stuck in reverse, but could not reverse
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Feb 2000
Posts: 3,052
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From: Vancouver BC, Canada
stuck in reverse, but could not reverse
a weird thing happened to me tonight: i shifted into reverse; as soon as i tried to engage the clutch, the engine loaded, but the car would not move. so i then tried to get back to neutral, but the shifter did not move. hmmm. so i tried rolling forward with clutch disengaged but there was not enough of a slope. finally, it took both hands, but i was able to pull the shifter out of reverse and into 1st. no problems since then, but i would like to know what happened. problem with transmisson or shifter or lockout cable?
(PS since i relocated the shift levers to bottom holes, i noticed that the shifter hangs very slighty during the transition from the bottom of the reverse gate over to neutral. a slight wiggle of the shifter and the lockout clicks off and shifter goes to neutral. i assumed this was unrelated to moving the shift rods, and maybe its just the reverse cable?)
i guess this is two questions.
thanks.
(PS since i relocated the shift levers to bottom holes, i noticed that the shifter hangs very slighty during the transition from the bottom of the reverse gate over to neutral. a slight wiggle of the shifter and the lockout clicks off and shifter goes to neutral. i assumed this was unrelated to moving the shift rods, and maybe its just the reverse cable?)
i guess this is two questions.
thanks.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 5,635
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From: Orlando Floriduh
Re: stuck in reverse, but could not reverse (Turbo-Jet)
What happened is ... It was in reverse AND another forwrd gear at the same time thus the load on the engine but no go. This is a LINKAGE ADJUSTMENT problem. The forward levers MUST be EXACTLY in neutral as well as reverse. All of the rods must slide freely into their arms and any bushings must be nice and snug, A slight mis-alignment or excessive "slop" will give you grief at the worst possible time ( MUrphey's law)and CAN damage the transmission.
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From: Just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean people aren't out to get me...
St. Jude Donor '09
Re: stuck in reverse, but could not reverse (silvervetteman)
Happened to me a while back. Silvervetteman described it pretty well. The tranny is stuck in two gears at once. I had someone depress the clutch while I put the shifter levers on the tranny into neutral. I think the reverse lever goes forward and the other levers point straight up. This should free up the shifter
Len
Len
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Re: stuck in reverse, but could not reverse (Turbo-Jet)
Yup. I hate when that happens!
It can either be a linkage adjustment of a worn shifter. If something is wrong it's possible to slip the shifter into the neutral position without moving the fork back to neutral. So you're left in whatever gear you were in. Everything seems fine at this point. Then you shift into reverse and you CAN. Then you try to go. The trans has orders to go both directions, it binds and you go nowhere.
The alternate solution to what you did is to crawl under the car (used to carry channel locks and some towels for this) flip the shift levers back to neutral and you're done.
THe first time my car ever did this it was stuck in 4th. Good thing for torque! I was able to slip the clutch enough to get it going and get home. Then I found out what the problem was and it was simple from that point.
Dave
It can either be a linkage adjustment of a worn shifter. If something is wrong it's possible to slip the shifter into the neutral position without moving the fork back to neutral. So you're left in whatever gear you were in. Everything seems fine at this point. Then you shift into reverse and you CAN. Then you try to go. The trans has orders to go both directions, it binds and you go nowhere.
The alternate solution to what you did is to crawl under the car (used to carry channel locks and some towels for this) flip the shift levers back to neutral and you're done.
THe first time my car ever did this it was stuck in 4th. Good thing for torque! I was able to slip the clutch enough to get it going and get home. Then I found out what the problem was and it was simple from that point.
Dave
