Trouble shifting

[SKIPPER1]

Hi,

First of all this is my first posting, so bear with me. I,ve owned a beautiful '49 Ply P15 3 window business coupe for the past year. runs and drives great, 69,000 miles all original. I was out and about for a few weeks and did not drive it, when I finally got her out of the garage again i could not get her to shift into 2nd or 3rd-- 1st and reverse was no problem. I' ve given the linkage and shifting lever a liberal dose of WD40 but to no avail.

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

SKIPPER1

[Captain Neon]

Sounds like your throw-out bearing went bad. That's what happened to me 3 years ago.

[Chester Brzostowski]

I would suspect something misaligned in you linkage setup. When the shifter is in the neutral position check the alignment of the shifter arms on the transmission. Especially the position of First & Reverse and if the arm is truly set in the natural position. Work your way up from there. I would think if the throw out bearing went south you would have issues disengaging the clutch. Maybe the linkage rod came detached for 2nd & 3rd.

My two cents, Chet...

[Jim Yergin]

I would check the gear selector rod. It is the threaded rod. I had a similar problem in that mine would not shift into reverse or first. The adjustment on the selector rod was too lose and would not shift the selector inside the transmission into the reverse/first quadrant. Maybe yours is too tight and not allowing the selector to go into the second/third position inside the transmission.

Jim Yergin

[=PlyPals=]

And what about the gear shift lever stud?

Some time ago I had that problem...

the rubber was cracked and thus I had no possibilities to shift...

(okay, I know you can shift between 1st and reverse...)

[SKIPPER1]

I would suspect something misaligned in you linkage setup. When the shifter is in the neutral position check the alignment of the shifter arms on the transmission. Especially the position of First & Reverse and if the arm is truly set in the natural position. Work your way up from there. I would think if the throw out bearing went south you would have issues disengaging the clutch. Maybe the linkage rod came detached for 2nd & 3rd.

My two cents, Chet...

hey Chet,

Sprayed all the linkage, shifter lever, and shifter arm w/ WD40; took the old '49 for a drive, and , with a little effort got er into 2nd but not 3rd. next I will get under and clean all connectors of all the years of oil, grease, dirt, etc.

Any other suggestions?

Thanks Chet,

SKIPPER1

[greg g]

Check the condition of the rubber bushings where the shifter attaches to the linkage at the steerig colume. These get sdried ovaled and sloppy. That can subtract nearly a half inch of travel at the transmission. The bushings are available regularly from a seller on e bay. But the rods them selves are adjustable for length by slipping them out of the transmission arms and turning them in the threaded collar on each one. You are probably just a bit short of the necessary movement due to the wear. You may also want to lengthen the rod fromthe clutch pedal to the throwout bearing fork. You may not be completely disengaging the clutch which allows the input shaft to turn and prevents the synchroizers from doing their job.

Very few shifting problems have lead to transmission rebuilds most have been addressed by adjusting the linkage and clutch. In fact I can't remember more that couple incidents of transmission trouble needing internal repairs (at least regular three speeds) in the 8 + years I have been visiting this forum.

[SKIPPER1]

hey Greg,

Thanks for the reply. Also noticed the rubber bushing around the spring mechanism on shifting rod (engine compart.) is dry rotted. Any connection w/ my problems shifting into 3rd?

SKIPPER1