not sound good.

I just went to move the car and it is stuck in gear.

it feels as though I can select 1st, 2nd, 3rd, rev and neutral not 4th or 5th - but the car remains in one of the high gears.

Hoping this is not serious.

Any thoughts?


Thanks, 

[4129R]

Have a look at the selector rod on the back of the gearbox while someone else is sitting in the car going through the gears.

I had a problem 30+ years ago with gear selection on my first TCS, and it was something stopping the gear selector on the back of the gearbox.

Something might have got stuck in there, such as the ballbearing.

If the selector is moving freely without hitting anything, try disconnecting the selector rod on the back of the gearbox (nut and bolt usually), and selecting the gears using a screwdriver in the hole through the rod.

It seems strange 4th and 5th are not working, as they should be different selector shafts in the gearbox, being in different planes with 1st /2nd in 1 plane, 3th/ 4th in another plane, and reverse and 5th being in 2 other planes at either end. So there should be 4 separate shafts operating the 6 gears in my opinion. 

[Europa73]

Thanks for the note.

In fiddling around with it this morning.

the car is still stick in a high gear - I think its in 5th.

I am able to select 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and reverse.

But not even able to push the stick to the right to try and engage 5th.

Has anyone been through this?


Cheers,

[BDA]

I'm a little confused. Are you able to select 1 - 4 at the gear shift or at the selector shaft in the rear cover?

And even though you've "selected" one of 1 - 4, the tranny is actually in 5th? If you are able to select 1 - 4 while the transaxle is in 5th, that should lock the tranny.

It sounds like 5th was selected but somehow the shift finger escaped the 5 shift fork and is in position to select the other four gears.

I'm assuming you haven't been working on your transaxle - specifically had the end cover off. That being the case, none of this makes any sense to me - which should be taken to mean that I don't know enough about the transaxle to imagine how it could happen. Maybe someone else has an idea about that

If on the other hand, you did open the rear cover of the transaxle, I can easily see how the shift finger was in neutral (or even a gear) and putting the end cover on could have moved the 5 shift fork selecting 5th. On the NG3, and presumably, the 365, it is possible to select 5th and another gear. In fact it's a technique spelled out in the manual. I had to contend with this when putting my NG3 back together. This was much more likely when the transaxle was vertical. Laying it down made it easier to avoid this problem.

I'm thinking that you'll have to take the end cover off, make sure all the shift forks are lined up properly, and put the end cover back on taking care that the shift finger is properly situated and that all six gears can be selected. Actually, if you can choose reverse, any of 1 - 4, and fifth, you should be able to get them all.

[Europa73]

Thanks for the note.

Yep I can select 1st to 4th and rev at the stick and selector shaft. I can feel it slide into gear.

when I release the clutch (very slowly) the car tries to move forward as though in a high gear (assuming 5th as I am unable to select it) even when I select first. When I select rev the car does not move at all - so - I thought its a good idea not to try rev again.

Unfortunately I have not been working on the transaxle, wish I had then that could be an error on my part.

I have ever worked on a gear box - I have re-built many engines -not sure if I am brave enough to take the end cover off :-(


Is this a simple operation?

Thanks

[buzzer]

 This might be a silly question. Are your brakes stuck on?  If you left the car stored with the handbrake on the shoes can stick to the drums. 

[BDA]

Just to make sure we're talking about the same thing, when you put it in gear (now presumably it is in 5th and another gear), you should not be able to move the car without putting in the clutch (take out the spark plugs to do this test). If that's not the case, there could be another problem.


There are several places in the shift linkage where slop can happen. I don't see how slop in the linkage could give you two gears at once, but it could fool you about which gear you're in. If doing the test above does not lock the tranny, you could have linkage issues. If the test above does lock the tranny, then I think you'll have to take the end cover off. Taking off the end cover isn't difficult. Hell, even I can do it! You might have to take your transaxle out if the rear frame hoop is in the way of taking it off.

[Europa73]

thanks again for the information.

I wish it was the brakes - that would make me very happy on a Sunday afternoon.


Correct - I am unable to move or start the car without the clutch in.

I will let you know how it goes.

Cheers,

[BDA]

I don't think you'll have any problems taking it apart. Since you've never been inside, might be interesting to see how shifting happens. It's pretty straightforward. One thing you might find is that oil gets caught up in the tranny and is seems as if it will drip forever - thwarting your efforts to keep the sealing surfaces dry when you want to apply sealant to button it back up. That's why I first tried to assemble it vertically, but when that didn't work, I did the best I could to soak up as much oil as possible so that if there was any left, it wouldn't drip till after I put it together.


Good luck and let us know if you need help.

[Europa73]

Many thanks and will do!


Cheers,

[Europa73]

Hi all,

just had the car back from the garage.

Apparently this issue was the 5th gear selector fork had slipped in the shaft and was out of alignment.

Now works great - except.....

There is now no spring resistance for 5th - making is hard to determine the selection of 3rd or 5th.

Any thoughts - could this be n issue with the indent for 5th?

Many thanks,

[BDA]

Is it a 365? There is a cam/detent mechanism on the rear cover that's covered by a small plastic box. That cam pushes on a detent ball for R and 5. Maybe that's missing? It's #26. Or maybe they lost the detent ball #27 or the spring #28. If that's missing, you shouldn't have much resistance to getting into R.

Take a look and see what you find back there. A picture might be useful, too.

[Europa73]

Hi BDA,

Many thanks,

It is a 365

yes it is there and I can feel the resistance for reverse but not for 5th - do you think it just needs adjusting?

Cheers,

[BDA]

I don't think there's any adjustment that can be made. Unless the shop modified your cam - something I wouldn't expect but something I considered if I kept my 365 - I think it may be something more complicated. The cam 'ears' should be the same shape and size. That will be easy to check. After that, I'd go back to the shop and ask them what they did. Even on a good day, I don't even look like a transmission guy, but I'm not aware of any "adjustment" you can make on a shift fork so I'm not sure what they did. I wonder if what I call the "shift finger" is what slipped on what I call the "selector shaft". They should probably be pinned together. I'm not sure how that would cause your problem. Maybe they were trying to help you by making it easier to get into 5. If so, it might be easy to reverse.


I've forgotten the history. I assume it was working properly at one time since you've had the car.