Lost Neutral

I know some here have had a bent shift fork that allowed the trans to be in 2 gears at once, thus locking solid. If the fork was just a bit bent, it could "close the gap" between 2 gears, leaving so little room that neutral would be difficult or impossible to find, but still not lock up. You'd have to be pretty lucky to get just that much bend on it.
Regardless, I think the answer is in the tower somewhere, which is lucky.
 
I've seen transmission towers put back on without the proper positioning of the shift forks so it more or less locked the transmission in a gear. Maybe one of the forks broke and it's staying in one gear? It will be interesting to see what the culprit is.....
 
Planetary transmissions do, indeed, have a neutral. Half pedal or half brake lever is neutral on a Model "T". Since neutral is not a gear but the lack of one, when neither the low gear band or the high gear clutches are engaged, you're in neutral, iffy as it can be. I have to repeat a previously asked question. When you shift out of first but have not yet engaged second, where are you???
 
Just last year a friend of mine had the ****** stick in 3rd gear. He drove 40 miles home some thru stop and go traffic on 405 in Bellevue Wash. I believe he told me he found nothing wrong with the top off, and when he put it back together it was fine. Scary
 
Chuck Sea/Tac said:
Just last year a friend of mine had the ****** stick in 3rd gear. He drove 40 miles home some thru stop and go traffic on 405 in Bellevue Wash. I believe he told me he found nothing wrong with the top off, and when he put it back together it was fine. Scary
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I had a similar situation a few years ago. Our club was on the way to the Peterson Museum for a tour of the vault. About a mile from the Museum on Wilshire Blvd (Los Angeles), I couldn't shift out of 2nd gear. I was able to drive to the Peterson in 2nd only and tour the vault. After the tour I had it towed home. I took of the shift tower and found nothing wrong - fairly new shift lever with the ball still nicely round, shift forks were fine, etc. I put it back together and have had no problems since (knock on wood:) ).
 
so how does one best find the Neutral gear ?
mine was there earlier in the day... it's gone now.
where did my Neutral gear go ?
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Perhaps the clutch release shaft arm has cracked and the clutch isn't releasing.
Bratton's part # 11270
 
I had a problem with my NAA Ford tractor, years ago, which would become stuck in one gear. I don't remember which gear. But the only way to get it to shift was to remove the top cover and shifter (which is similar to Model A) and use a pry bar to move the gears themselves to neutral. The shifter had become worn which allowed it to slip out of the gear slot without moving the gear. A new shifter fixed the problem.

A Hook
 
As is typical with any board, there is a lack of reading comprehension going on along with a tendency to grab the ball and run in any direction. In the original post, he said that he has all the gears, yet there is no neutral. It is not stuck in two gears or any of the other, supposed, problems described. My contention is, you cannot have 4 functioning gears and not have a neutral. It is impossible
 
So Tomball: are you saying you can actually move the car in all three gears like normal,each gear being progressive, but there is no place where you can let the clutch out without the car moving in a direction? Or does it stall the engine?
 
katy said:
Perhaps the clutch release shaft arm has cracked and the clutch isn't releasing.
Bratton's part # 11270
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Katy, The op's post at #9 rules that out. He said that with the clutch pressed, he could start the engine but if he let it out, the car moved. Clearly the clutch is working.
 
CarlLaFong said:
As is typical with any board, there is a lack of reading comprehension going on along with a tendency to grab the ball and run in any direction. In the original post, he said that he has all the gears, yet there is no neutral. It is not stuck in two gears or any of the other, supposed, problems described. My contention is, you cannot have 4 functioning gears and not have a neutral. It is impossible
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I'd just like to clarify that my post, #21, isn't really a comprehension problem, even though I mention being in 2 gears at once.
The idea is that the normal ****** is in a gear, then moves to a spot where no gears engage, then moves further to a spot where the next gear engages.
If a slightly bent fork closes up the width of the "no gear engaged" zone, then neutral will be hard (or impossible) to find.
 
One possibility, the caged needle bearing between the input shaft and the output shaft. The bearings are notoriously bad as we all know. If one comes apart in that tight space, it locks the two shafts together having the effect of being in 3rd gear. It might be that when in first, second or reverse, the lower gear ratio over powers the jammed up mess in between the 2 shafts and just makes pretty silver flakes. Drain out some oil and check.
 
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