915 help...stuck in gear! John W or Grady C?

[k9handler]

Today I took my car to the auto skills center and used a lift to perform a tranny swap. Everything went well as we were able to pull the engine/tranny in just under 3 hours, and about the same time to get it all back in the car. The only real snag was the clutch arm from the replacement tranny was different from mine so we simply swapped them. The other issue was I had to notch the bell housing for the sensor to the 3.6 as the original was done.

Now the big problem/issue I need to deal with. The damn tranny is stuck in 3rd gear. I am not able to shift it out to neutral or any other gear for that matter. We move the coupler and adjusted it...but nothing worked. While at the shop I was not quite sure what gear it was stuck in, but once I started to criple the car home I discovered that the car would go 70 mph with the tach reading 4k so this would be 3rd I guess.

Could the shift rod have been shoved in when the tranny was shipped? How do I get it out (please don't tell me I need to drop the tranny and engine again) of 3rd?

I purchased this tranny from a fellow Pelican member who stated the tranny was in working order at the time I purchased it, so I am at a loss for ideas to fix this. HELP me please.

[1fastredsc]

If you take the bottom cover off of the tranny where that gear selector fork thing is, than you can see both rods, one for 1-2, the other for 3-4. There you can use a screw driver or whatever to take it out of gear. They may have put it in 3rd gear during the removal and shipped it that way, and during shipping if the tranny was miss handled or dropped it could have binded that gear selector in it's position. But can't really know for sure usless you take it apart unfortunately.

[k9handler]

thank you for your input...and I just got off the phone with Harald here in Germany and he also thinks it may have a bent shifter fork. Either way I am not happy as much work (and possibly money) is needed to repair what should have been a simple bolt up and run project. One thing I do have is the fork and parts from my old tranny...so maybe the old parts can fix this one.

[john walker's workshop]

try lining up the notches in the shift rods first, after removing the access cover/guide fork plate. set the shift finger (on the main shift rod) in the notches and be sure the guide fork captures the finger when you put the plate back on.

[Grady Clay]

Handler,

Sorry, you posted after I went off to retrieve some more of my kart stuff for Pelican KobaltBlau.

You are in good hands. Report back what you find when you have the shift pivot plate off.

This brings up a good point. Whenever you go to install a new transmission (new to you or rebuilt) try to always put it in all gears when out of the car. You wouldn’t install an engine without seeing if it turns over properly.

Hopefully all you have to do is reposition a shift rail. You will want a new shift pivot plate gasket at some point. “While you are there” you might want to make sure the pivot nuts are tight. If those get loose, then the finger can get out of place.

Best,
Grady

[k9handler]

wow you both replied very quick...thank you very much. I hope that I don't sound completely stupid, but when I remove the cover will the fork look out of place to someone who has never seen the inside of a gearbox? I really don't know what I am looking for so can someone post a graphic of some sort that may help. I must say Grady that I am upset with myself for not checking that before I put it in the car, guess that is one of the lessons I had to learn.

[golfnow]

Smitty are you going to drop it again

[k9handler]

Mike...if I need to then yes. I must admit that I have no problem getting the engine/tranny out now that I have done it a couple times. Yesterday the 3 of us worked together and it went very smooth with just the two delays I had not planned (switching the clutch arm and having to notch the tranny bell housing) so I feel good about that. The downside is the fact that I have to spend the money again on all the little things (about $175) to perform a drop again. My hope is that I can look through the plate on the tranny and see what is wrong, plus I am going to open the old tranny to see how it looks as it shifted ok. So all the parts to repiar this tranny could possibly come from the old tranny. Sorry I didn't mean to ramble on.

HAPPY EASTER.

[Dutchie]

Your in good hands with John and Grady i,m sure they will talk you through this problem. This is a thread where they talked rcecale through a complete 915 rebuilt one of the best threads on this board Can't Shift Into First lots of pictures in there aswell. I,m sure you will get your car running again soon with their help Smitty

Happy Easter,

[Rufblackbird]

Smitty,
sorry to hear about this!! The trans did shift fine...in and out of every gear before it was taken out of the car. God knows what UPS did to it during shipment. I hope everything is alright!

