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1) When in reverse, I have to pull the gear shift straight back until it
hits the stop, *then* slide it right, over into neutral where 1st - 4th are,
and it will go into any forward gear. *But* when in reverse, if I am
pushing right as I pull back such that it slips over into neutral where
1st - 4th are and it doesn't hit this "stop", it will NOT go into any
forward gear. The previous owner said this was normal for a toploader. He
called it "clearing reverse". Is this correct? If not, what could it be?
2) Going from 1st to 2nd, I always feel a few teeth of the gears grind as it
goes into 2nd. I don't hear it; I just feel it thru the gear shift. It
doesn't do this going from 2nd to 3rd or 3rd to 4th. It also does not do
this when I gear down from 3rd to 2nd. Any idea what the problem may be?
--
John
'69 Mach 1 390 Toploader Acapulco Blue
ThunderSnake #59
John wrote:
> 1) When in reverse, I have to pull the gear shift straight back until it
> hits the stop, *then* slide it right, over into neutral where 1st - 4th are,
> and it will go into any forward gear. *But* when in reverse, if I am
> pushing right as I pull back such that it slips over into neutral where
> 1st - 4th are and it doesn't hit this "stop", it will NOT go into any
> forward gear. The previous owner said this was normal for a toploader. He
> called it "clearing reverse". Is this correct? If not, what could it be?
>
No idear except that I recall reverse being fussy on a toploader I drove
around.
> 2) Going from 1st to 2nd, I always feel a few teeth of the gears grind as it
> goes into 2nd. I don't hear it; I just feel it thru the gear shift. It
> doesn't do this going from 2nd to 3rd or 3rd to 4th. It also does not do
> this when I gear down from 3rd to 2nd. Any idea what the problem may be?
>
A friend's toploader car did this. His thought was worn synchros. I
felt exactly what you describe in his tranny (he bought it used). My OT
Ford has this same issue with 200,000 on it, due to the fact 2nd has the
most use of any gear in the box. It is especially prone to doing it
when cold. In winter, the bugger takes literally 2-3 seconds to get
into 2nd gear the first few times. It's gotten progressively worse with
time.
"Wound Up" <none@your.disposal.ask.me> wrote in message
news:4364EDE1.7040808@your.disposal.ask.me...
> John wrote:
>> 1) When in reverse, I have to pull the gear shift straight back until it
>> hits the stop, *then* slide it right, over into neutral where 1st - 4th
>> are, and it will go into any forward gear. *But* when in reverse, if I
>> am pushing right as I pull back such that it slips over into neutral
>> where 1st - 4th are and it doesn't hit this "stop", it will NOT go into
>> any forward gear. The previous owner said this was normal for a
>> toploader. He called it "clearing reverse". Is this correct? If not,
>> what could it be?
>
> No idear except that I recall reverse being fussy on a toploader I drove
> around.
>
A mis-adjusted shifter?
>> 2) Going from 1st to 2nd, I always feel a few teeth of the gears grind as
>> it goes into 2nd. I don't hear it; I just feel it thru the gear shift.
>> It
>> doesn't do this going from 2nd to 3rd or 3rd to 4th. It also does not do
>> this when I gear down from 3rd to 2nd. Any idea what the problem may be?
>
> A friend's toploader car did this. His thought was worn synchros. I felt
> exactly what you describe in his tranny (he bought it used). My OT Ford
> has this same issue with 200,000 on it, due to the fact 2nd has the most
> use of any gear in the box. It is especially prone to doing it when cold.
> In winter, the bugger takes literally 2-3 seconds to get into 2nd gear the
> first few times. It's gotten progressively worse with time.
Time for a rebuild. An excellent winter project!
--
John
'69 Mach 1 390 Toploader Acapulco Blue
ThunderSnake #59
John wrote:
> "Wound Up" <none@your.disposal.ask.me> wrote in message
> news:4364EDE1.7040808@your.disposal.ask.me...
>
>>John wrote:
>>
>>>1) When in reverse, I have to pull the gear shift straight back until it
>>>hits the stop, *then* slide it right, over into neutral where 1st - 4th
>>>are, and it will go into any forward gear. *But* when in reverse, if I
>>>am pushing right as I pull back such that it slips over into neutral
>>>where 1st - 4th are and it doesn't hit this "stop", it will NOT go into
>>>any forward gear. The previous owner said this was normal for a
>>>toploader. He called it "clearing reverse". Is this correct? If not,
>>>what could it be?
>>
>>No idear except that I recall reverse being fussy on a toploader I drove
>>around.
>>
>
>
> A mis-adjusted shifter?
Yeah, and/or slop in the linkage maybe. Anyone else hear of "clearing
reverse"?
>
>
>>>2) Going from 1st to 2nd, I always feel a few teeth of the gears grind as
>>>it goes into 2nd. I don't hear it; I just feel it thru the gear shift.
>>>It
>>>doesn't do this going from 2nd to 3rd or 3rd to 4th. It also does not do
>>>this when I gear down from 3rd to 2nd. Any idea what the problem may be?
>>
>>A friend's toploader car did this. His thought was worn synchros. I felt
>>exactly what you describe in his tranny (he bought it used). My OT Ford
>>has this same issue with 200,000 on it, due to the fact 2nd has the most
>>use of any gear in the box. It is especially prone to doing it when cold.
>>In winter, the bugger takes literally 2-3 seconds to get into 2nd gear the
>>first few times. It's gotten progressively worse with time.
>
>
> Time for a rebuild. An excellent winter project!
>
Indeed. I need to find a few good ones, besides rolling it back and
forth in the garage every couple weeks. Wiring needs some help, but oh
how I love working under the dash... between the a/c system, re-doing
gauges, and clutch woes, it seems I've spent more time there than in the
driver's seat!
Problem #1 You have to pull the transmission out of reverse before you
can put it in any other gear. The shifter isn't pulling the tranny out
of reverse enough when you "slop" it over but if you pull it straight
down and completely out of gear first it'll do its thing. Check the
shifter itself for wear, mis-adjustment and make sure the shift rods
and shift rod bushings are not excessively worn. My big input toploader
behind my SCJ does this. My Hurst shifter is worn out. I disassembled
my shifter cleaned everything and assembled it with fresh grease and
adjusted the stops. Proper adjustment, new shifter rods and new Hurst
bushings and rod spring clips (don't just use cotter pins or keys, use
the spring clips to keep proper tension on the rods) went ALONG way in
improving the problem.
Problem #2. Verify that the clutch is releasing properly and that the
clutch pedal bracket bushings and the entire linkage is not worn out.
If the linkage is binding or not working properly the pressure plate
will not release the clutch disc enough and cause a little
'crunchiness' between shifts.....especially when putting the car in
reverse. If the motor is flexing too much under power (like on 1-2
shifts) on old tired motor/trans mounts and/or if the Z-bar and clutch
rod bushing are shot you can have issues with proper clutch release. If
the clutch linkages and related parts check out then you may have worn
synchros. Rebuild the transmission properly. I've used several kits
from David Kee Toploaders with great results.
Linear Mode
