Cant engage 1st 3rd & 5th

[dippy9]

Hi wondering if i can get some help. I was driving in fourth then all of a sudden tried to downshift to 3rd after going around a corner (nothing stupid) but then realise i could not engage 1st 3rd or 5th gears, what's wrong? I have someone pull open the box and he reckons it the synchros but not too sure.

If it is what needs to be done to recitfy the situation and where can i get these parts from in the states. (too expensive in Australia $2350 for just th 1st aand 2nd synchro).

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[MarkB]

If your problem is 1st, 3rd, and 5th, don't be too quick to condemn the synchros. The way the shifter mechanism was explained to me, it sounds like it could be a bad connection with one of the shifter cables either at the shifter itself or at the transmission.

One of the cables transmits lateral shifter movement, i.e., 1st/2nd, 3rd/4th, and 5th/6th; and the other cable transmits linear shifter movement, i,e., 1st/3rd/5th or 2nd/4th(/6th). Therefore, if one of the cables comes loose, you will be limited to 1st, 3rd, and 5th, or 2nd, 4th, and 6th; and if the other comes loose, you will be limited to 1st and 2nd, 3rd and 4th, or 5th (and 6th).

In any event, reconnecting a shifter cable is a lot less expensive that replacing synchros. The odds of only the odd synchros, and all of them at once, going bad are quite slim. If you have not heard any severe grinding, when you tried to put the transmission in gear, chances are that your problem is not the synchros.

 

[Larry Bastanza]

Could you explain further. Is second OK? Exactly what do you mean by "won't engage"? Does it grind, not move, fell sloppy?Does it do the same thing if the engine is not running? Does the clutch pedal feel normal?

MarkB's description is right on, but I want to understand the problem better. My first reaction would have been clutch, but clearly second should give you trouble too.

Usually syncro's "wear", they do not just drop out and stop working. So if second and fourth are OK, definately look at the cables.

HTH,
LarryB

 

[satan_srv]

since it's 1/3/5 togehter I would say perhaps your shift fork is bent. Or possible you broke/disconnected your shifter cable on the lateral movement like the guy above described. Inspect the shift linkage where it meets the tranny and the rest of the linkage.

 

[dippy9]

thanks for the quick reply. Everything is normal for the car no grinding sounds, clutch feel is normal and nothing feels different for the moment. However i had recently installed a Exedy twin plate and that was jerking the car abit with the sensitivity of the clutch.

The problem is that i cant put the car into 1st 3rd or 5th that means that i can get it into the bottom three (ie 2nd 4th and rev) and the car drives normally in these gears (only tried to drive to get home for the incident was only 5 minutes from house so hopefully didn't cause alot of undue problems).

 

[MarkB]

Since you recently had clutch work done, I would suspect the linkage.

It is possible that whoever did the work didn't properly reconnect the linkage. I believe, however, that the fork is probably ok - unless you recently forced one or more shifts.

 

[Eddy]

If you really have trouble getting the synchros, try it from Japan. They are under $100USD for each gear. If really necessary, I can always order it from Japan and then ship it from US to Aus. Still cheaper than $2300.

As for your symptom, just a stupid questions, does the transmission have oil in it? Without oil, the needle bearings will tend to seize up and you will lose several gears at a time.

Now past the stupid question. The shift cables are called "shift" and "select" cables. They are not exactly what the previous posts stated. When you move the shifter left and right. That's called "shifting" and rightfully moved the "shift" cable. This doesn't engage any gears. But it moves the shift assembly in the transmission for either 1/2, 3/4 or 5/6(R) pairs. When you move the shift lever up and down, that is also rightfully called "selecting" a gear and moves the "select" cable.

If you are able to select 2,4, R, obviously your "shift" cable is working properly and your "select" cable is partially working. Not being able to select 1,3 and 5 indicates that your "select" cable is either adjusted wrong (if it was touched during the clutch install). Or you have a problem with your shift assembly in the transmission. Since each gear has it own fork, it's not likely that 3 forks would be bad at the same time. So check those things and see.

And more specific symptoms would help more. For example, can you shift into 1,3,5 with the engine off? with the engine on? clutch in? clutch out? driving slow? driving fast?

Eddy

 

[dippy9]

well the problem is not being able to shift into any of the top gears at all, when the engine is off, on or moving. No wierd sounds or anything out of the ordinary. it feels as if the top three gears are blocked.

 

[JPS Europa]

I would pull the covers off the shifter mechanism at the transmission and look for something that looks out of place. I am guessing that something changed the length of one of the cable housings; either something jumped out of a groove somewhere or something is tugging on a cable housing. I have done a fair amount of cable actuated robotics and I can tell you that cable problems are 90% of the time associated with the cable housing. The other thing that you can do while you are there is to disconnect the cables and manually shift the trans into all gears... just to give yourself peace of mind. BTW, I once caught a small branch under the car and I could not engage 2nd or 4th until I pulled over and yanked it out. It had to be fouled in the cables. It would have been nice if I could have jacked it up to see what was going on, but it was night and I was in nice clothes, and I had no light, and (insert excuse here). Good luck!