Help! My shifter is stuck in 2nd gear!

[skipnspit]

Took my '68 out for a first real drive, this morning, and it's stuck in 2nd gear! :P Any quick and easy solutions, or does it involve pulling it out and sending it in for rebuild? It's a stock 4 spd. Hurst.

[JLP]

So this is whathappens when you power shift 1-2? LOL ;D
A couple of things.

I assume that the clutch is okay.

You will need a second person to help. Put it on jack stands or on ramps. Crawl underneath and check the linkage. Have the person in the car try to put it into neutral. Watch the linkage.

If it cannot be moved, remove the 1-2 shift linkage from the shifter. It should be held on with clips. Move the shifter into neutral (all the bars should line up). See if you can move the shifting rod that is attached to the transmission shifting lever. If you can then move it back to neutral. If the shifting rod does not line up with the shifter, adjust the rod until it does. It should slip in with no problem. Be sure the shifter levers are in neutral also.

How old is the shifter. It may need new bushings or the rod may have become stretched/bent over the years. I know no one ever power shifts or speed shifts, however........ ;D ;D

If this is an oem shifter the adjusting is done by removing the rods from the shifter and rotating the shifting rod to adjust. If it is an aftermarket shifter the adjustment is done on the transmission and you remove the rods from the transmission levers and adjust there. The rods are threaded........Hope this helps.

[LonnieS]

Much obliged JLP! Thanks for your help. ;D

[skipnspit]

Thanks, JLP, not sure if it's within my capacity to do that, though the instructions seem pretty clear, but I'll give it a shot. If not, I have a mechanic on call, who knows what he's doing. Yes, it's oem. I got a bushing kit, already, but the guy said it was mainly for the after market shifters, so he wasn't sure if it would work for this one. Thanks, again.
Skippy
...AND I WASN'T POWER SHIFTING, not yet, anyway!

[JLP]

"...AND I WASN'T POWER SHIFTING, not yet, anyway!"

Allrightythen. *;D *::)

If it is stuck in 2nd then you will probably have to jack it up, put it on stands (front) and work from there. *It is a simple mechanical operation.

Shifter has 3 levers and so does transmission.

1-2, 3-4 and reverse. *The key to adjusting is making sure that the levers on the shifter and transmission are all in neutral before doing any adjusting of the rods. *Use a dowl pin, screw driver or whatever will fit in the hole that is at the top of the shifting levers just as they enter the body of the shifter. *Put something straight through it so the arms won't move as you make adjustments. *This needs to be tight in the hole as if it is not then you are not really in neutral when the shifter is in neutral.

Once you see it then what you need to do it is pretty straight foreward. *If there is an bolt on either end (not side) of the shifter that is so the shifter stops after going a certian distance and the rods can't be bent or stretched. *Can't over shift it even with an arm like the Hulk. ;D *If this is present you have an aftermarket shifter. *Also if the handle is not bolted to the shifter it is an oem shifter.

Just check a bushing and see if it will fit or not. *Don't remember if the holes are the same size for oem and aftermarket. Been a while but I think the rods are larger on aftermarket than on oem.

[skipnspit]

Thanks again, JLP. You sure know your shifters! Looks like I'm on the verge of getting acquainted with them, myself. :-/ I'm sure it's oem, as it was my sister's car, since new, and I'm sure she never had it replaced, and she never power shifted, either. :) I was looking for a Tacoma area detailer, in the detailing subject board, and got good suggestions and encouragement, there, too, however, am spending the weekend doing it myself, with lots of help from a friend. Sure are a lot of knowledgable and great people on this forum! Lots of good info for a woman who's just getting acquanted with her goat. Thanks, again. ;D

[Kevin-D]

I hope you get it going for the Rainier Run!

G-Luck! ;D

[skipnspit]

Well, we got under it (actually, a friend did), played around, got them lined up, tightened up as well as we know how, but 2nd gear just keeps getting hung up. The bushings we got were too large, so that wouldn't work either, so I think it's destined for a rebuild. The shifter is the original that came in the car, so it's probably due for a rebuild, anyway. However, figured out that if we skip 2nd, we can shift the other gears just fine, so we went cruising around, top down, anyway. ;D It's really tough to remember to shift from 1st to 3rd every time, though. Forgot once and ended up driving all the way home in 2nd. :-[ (Kinda like an automatic, no shifting, LOL.)
I've committed to going to the Gig Harbor Cruisers car show this Saturday, which was my original motivation to get this car going. Several friends will be exhibiting there for support in this first venture of mine into this arena. I don't feel that the car is roadworthy enough , for a long drive like Rainier, yet, but I'm thinkin' that next spring's Tiger Run might be a worthy goal to work toward.

[JLP]

Does the trans have a drain plug?? Most did not come with them only the M-22 until later on when they decided they could put them in all Muncies.

You may want to drain some if not all of the fluid and look for bits and pieces. If there are not any then it may be a shifter fork problem. (still internal)