[k9handler]

here are a few pictures of how the tranny was delivered in Ohio, probably where the damage was caused.





My guess is tha shaft was shoved in with enough force to damage the 3rd/4th gear fork.

[1fastredsc]

Yeah, no offense, but commense sense should have told you to check it before putting it in. I looks like that box was thrown off the back of the truck and on to the floor. Did the sender get insurance, maybe ups will compensate you. Just send these pictures to them.

[rexav8r]

Hi Smitty!

Sorry it wasn't a simple 1 for 1 swap !

If you do need more parts, you know where to turn for shipping to Germany.

I hope it's as easy to fix as the others say it "COULD" be !

Let me know if you need anything !

I'll keep an eye on this thread!

[Eric Mckenna]

I am getting in hee a bit late.. but have ya sorted it out yet Smitty?

-Eric

[k9handler]

Eric and Rich...no fix yet as I am back working and will not be able to look at it again until this weekend. I will put it back on a lift and try what John W stated above, hope that works. IF NOT...I will pull the tranny (in a few weeks) and take it and the old one and swap the damaged parts...problem is I am going to need someone there with more knowledge than I have. The auto skills center has a transmission expert on the staff so I am going to get with him to see if he can assist me.

[rexav8r]

Hopefully you can get it going, but if you run into probs, maybe you can drop the eng & Tranny, separate the two, pop the eng back up in there and just roll it outside the auto shop there while you take the two down to Harald's place for some help...

I won't be back over until the 17th or 18th or so.... I stay in touch & give a hand if I can...

We gotta get this baby back in trim here, I GOTTA get some "Ring" time from her !!!!! I've got a vested interest in this one !!!!!

[k9handler]

Rich I am on the positive side of things and have hope that it's not a major issue. This weekend I will know more and will be able to determine if I need to take the two gearboxes to Harald for help.
You will get some ringtime for sure one of these trips.

[k9handler]

Ok I decided to come home from work and tear into the old tranny just to see what I will be dealing with when I pull the cover on the tranny in the car.

This is a bad sign...DON'T DRAG RACE!



So if the drain plug is not enough I notice that the gear oil looks more like liquid metal than oil, but then again I did drive it even after the tranny started to go tits up on me.

Now for the questions...when I pull the cover I notice the shafts (two of them) that the arm extending from the shift rod can switch between, and the fork on the back of the cover acts like a pivot point for the lever...am I on the right track?







So what I am expecting is that the shift rod and lever are jamed behind/or in the fork and that is what I need to pry loose to get the damn thing out of 3rd.

Any further help is GREATLY appreciated.

[rcecale]

Originally posted by k9handler
Now for the questions...when I pull the cover I notice the shafts (two of them) that the arm extending from the shift rod can switch between, and the fork on the back of the cover acts like a pivot point for the lever...am I on the right track?

So what I am expecting is that the shift rod and lever are jamed behind/or in the fork and that is what I need to pry loose to get the damn thing out of 3rd.

Any further help is GREATLY appreciated.

H.D.,

YIKES!!!! Those metal bits on the plug look pretty scary!

In answer to your questions, though, you pretty much have your description down pat. The pivot arm does pivot inside the pivot fork, (attached to the plate you removed) and moves your tranny into gear. The side to side motion you give to your shifter moves the little pivot arm from one shift rod to the other.

As far as getting your tranny out of third gear, I've seen it posted here that you can (or at least should be able to) use a big-a$$ screw driver and place it in between the two red lines, on the shaft, and pry it in the direction of the yellow arrow. It may take some muscle, but it should give.



JW or GC can confirm I have the directions correct, but that's pretty much all you should need to do to get her unstuck. the repair, well, that will most likely be a bit more involved, but it certainly shouldn't be too difficult for you.

Good luck,

Randy

[john walker's workshop]

hopefully you will find one of the two shift rods is not in the neutral position, where the shift finger can swing thru them both. one may be in third without the shift finger in the selector notch. just pop it back in place with a long screwdriver. hopefully.