Ok Guys now that I have the 32 on the road, I have been faced with the dreaded s***-list of bugs and problems and trying to sort them out!!!! I rebuilt a muncie m21 with all new gaskets, bearings, synchros thrust washers, new McLeod hydraulic throwout bearing and scattershield. My problem is that gears 1,3,4 all work flawlessly...however 2nd with not work. When I say it will not work I mean that it feels as though it will pop in gear for about 4 feet and then grind and pop out. What's weird is that with the car jacked up off the ground, It goes through all gears 1,2,3,4. It is when I'm on the road it will not go. I have adjusted the shifter with an adjustment pin too.... any suggestions? Should I Under adjust the first gear, and over adjust the second gear on the 1-2 rod?
The short teeth on second gear maybe bad. Or as I remember you may have the syncro drum on backwards. Anyway linkage adjustment ain't gona do it, internal prob.
Yep ,no load on trans with the wheels off the ground. another thing to look at is the interlock on the inside of the shift cover ,may have a problem when the arm/lever is in contact with the fork when in second gear.
Worn syncro teeth on second gear causing it to jump out of gear under load is pretty common malady. Couple with that worn spline ends on the syncro slider, broken clutch keys and/or springs, and you're lucky to have it stay in gear without a load on it. Blowing a speed shift and missing 2nd gear was probably the most common cause, but it could have been caused by an inexperienced spouse learning to drive a stick shift. Common low buck fix "back in the day" if there was enough "meat" left was to take a die grinder lightly to the 2nd gear syncro teeth and ends of the slider splines, dressing them up to kind of resemble the factory profile. NEW clutch keys, and springs, along with NEW brass rings (I used to get brass rings for under four bucks apiece) would a good idea too, to have reasonable expectation of success.
I rebuilt mine too. I haven't driven it yet so I don't know how good it is but I found when I did mine that a lot of the stuff in the rebuild kit (all the stuff you mentioned) did not necessarily need replacing. The big thing that needed replacing was one of the sliders (not in the kit). The groove where the fork runs was way oversize and I'm sure it would have been very hard to get the gear to fully engage without replacement. I think mine was the 3 - 4 slider. Did you check yours? Should only have a 3/8" groove. Pete
Well,,he says he already rebuilt it and replaced the brass,,,so I would guess that is not it. I used to go through a lot of Muncies,,,and sometime they would do this. The problem,,,(almost always),,,is the slider is badly worn. Check the syncro teeth on the gear,,(the small teeth),,and see if they look bad,,,some wear is normal,,just not too severe. The slider is usually the culprit,,,they are softer and they were meant to wear before the gear. Like the guys said,,it could be the side cover as well. Just start at the most likely place first,,,and work from there. Usually,,if it will go in gear and then pop out under a load ,,it is the slider,,but check the gear as well. Look at the splines in the slider,they should be reasonably straight and uniform. If they are worn in a out of shape pattern,,(the grooves will look like they are streched out of place),,that is the bulk of the problem. The small teeth on the gear should be about as long as the ones on the other gears,,,look closely at them all. If they are worn too short,,,the slider will not completely fix the problem. If you need help,,take some pics and send to me,,close ones of the gears and inside the slider,,I will help if I can. Good luck! Tommy
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