Stuck in neutral?

[BiggSixx1970]

I was driving through town earlier, shifting from second, to third when all of a sudden it was like my stick hit a brick wall.. I tried to back the shifter into the neutral position and tried to enter third gear again with nothing.. It wont go into 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or granny 1st. Reverse is also not an option. I think my linkage is bound up? Keep in mind this was pulling out into traffic, shifting some what aggressively. It's an SM465, so most of the time you take off in second.

I jerked the stick around pretty good (lol) stomping the clutch in and out in an effort to see if I could free it up.. Where do I start?

[airdale94]

Pull the cover off and check the shift forks. They can be a little stuborn. Take the bolts out, pry cover loose, then partially shift into reverse to get it completely off. If it's the forks binding It might fix it self once the pressure is off the top cover.

Will it go into gear with the engine off?

[BiggSixx1970]

No, it will not even go into gear with the engine off. This happened to me once before a couple months ago, but i got pissed and started pulling on the shift lever every which way and it went in to gear again.. This is not the case this time.

By cover, do you mean under my shift boot? There is just a removable access panel below the shift boot I can unbolt?

I can't even partially get into reverse. On this transmission the throw into reverse is long and kind of to the side before you get to the gear, I can't even get to the beginning of the throw

[airdale94]

Yes, under the shift boot. Then remove access panel. Then you will see the top of the trans. There is no linkage on a SM465. It's a top shifted. Hopefully once you remove the cover bolts and pry it loose it will free up your shift forks. If your shifter was real sloppy before it could be your shifter is not engage the shift forks properly. You can pull your shifter out and weld the little finger ridgid. You can also buy a new replacement shifter stick from Novac Industries. But you will have to bend it yourself. There's also roll pins that the shifter sits in that can get loose.

[BiggSixx1970]

It was sloppy before, but not REAL sloppy, at least or so I thought. So you're saying most likely it will be fixed by clearing out some old gunk and tightening a bolt or two? You know how stuff like this goes, you always fear the worst. Esp when you're a broke college student always hoping for the easy fix. Won't be able to tackle this for a couple days, have a lot of school work coming up and trying not to worry about it. I really appreciate a speedy reply, I am a total novice minus basic tune up stuff, so messing with anything transmission related is black magic to me but hey, you gotta learn some time! Anything else I need to know or should be expecting under there?

[airdale94]

It's really your call. If it feels sloppy enough that you think it might not be fully engaging the shift forks, you could have jammed up the gears. Or the forks are bound up. Either way you'll probably be pulling the cover. Study hard!

[BiggSixx1970]

I am trying to get this transmission cover off and it seems to be pretty stuck on there.. I took the 10 screws out and have been going at it with a flathead and mallet, are they normally this hard to pry off? I'm pretty sure I got all the screws

[BiggSixx1970]

Got the access cover and shift boot off, ended up having to take my seat out. I brushed the layers of gunk off of the top of the transmission, so do I have to get inside the transmission? I thought there would be levers on top of this thing, I don't really know what i'm looking at, I plan on uploading pictures here after a little while