Joys of jeeping Transmission Question.

Hi everyone.

So I spent the last two days in the garrage working with the jeep and welder. I gave the jeep custom tool boxes, a new center locking storage box and the start of a new stereo mounting box. I even washed the jeep and gave the bumpers a nice coat of paint.

We were doing very well all weekend. We drove arond town, ran errands enjoyed the warmer weather. It was running great until I decided to take it for one more trip down the road to grab some food.

about 3/4 mile from home and it decided to be a JEEP again. Shifted from second to third, well tried to. The shifter moved all the way over to the glove box. I pulled off to the side of the road and messed with it a little. The linkage rod was in place and seemed to have the right tension. Eventually while moving the shifter to get any possible forward gear and limp home the jeep went into reverse. Sort of. The reverse lights came on and it moved about a foot then would not start or move at all.

I walked home grumbled under my breath all the way and home and in 30 seconds fired up my 30 year old F350. I went back for the jeep, wrapped chain between the bumpers and tried to get the transfer case on the jeep into neutral. The jeep was on a hill and still would not roll backwards as I expected even with the transfer case in every position.

It was dark cold and I had no other options except to put the f350 into gear and see if the jeep would follow. My F350 has a granny low gear and a whole lot of pulling power. It gave the chain a good tug before the jeep gave in and started to roll normally.

So my question is what would cause the jeep to completely loose its shift pattern? Its an 83 4speed btw. The clutch linkage looks good and the clutch seemed to be in good shape a month ago when I replaced the motor.


My second question is worst case someting in the transmission was locked up and since I did not have time for finesse, the F350 provided force. What's likely to break first?

For those wondering The answer I'm looking for is don't worry its an easy fix. The answer that I am really trying to avoid is " pull the transmission out " and take it appart to find out what broke, and check the transfercase and rear end while your at it to see what else broke while towing.

I'm really hoping there's an "easy button" for this one.

Thanks again for your help.

-mike

 

Fortunately that has never happened to me.... But I feel your pain. Good luck on the "easy button" gimmick

 

Pop the cover off the tranny and take a look. I bet the shift tower has some wear on it and it popped out of the shift rail. If that happens it can go into two gears at one is why it didn't move.
What tranny is it by the way.

The tranfer case can be hard to shift out of a 2ZHI to N if it has a load on it. I bet it went into N when you tugged on it with the truck.

 

Not sure what you mean by the "linkage rod" - pics would be good.

If it's a T-176, these are well known to wear out the shift tops. I too suggest you take the top off and see what's up. You can buy a new top from Crown (?) - maybe Nick or Herm would know.

If it's a SR-4 or a T-4, well, I don't have an easy solution for you.

 

So I got my easy button... sort of. I got the jeep into the garrage and looked into my trans problems.

Clutch and all linkage is fine.
Pulled the top of the shifter off, easily actually. Previous owner must have been ther before. Every screw was loose and none were rusted.

It turns out the only problem is the hold down springs and shifter boot are basically shot and the previous owner had packed thick grease and a few bent pieces of sheet metal to act as a spring.

The transmission is fine. I was able to shift it with a screw driver.

My only problem now is where do I buy a new shifter assembly for a borg warner t4? I tried novak, morris, tellico, jc whitney. They have internal transmission parts but not the shifter assembly.

The lever is fine, but everything between it and the transmission itself is due for replacement, the springs (large wave washers) need to be replaced.

Any one know where to find them?

Thanks
-Mike

 

Also, post a WTB on Pirate 4x4 for a complete used transmission. The T-4 is a light-duty transmission and is a throwaway for most builders. JMO - I would not put a lot of money into it ... more than a hundred bucks or so and I'd start looking to upgrade.