Is this a problem?

[MikeN]

I'm getting close to being able to fire up the 4bt / '89 Chevy conversion. The engine is in (required a lot of custom fabrication for the mounts) and I am in the process of hooking up fuel and electrical systems. I'm hoping to get it fired up this weekend.



One thing that bothers me is that I cannot get the shifter to go into gear. I'm running a NV-4500 (new reman unit). It went into gear when it was out of the truck, but when I bolted everything in and installed the shifter, I can't get it to go into gear.



Since I haven't actually had the truck running yet, maybe I need to run it to spin the input shaft and get things to line up? I am hoping this is the case.



If not, any idea what might have gotten screwed up? I'm putting so many new parts in at once (and some that were never meant to go together in the first place) that it is going to be hard to troubleshoot this one.



Since it won't go into gear, I have no idea whether my Chevy clutch master cylinder / Dodge slave cylinder combo is going to work.

 

[MikeN]

I got the starter wired up today, so I was able to turn the engine over (still need to get the fuel lines hooked up to get it to run).



It still won't go into gear, even if I try while cranking it with the starter.



Is it possible that I could have put the shifter in wrong? It looked like it only went in one way, but you never know... .



From the engine back, I am using all '95 Dodge parts (transmission, clutch, bellhousing, shifter assembly, etc. )

 

[bmoeller]

Have you tried to roll the truck? Could be the gears aren't in quite the right spot to slip in. Can you move the shift lever through the shift pattern, or is it kinda stuck in one spot?



It is possible to set the shifter in wrong. Were all the shift rails in neutral position?

 

[MikeN]

The shift lever is not stuck in one spot--I can move it left and right, but I can't move it through the shift pattern because it won't move out of the neutral position. Its kind of the same feeling you get when you try to downshift into too low of a gear on some transmissions--like something is blocking you from grabbing that gear.



I've tried rolling the truck--didn't help.



I didn't pay that close of attention to the shift rails when I put the shifter mechanism in. Maybe this is my problem?

 

[WM-300]

I have a 4BTA/NV-4500/NP-205 in my 1943 Dodge Carryall. From what you say, I believe there is something wrong inside the NV-4500. You should be able to shift it sitting still not moving. Now, you might not be able to have it slip into all 5 gears, but for sure it will drop in a few. If you had the shift tower off, My bet is the problem developed when you put it back on, not indexed for netural. That is the area I would concentrate on.



WM-300

 

[ADSmith]

Mine acted a lot like this when I had it apart recently to repair the 5th gear nut. I had moved the 5th-reverse shift fork to its forward position(reverse) with the gear shift in neutral. I could move the shifter around but it wouldn't go into any gear until I manually moved the shift fork back to the neutral position. I would try removing the shifter and make sure everything is in neutral then try again.

 

[MikeN]

I got it working! Thanks everybody.





Not all of the shift rails were in the neutral position when I put the shifter on the first time. The one on the driver side had moved forward. Once I pushed it back and put the shifter back in, everything worked fine.