gearbreaker

my 72 4 speed has a grindy 3rd gear. not every time but maybe three out of ten times it will grind when I shift it into 3rd. 1st, 2nd, and 4th are perfect, just 3rd.

when it wants to grind I can feel a sort of detent feeling in the shifter lever (if that makes sense) as I push the shifter up to 3rd. when I let the clutch out a little it will just start to grind and I can push the clutch back in and try the shift again and it will shift without the grind. the other 7 out of 10 times it shifts into 3rd without a detent feeling and all is fine.

I'm hoping it's a linkage adjustment. thoughts?

jnb5101

Check the linkage for loose mounting bolts and proper alignment of the shift control levers(there's a 1/2" semi-circle depression in the bottom of the levers that will line up) first, because it's the easy path. But, when you say that the grinding stops on the second attempt to change gears, I think it's a syncro ring that is too loose or cracked. I think what's happening is that your first attempt to change gears that causes the grinding acts like a syncro to slow the rotation of the gear set, and it allows the trans clutches to engage. FYI, the gears are always meshing. It's the trans clutches (sliders) that lock different gear sets together that cause the different "gears".

gearbreaker

thanks, the explanation of the gear set makes sense now.