Technical T10 transmission stuck in gear, can't shift

Hi all,

I installed a t10 4 speed in my 64 galaxie a few months ago and have put a couple hundred miles on it without any real issues. Everything should be stock for 63/64 galaxie, no Hurst or anything.

But on Sunday I went for a long cruise and about an hour into it I was having trouble shifting into 1st or 2nd at stop lights. No big deal it still worked but another hour and a half later and highway cruising I needed to downshift from 4th to 3rd or 2nd at my exit and I couldn't get it into neutral or out of 4th. So I limped through some turns and a hill in 4th gear and barely made it home.


Got home and it seems to shift into reverse and neutral but it's actually reverse and 4th. If I let the clutch out in what I think is neutral it dies. It doesn't seem to get all the way into 4th but it is.


So I crawled underneath and undid the shifter rods and aligned the linkage into what I thought was neutral and put a pin through the slot and then tightened the rods again, but it's still the same problem of not being able to shift into neutral or out of 4th/reverse. It's like I'm hitting a wall when I try to shift into 1st, 2nd, or 3rd but it shifts easily into reverse and doesn't seem to get all the way into 4th but it is and wants to move itself over there. If I try to wiggle the shift stick in neutral it doesn't really move around...if that makes sense...it's like the shift stick is trapped.

Thanks all

 

Might want to disconnect the shift rods again, and see if the levers on the transmission feel normal, and see what the shifter itself feels like...is it binding? or loose?

It's really hard to diagnose things like this without being able to lay hands on it...

 

I'll try again this weekend. I was hoping someone would know why it just happened after a long drive and if aligning the linkage and rods wasn't the route to go.

 

May not be your problem but if the alignment on the bellhousing to the centerline of the crank to the transmission is out of spec that’s exactly what happens or did to me. I’ve found them .007 to .010” out and the trans stopped shifting.

 

Loose bellhousing or transmission mounting bolts can cause misalignment, also

 

I bought a '65 C30 Chevy truck back in 1975, the seller claimed the transmission was bad. I drove it home... hard shifting indeed. Got home, crawled under it and all 4 bolts mounting were loose. Went back under with a wrench, tightened them up and it could be shifted with 1 finger.

 

Does it have gear oil in it?

 

Clutch still releasing fully?

 

I'll check for loose bolts.

It does have oil and I assume the clutch is releasing, but how can I tell? When I was under it I could see the clutch fork moving when my wife pushed the pedal.

 

If the clutch is not releasing, you won't be able to get it into reverse with the engine running, clutch pedal pressed. It will just grind forever.

 

That happen to me and it was a cracked pressure plate.

 

It did have this issue when everything was first put together. I could reverse out of my driveway, drive a couple miles, try to reverse again and it would just grind and I'd have to turn the car off to be able to reverse again. But the last couple of drives it was fine.

I'll check this.

Hopefully it's not a cracked pressure plate like SPEC said happened to him.

 

There are a lot of things that will make the clutch not release....cracked pressure plate is relatively rare. Linkage issues come first, could also be a bad disk, bad pilot bushing, problems with the "fingers" in the pressure plate, the fork, etc.

 

If the linkage is okay I think the side cover needs to come off and see if it's got a broken shift Fork or see if the sliders are moving correctly

 

IF , it will go into reverse with the engine running , the problem is the trans or shifter . Was this a working trans or new rebuild ? Jack the rear wheels up , have someone depress the clutch , if you can turn the drive shaft , the problem is for sure in the trans .

 

Clutch disc not sliding freely on the clutch gear splines? Though it seems like if it happens In one gear it should happen in all of them, and only with the engine running.

 

I'll see if it will get into reverse with the engine running tonight.

I bought the trans from a guy on here and he said it was rebuilt and everything looked good on inspection. He had all parts on trans and bellhousing. Fork, pedal, zbar, all that were from used online and clutch was new. Flywheel was resurfaced but all other used parts were mostly just repainted.

 

So it went into reverse without grinding with the engine running, but it wouldn't move. The reverse switch came on and but wouldn't move. I moved the shifter out of reverse and it would move forward though. I don't know what gear it was in but it would move forward.

 

Sounds like you have a broken shift fork. I have never heard of it happening on a top loader, but the 5 speeds out of the later Ford trucks would wear the shift forks bad enough to not catch the sliderand it could get stuck in gear or just not shift into gear. The culprit was there was no positive stop on the shift rails and if the driver had the habit of driving with his hand resting on the shifter the fork would eventualy wear out riding against the slider.

 

So your locked in a forward gear & you can't disengage it . take the linkage off , then use a wrench to work the shift levers , if the rear wheels are off the ground , its easier IMO , shift the forks w a wrench until your sure its in neutral in all gears , then check your shifter adjustment. You should not be able to engage 1-2 while in 3 of 4 & vice versa ,the side plate has lockout levers to prevent that !. Im guessing one of the shift levers on the trans has slipped ??

 

Take the shift arms off the side cover. Put both shift knuckles in the middle (neutral ) position. Put reverse arm in the neutral position. Jack up the rear wheels .Start engine. Let clutch out . If the rear wheels are going about 50 mph, then you've got a seized input to main shaft bearing or the synchro has a jacked up blocking ring on the 4th (direct )
GTO (get tools out)

 

Sounds like I gotta get a lift. I may not have any updates for a couple of days.

 

You don't have a jack ,& stands ?

 

These aren't great pics but here's what's inside , notice on the shift cams there are detents to locate & hold position , the other detent assy goes between the detents & provide the locate point

 

Of course, but I also don't get off work until 7pm. So it's tough crawling underneath at night. I'll try this out Sunday when I'm off. Thanks for your help.

 

Look at the z-bar. I had one on a '64 Ford that had an arm torn off the tube. I missed that, thought it was the TO bearing.. lessons learned.

 

LOL I could regale you with tales of repairing vehicles in cold , rainy weather at night with a flashlight on gravel when the vehicle had to be running the next day ,but I won't !

 

You havent lived until your forced to climb under your car wearing your dress blue uniform........

 

Well the weekends come & gone , any luck with your transmission ?

 

Synchros shredded. Gotta have it looked at by a pro. Thanks for all your help.