Why are my ****** gears frozen?

Texas Tom

Texas Tom

Senior Member
I'm restoring a 1930 town sedan. In the past couple of days I've attached the rebuilt transmission to the rebuilt engine and installed the combined unit into the chassis.

The attached photo shows the transmission interior.

Once everything was tightened down, I discovered that the transmission gears are locked up. Nothing moves!

I have no idea why this is so. Any advice on what I should do will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.
 

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unless i am seeing the pic wrong it looks like your 2nd/3rd slider is in gear which would make it not turn. try sliding it towards the front which should be neutral.
 
Without the ****** top,it is easy for the gears to engage 2 at once which will lock up the ******. Slide the 1st and reverse toward the rear till it is between gears and the 2/3 gear toward the front till is is between gears. That will be neutral. Right now the 1/reverse id in 1st and the 2/3 is in second.
 
A friend had the exact same problem about a month ago. One of the selector forks was bent forward, so when the top was bolted down, it would force the gears to rock back on the shaft and lock up. To check for this, remove the top and place a engineers square along the lower face of the top plate where the bolts come through. Eyeball the fork with the part of the square hanging down.
 
Those forks are forged steel. How the heck did they get bent? I'd imagine that if somehow the gears got stuck and someone forced the gearshift lever, it would be the lever that bent before the forks would. Did someone drop the shift tower while it was removed, and it landed on the forks?
 
You may have to rock the engine to get them out of gear. (Watch your fingers)
Or, put the rear end up off the ground and have someone rock the wheels while you try to slide it out of second back into neutral. Case looks pretty dry. Did you pre-lube any of the trans before the install? Lube will help everything slide around easier. Once you've found neutral, make sure the trans tower/shifter is also in neutral before slipping it on or it may knock the gears back into a locked position again.
Good Luck!
 
Farrell In Vancouver said:
You may have to rock the engine to get them out of gear. (Watch your fingers)
Or, put the rear end up off the ground and have someone rock the wheels while you try to slide it out of second back into neutral. Case looks pretty dry. Did you pre-lube any of the trans before the install? Lube will help everything slide around easier. Once you've found neutral, make sure the trans tower/shifter is also in neutral before slipping it on or it may knock the gears back into a locked position again.
Good Luck!
Click to expand...

Just by stepping on the clutch the input shaft will be unloaded of any pressure.
Good point about the dry look. Everything should be lubed as it's assembled.
 
Of course you're right Tom, it should unload. I guess I assumed Texas Tom has a new engine and clutch face yet to be worked in and things may be a bit tight yet.
 
I think James has the answer. If nothing else, put the shift tower on (correctly) and try it. Should unlock it.
 
If there is torque on the output shaft, then you'll need to jack up one rear wheel to relieve the pressure. Then the gears should easily slide into place.
 
Thanks for the suggestions.

Regrettably, NOTHING in the trans will move, not even a hair.

As you can see in attached photo, the entire assembly is on jack stands. So there are no wheels/tires on the ground to impede movement.

Trans parts were lubricated with clear lube during assembly. I've not yet installed the shift tower, nor have I yet filled the trans with 600W lube.

I've pulled up on the lever that is activated by the clutch pedal, to no avail.

Gotta be a way out of this. YIKES!
 

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;Try having someone rotate the rear wheel(s) as suggested above while you see if anything frees up in the ******/ Also try depressing the clutch pedal and see if you can move anything. FWIW
Paul in CT
 
I would try to turn the engine backwards a small amount. Best to have someone else turn it while you try to slide one of the gears to neutral. If the clutch is adjusted correct. then pushing it down should also unload the pressure, so you can slide the gears.

BTW, did you try to run the starter when the gears bound up?
 
I have not yet installed the starter. The trans gears moved around easily until I attached the trans to the motor and installed the motor/trans assembly. That's when I first became aware of the problem of the trans being locked up.
 
Don't panic! The first time mine did that I freaked a little too. Just keep at it and try to get the load off the gears as sugested. As noted, with it on the stands you'll need an extra set of hands to rock the rear or crank the engine and at the same time put pressure on the gear to disiengage. It'll slid into neutral once the load is off.
 
You need to install the clutch pedal and then depress it until the clutch is disengaged. I don't think you are disengaging the clutch when you pull up on the lever unless you have some extra leverage there. If ou have a partner to help you, have someone push the 2nd /3rd slider to the front of the transmission when the other one disengages the clutch all the way. This can't be done by simply pushing up on the clutch lever as you won't have enough leverage to disengage the clutch that way.
 
Will N said:
Those forks are forged steel. How the heck did they get bent? I'd imagine that if somehow the gears got stuck and someone forced the gearshift lever, it would be the lever that bent before the forks would. Did someone drop the shift tower while it was removed, and it landed on the forks?
Click to expand...
Don't know how one got bent, but it was bent. I only found the problem, not cause it, I cause enough of my own problems. My thoughts on how, could be that during the restoration of the car, the top of the gearbox was off and it got dropped, stood on etc. I have no evidence to back any of this up, so I just shrug the shoulders and repair it. I just mentioned it for something to be looked at if nothing else becomes apparent.
 
Any chance youve got the main bearings in a bind? I had one where the slinger was the wrong size and installed backwards. when tightened up to the housing the mainshaft siezed solid and would not move. Perhaps you should reverse the installation and loosen things off untill the trans will move again. You may find the problem faster.
 
The engine was rebuilt in North Carolina by James Rogers. He ran the engine for awhile before shipping it back to me in Texas. So I'm confident there's no problem with the engine's main bearings.
 
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