P-15 3 sp transmission

[Roger Lisk]

My 1948 P-15 will not shift into 2 & 3 gear. I've unhooked the linkage and cannot manually shift the gears. Any advise will be appreciated.

[wilbur46]

Hi Roger,

I'm new here but I'm also fiddling with my trans (50 Dodge wayfarer).

I have discovered that the shift linkage is unlike all others I have worked on.

Looking into the trans I see why.

The forks move on two rails , one on top of the other.

The shift lever on the top of trans moves the gear selector.

The bottom lever moves the selector up and down .

Down is 2nd/3rd. Up is 1st/reverse. I don't know which position the bottom lever should be in to select which rail yet.

If the gear selector will not move, move the bottom lever around moving the gear selector at the same time.

If the gear selector will not move at all, I would think that the trans is dry.

You would have to drain it , remove the cover and see if the sliders will move into gear.

You could jack up the rear end and spin the driveshaft to see what happens.

I doing this exact job today.

Good luck.

W

[Daliant.]

These transmissions don't shift like a typical later model 3 speed, one lever does all shifting and one lever selects either 1st and reverse or 2nd and high. The lever that sicks out of the top of the side cover is the one that allows you to select 1 and R or 2 and high, move this one back and forth and watch for any up and down movement on the shaft, if you notice any up and down movement there is a set screw  that holds the shaft from moving which is either loose or worn out. This will prevent you from getting into 2nd or high gear.

[wilbur46]

Hi Dalient,

Thanks for answering the post.

I can feel  the gear selector spring loading.

Should I feel spring loading on the up/down lever too?

My trans won't select reverse.

Thanks,  W

Edited November 26, 2013 by wilbur46

[Roger Lisk]

Thanks for the response, the shift lever seems to work fine, no play in it, the lower lever I can move forward about 1/2 inch under spring tension.

Is that  all the travel it needs?.

[greg g]

The tension you feel could be the detent, it should go past that.  Total throw should be an inch or more either side of center (neutral). Just forward of the housing bearing the controller levers are 2 hex heads one above the other.  These retain the springs and detent balls thatcontrol the sliding shift rails.  You might want to see if these are free and allowing the internals to move correctly. Pull one at a time to see if it frees the action of the selector lever.  If not that the manual suggests that difficulty in shifting 2nd/3rd may be related to the linkage being adjusted to short or worn bushing not allowing complete travel, or internally a fault with the fork and  stop ring on the second gear synchro assembly or a worn or damaged synchro  assembly.

[Roger Lisk]

I removed the gear selector cover. I was able to realign the synchronizer with the fork shifter with my fingers. It will shift freely at this point. I will need to drive the car and see what happens. Thanks for all the help.