Gears Locking up

I have a '49 H model. Lately sometimes, the transmission would get locked up in 2 gears it seemed. Mainly from a forward gear to reverse. It would lock up. I would have to return to the forward gear I was in and then back to reverse for it to work normally again. Only does it once in awhile.

Any ideas?? Bent shifter fork I'm thinking or maybe the shifter end ball thingy is worn out??

Thanks much,
Harry

ball thingy worn

(quoted from post at 21:32:12 06/08/16) ball thingy worn

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So I could pull that out without pulling the top cover I think. Hmmmm........

When you take that cross pin assembly out, and hope you have a new one on hand, you might want to weld up the bottom sides, of the shifter, got a wire welder, widen it out a tad, but you cant go much longer or it will hang up, but it's easy to grind some off.

A picture is worth a lot of words, but I don't have one on hand, though I've seen one in the archives here. A search might find it.

Anyway, the probable cause is that the bottom end of the shift lever, the part that moves the shift forks in the tranny, has worn to a wedge shape that when the wind is right and the phase of the moon is wrong, or maybe that's vice-versa, the shifter will slip between the shift rail notches, leaving it in one gear as you attempt to go to another. If it's really worn, you can often get it back into the former gear. If only somewhat worn, it won't slip back through (drive out the pivot pin, pull the shift lever, move the shift rail with a long screwdriver, reinstall the shift lever making sure you are in the neutral slot, reinstall the pivot pin). The wear is compounded by worn pivot pins, so replacing those is essential. Make sure the hole in the shift lever for the fat pin is not excessively worn.

When the blade is welded and finished properly, it should be radiused to allow full forward/back motion in the slots, and nearly as wide as the notch in the shift rails with sides parallel with the short fat "front to back" pivot pin. Putting a long rod through that hole across a couple blocks on the work bench will give you a good reference point.

Had this problem with my SA - replaced the pivot pins and welded/ground the "blade" end on the lever; now works flawlessly. My H still occasionally gets left in 4th when the lever is heading somewhere else, even with new pivot pins, so it's on the fix list (after some other higher priority fixes get done).

I found this photo elsewhere with approximate dimensions. Good guide to go by and hopefully will help someone else as well.

I guess I don't know how to upload a photo here because it just isn't working.

I know this post is few days old but I'll add this if you come back to reference it. The link below
should take you to photos of an H rebuild. It is someone else's project I just had it saved the link
to reference the shifter dimensions photo. Hope you get it fixed up to your liking.
H shifter last photo

(quoted from post at 12:29:48 06/11/16) I know this post is few days old but I'll add this if you come back to reference it. The link below
should take you to photos of an H rebuild. It is someone else's project I just had it saved the link
to reference the shifter dimensions photo. Hope you get it fixed up to your liking.
H shifter last photo

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Thank you. Yes, I have seen that site before. Very helpful it is. He has some very good pictures that I have referenced in the past.

With that being said, when I pull the pin on the shifter, is there another pin under the shifter bell that the main pin goes through? Do I have to be careful to prevent that inner pin from falling into the transmission??

Thanks much,
Harry

... when I pull the pin on the shifter, is there another pin under the shifter bell that the main pin goes through? Do I have to be careful to prevent that inner pin from falling into the transmission??

Thanks much,
Harry

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arry, there is another pin, IIRC about 5/8" diam, that the smaller cross pin goes through. The 'fat' pin allows side to side motion, the cross pin allows front to back motion of the shift rod. The fat pin won't likely fall out when you pull the shifter. It's surprising how 'sticky' 90W gear oil can be.