Engine/Transmission (1994 - 1998) lost ability to shift

[WDaniels]

Today when shifting out of 5th into neutral to stop at a light, it was a little difficult to get into neutral. Now that the shifter is into neutral, the transmission is stuck in 5th gear. The shifter moves back and forth but I cannot shift into any gear either forward or reverse. I've never heard of a transmission getting stuck in a gear, especially 5th while the shifter is in neutral. Anyone got any ideas?

WD

 

[FourBarR]

broken shifter fork ??

 

[ewcmr2]

After a transmission rebuild my truck did the same thing. Besides the normal rebuild stuff the shop also replaced the top cover (mine was worn so the shifter would move up/down) with one fron a GM NV4500. They arn't sure what/where/how the top cover made a difference but with a new one it has been fine for 3 years.

 

[WDaniels]

Was talking to friend today and he said that the fork has a roll pin in it and if the roll pin breaks the fork will just slide back and forth on the shaft. Is that right?

WD

 

[CRobbins]

Ok, after nine transmissions, mine has done that after the last four rebuilds. I have a solution for you. take the shifter boots off the floor, pull up on the shift lever until it comes off, take a big wrench and push down and turn the retainer and it will come up (its under spring pressure), and remove the assembly, look in the hole and you will see the three gates and one will be out of position, with a large screwdriver pry the one back to the center with the other ones, and reassemble. This has worked for me numerious times and its now only when I let other people drive my truck that it happens anymore. When you downshift from 5th to 4th, remember to pull straight back to reverse, to get to neutral, before letting the shifter move left to the 4th gear gate.

 

[tgordon]

WOW that sounds like the old Versetile I ran for a guy one summer. Slide it into the opposite gear and you might get into neutral and then you can move it into the desired gear. I belive the problem is in the cover itself. I don't have that many miles on my truck but they all wear differantly depending on driving style etc. Hope you can get it fixed soon, that sounds annoying and pottentially expensive.



Troy

 

[Flinty]

Good thing I caught that post by robbins! That seems like a fairley annoying idiosyncrasy. Thanks.

 

[WDaniels]

Does anyone rebuild the top cover or sell them. I did what CRobbins said about looking for the gates out of position but I could not see anything. I'm getting desprate. I'm almost finished with my rebuild.

WD

 

[Texas Diesel]

Check the 1/8" x 1" roll pin INSIDE the shift tower. My came with poor lubricant in the 5 speed and was difficult to shift. Eventually the roll pin broke on both sides and got stuck in gear.



After I replaced the roll pin I decided to experiment with a different lube and got the shifting to return to like new in about 5000 miles ) Have nearly 100,000 additional miles on the new lube (I have fresh lube to change it - soon) and the new roll pin. So dont ever doubt that crappy lube can cause hard shifting and can cause fatigue on that roll pin.



Now I carry a 1/8" x 1" roll pin in the tool box.