1949 Plymouth Special Deluxe will not go into reverse 3 on the tree

[ex Gladius]

Hey guys my buddy bought this 49 Special Deluxe about 7 months ago it shifted fine when he got it but after sitting in the garage for the winter it will no longer go in reverse. I have heard that the 3 on the trees can bind up a bit and cause it not to be able to go into gear. I was wondering if anyone had some experience with these?

 

On a separate note we changed all 6 wheel cylinders today and had the drivers side upper blow after pumping the brakes to check pressure. I'm guessing its a bad part as the brake fluid filled up the boot until it popped off. So we will be back at it tomorrow morning and am hoping to get the transmission sorted out if we can since it's already up on jackstands. 

[mopar_earl]

The service manual will tell you how adjust the shift rods. The rubber bushing in the one shift rod can fail and cause slop or fall out.

The wheel cylinder could of been a bad one or the travel was too great and the cup blew.

Earl

[dpollo]

You will find an adjustment hidden under the steering column where the levers are.

 

There are 2   7/16 nuts . one is a jam nut, loosen it then  tighten the other slightly to take the slack out of the selector lever. Re tighten the jam nut.

 

This lever selects low and reverse when you pull back on the gearshift.    Check to see that the column clamp at the steering box is tight since any movement of the steering column jacket will affect  gear shifting.

[mattimuss]

I had the same problem.  I adjusted the shift rods at the transmission and can now get all gears again.

 

Good luck!

[ex Gladius]

got the new wheel cylinder all is well! Gonna have to get a service manual i guess we dont have one. 

 

So the rod on the transmission that hooks to the lever furthest back has slop like crazy you can touch it with a finger and the sucker moves sideways. Is this the one thats supposed to have the bushing? if so it is missing

[mlozier76]

Not saying this is your problem, but when I bought my car, after getting the engine going and all, I would drive around and it would pop out of gear.  I did not have a lift or good jack accessible at the time, and as such could only get so far under the car.  I found my transmission to be caked in dirt and after dropping the transmission to repair some leaks via new gaskets and cleaning it, she shifted flawlessly, no popping out while under a load going downhill.  If the adjustments don't work, this may be the culprit.  I've since pulled two other transmissions that were caked with dirt and most likely would have encountered resistance with linkage engagement.  May not be your issue, but might be worth checking out.

[ex Gladius]

Thanks for all the replies guys, still have the reverse issue gonna tackle it whenever it stops raining here. Do you guys have any good sources on the service manual? 

[Plymouthy Adams]

e-bay should list a few..suggest paper edition over the CD...CD is not flip friendly

[ex Gladius]

Yeah I dont think the cd would do me much good in the driveway or shop lol.. Lucky to get lights out there let alone a PC haha...

[greg g]

Also you might want to check all the rubber isolators in the linkage. If they get worn and ovalled, they may allow sufficient slop so as not to engage the transmission levers to move far enough to engage completely.

[soth122003]

Amazon also has the service manuals fairly cheap. They are repo's, but they are accurate.

 

Joe

[ex Gladius]

Anyone got a source on the bushings for the tranny linkage?

[medium_jon]

@ex Gladius: did you get the  transmission shifting?

[dpollo]

There is only one rubber bushing in the shift linkage.   Your failure to get reverse will not be because of this.  Refer again to my earlier post and tighten the adjustment on the  lower rod which allows the  transmission to select low and reverse.