Can't Find Neutral in 1940 4-Speed Tranny

[dorvedahl47pu]

Good day. I just recently got the engine on my 1940 3/4 ton running. Problem is, I can't get the tranny into neutral. All the gears do engage. Anyone have any ideas on why I can't get the tranny into neutral? I would like to be able to leave the cab while it's running....
Thanks in advance.

[alanwoodieman]

have you had the top off the trans? do the forks engage the rings on the gears? take the top off and look into the case and see if both 1/2 and 3/4 gears are free

[swedishsteel]

How do you get from the 1/2 side to the 3/4 side without going in to neutral? Assuming it is standard H pattern. What about reverse????

[cas3]

not to doubt your story, but really what you describe is impossible ! when you have it in the 4 gears, actually 5 with reverse, does the truck move? the reason i ask, if a fork is broken, or out of place, you will be in two gears at once and it can not rotate without breaking something. do you feel the detents engage when it goes into a gear? one track is not loose, or feeling free?. theres several trans guys here ( not that kind!!! ) that can help, but more info needed

[dorvedahl47pu]

Thank you for your replies. Here's the bottom line. I can't let out the clutch without the tranny going into gear. It goes into gear with the shifter in the neutral position and every other position. The truck does move in all gears. It doesn't feel like it goes into 4th gear the way it should however. All other gears engage fine. I've had the cover off and the forks are good. I'll take the cover off again and see what I see.

[cas3]

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when you have the cover off, jack up the rear axle, have someone turn the rear tires and see what happens while you look into the gear box. with the cover off, gears in neutral, it should all spin by hand. if you think its not clicking all the way into 4th, thats a red flag to watch, but again, if its in 2 gears at once it wont move. while the cover is off, slide all the gears into neutral, have someone turn the rear tires, confirm that things are free, then lock the sliding gears in place with a zip tie, or tape, set the cover back on and see if the forks fit as is, or do they force a gear to go where it should not be. again, what you describe is impossible i believe

[expavr]

Originally Posted by dorvedahl47pu

Thank you for your replies. Here's the bottom line. I can't let out the clutch without the tranny going into gear. It goes into gear with the shifter in the neutral position and every other position. The truck does move in all gears. It doesn't feel like it goes into 4th gear the way it should however. All other gears engage fine. I've had the cover off and the forks are good. I'll take the cover off again and see what I see.

I experienced a similar condition on the 4 speed in my tonner. The source of the problem was the notch on the shift arm that became wallowed out. First check the pin and the hole in the shift tower for wear. Next check that the notch that the pin fits into the shift arm isn’t wallowed out. If the pin is worn or the notch wallowed out, the orientation of the tit on the end of the shift arm won’t be correct in the two slider shafts that the forks attach to. Also check the tit at the end of the shift arm for wear. If too sloppy that could be another reason the forks aren’t positively engaging the gears. Finally check to make sure that the spring loaded ball bearings that engage the detents in the sliding shafts are actually engaging the shafts and holding them in the correct gear. It sounds like the problem could be in the shift tower.

[big job]

I agree looks like the shift tower

[expavr]

Another thought. Did you take the shift arm out of the tower to remove the transmission? If so it might be possible that when you reinstalled it the pins that hold the cap on the shift arm to the tower got reversed. One is slightly longer than the other and that’s the one that goes in the driver’s side of the shift tower engaging the notch in the shift arm.

[dorvedahl47pu]

Thanks...I'll give that a try.

[dorvedahl47pu]

Thanks for the advice. I have another 4 speed shifter that I think I will pull and try on this tranny. The current shifter does seem a little sloppy.

[rotorwrench]

A good warning when pulling the shift lever from the top of the tower about loose pins as mentioned is to be very careful not to let a loose pin fall into the tranny. A person has to pull the shift cover to fix that boo-boo.