My gear shifting problem has returned

Old Fogey UK

8 mile drive with the pedal yoke attached to the middle hole.
Still a slight difficulty engaging first and reverse when hot and putting the car away.
Got back underneath and took the yoke out of the threaded rod, which had a lot of crud and paint at the top end of the thread.
 I cleaned that off and managed to wind the yoke far enough up the rod to attach it to the inner hole in the pivot, whilst maintaining an inch or so of play at the pedal.
Another test drive tomorrow to see if that cures it.
I'm still concerned that the difficulty selecting gears only really starts when I'm backing the car up my driveway and into the garage with a hot motor - once it cools down a bit, there's no problem with shifting.
If the latest adjustment doesn't cure things, the clutch will have to come out.

lostmind

I would suggest a flush and refill with a carefully measured recommended amount.
Try the simple things first , you can still pull the clutch later.

Old Fogey UK

lostmind said:

I would suggest a flush and refill with a carefully measured recommended amount.
Try the simple things first , you can still pull the clutch later.

Thanks.
I'll give that a try.

Old Fogey UK

Drained, flushed and refilled the clutch.
15 mile run today in varying traffic conditions, including highway work queues.
The clutch behaved perfectly UNTIL I got home and tried to back it up my narrow twisting driveway.
Couldn't get first or reverse without brute force and a massive crunch and then it stuck in gear.
I had to leave the car to cool off for 20-30 minutes and then everything worked OK again.
So it seems that heat expansion of the clutch lining may well be the likely culprit and the clutch is going to have to come out.
I have a spare clutch disc and I've written to Les Pendlebury about how to have it relined with Kevlar if my problem is corks-related.
This is all very frustrating because, apart from this, the car now runs like a dream !

lostmind

Well , it was part of the diagnosis. Pretty much points to clutch disc or gasket to thin.

Toddh

I suggested this before but I didn’t whether you had checked, cleaned and re-greased the ball detents in either corner of the trans housing? If they’re galled or dry and not moving, you could experience the same issue.  If you’ve not done this, suggest doing so as it’s an easy thing to sort without taking the trans/clutch out.  Oh yes, you did regrease the throw-out bearing, correct.  

If you did this already and I missed your post on, my apologies 

Old Fogey UK

Toddh said:

I suggested this before but I didn’t whether you had checked, cleaned and re-greased the ball detents in either corner of the trans housing? If they’re galled or dry and not moving, you could experience the same issue.  If you’ve not done this, suggest doing so as it’s an easy thing to sort without taking the trans/clutch out.  Oh yes, you did regrease the throw-out bearing, correct.  

If you did this already and I missed your post on, my apologies 

Thanks for this.
I will take a look at the detents today.
The throw-out bearing has been greased through the grease fitting on the right side of the transmission.
On my car (an LTS Series) there is only one clutch interlock and that's on the left side of the transmission - could that have any effect on what's happening ? It looks like it's only ever had one.

Toddh

If you’ve taken off the shift handle and top transmission cover you’ll see there are two shift rails inside and a ball detent for each at the top front left and right sides of the transmission housing where it mounts to the clutch housing. You’ll see the same special nut on the right side of the trans which secures that ball with a spring same as the left side.  There’s only one clutch interlock on the left side as you observed.  My suggestion is to remove, clean and grease both ball detent chambers.  I would also check each square u-shaped carrier that the shifter pawl rides in on each shift rail to make sure it’s not galling there for some reason. You’ll need to remove the shifter mechanism from the top of the housing (4 bolts) to access the two shift carriers and rails.  Left side is reverse and first gear, right side is second and third gears.  Center position for each is neutral.

Lastly, if you’ve not done so, drain the trans fluid, hose the gears and inside housing all down with brake cleaner or degreaser with the bottom plug out, let it throughly drain, replace the bottom plug and refill with GL-1 gear oil to just below the side plug per the manual through the top.  The shifter mechanism/transmission cover plate will probably need a new gasket and I suggest a thin smear of Permatex #2 to supplement the gasket.  

You should be able to do all of this from inside the car with the floor cover removed.  

Toddh

Some additional thoughts:

1. If the shifting issue is limited to 1st/reverse and not 2nd/3rd, I would focus on the left side ball detent and shift rail.  

2. I would think that if you’re not having issues until the drive train heats up, you can most likely discount the interlock.  

3. When you installed the transmission and bell housing to the engine, did you use the 2 long temporary supporting threaded studs as suggested by Doug Wildrick? They are used to support the trans/bell housing while your shoving it on to keep from bending or warping the clutch plate. 

4. Do you feel any difference in clutch pedal travel when this situation shows up?

5. Do you feel any extra resistance in the clutch pedal when this shows up?

Old Fogey UK

Hi Todd,

Thank you for your replies.
When the problem occurs, I can't get any gears easily but 1st/reverse are the most difficult.
I didn't install the transmission and bell housing. The original engine rebuilder (who I've now found out was a bit sloppy in other areas of the rebuild) installed them,  I don't know how he did it - he's dead now so I can't ask him !
I've not noticed any particular difference in clutch pedal travel/resistance when this happens but I'll check that out next time I run the car.
This afternoon, I'll take the floor panel out and have a look inside the transmission as you suggest and I'll take some close up pics.

David.

Toddh

sounds good, David. I have a ‘34 Terraplane that I just had the engine and trans out and went through this past spring so the things I encountered are first hand.  

Old Fogey UK

To Geoff, Todd and Les,
I have just removed the top of the transmission and taken some photos.
I will email these to your private email addresses with a description.

Geoff

This a clutch problem, not  gearbox.