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No warning / wont go in neutral

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nashton5308

Probationary Member
7
1
Oct 16, 2017
Laurel Fork, Virginia
Hi guys.
I want to start by saying thank you for all your informative posts. It has helped me to rebuild my 420A motor, which is running great btw. But about a month of having this car back on the road it suddenly has transmission problems. My wife stopped at a stop sign and had to wait on traffic, so she car put in neutral and let off clutch. The car died once she let off clutch. 1st thought engine locked up ... But turns out fluid was good in engine, trans. Car cranks and engine runs fine still, but when you let off the clutch the transmission is still engaged and wants to pull the car. Also when i put in gear you can tell something is in a bind, once you gently let it pull about a foot you will then hear metal starting to bind. (I heard/felt bind and stopped) . Almost forgot to mention this was out of nowhere. Was running great just came back from 1 1/2 hr trip with no sounds or warnings then boom no neutral and cant pull itself in gear.
So i am thinking the clutch is fine, the syncros should be fine (can switch gears), and unless i am missing something the transmission is in neutral. I unhooked the cables and moved levers to neutral position then had wife crank and let off clutch and the transmission still wants to pull. This sounds internal but when i brought up to some mechanic they think it sounds like the cables are out of adjustment. If that was the case wouldnt it show up before running it 500+ miles? I hope i am missing something with the cable and/or adjustment and not an internal problem. Does someone have detailed instructions for switching gears on the transmission itself and to double check neutral position? Any help is greatly appreciated!!
 
Disconnect the shifter cables from the transmission and attempt to put the car in neutral from under the hood. That will eliminate any issue with the cables or interior shifter assembly. If you can't get it in neutral like that then you will have to remove the transmission as either the clutch disc broke which I have seen quite a few times or you have an internal issue and will have to take the tranny apart.
 
Disconnect the shifter cables from the transmission and attempt to put the car in neutral from under the hood. That will eliminate any issue with the cables or interior shifter assembly. If you can't get it in neutral like that then you will have to remove the transmission as either the clutch disc broke which I have seen quite a few times or you have an internal issue and will have to take the tranny apart.

Thanks for the response. I disconnected the cables and believe i had the transmission in neutral from under the hood. The manual only shows them pointing a certain direction so i believe i had it right and it was still pulling when in 'neutral'. So i dropped trans, didnt notice anything with the clutch. Would you know what part internally it may be? Would a rebuild kit have it?
 
I just went through the exact same thing. In neutral it would stall and try to pull forward still, in gear the car would stall like the trans was jammed up.

Mine ended up eating the bearing under 4th gear, the cage failed and the needles fell out of place. It ruined 4th and 5th gear, the input shaft, and the synchro hub between 4th and 5th. I had to go find a donor trans to get the parts to fix mine.

From what I can tell some trash clogged up the oil holes on the input shaft and caused the failure.
 
Guess nothing to do but tear down, just wanted to make sure i wasnt overlooking something. Wasnt great directions in manual to put in neutral. But i guess if levers are pointing same direction it has to be. Thank you very much for the information MJ! I appreciate it
 
I just went through the exact same thing. In neutral it would stall and try to pull forward still, in gear the car would stall like the trans was jammed up.

Mine ended up eating the bearing under 4th gear, the cage failed and the needles fell out of place. It ruined 4th and 5th gear, the input shaft, and the synchro hub between 4th and 5th. I had to go find a donor trans to get the parts to fix mine.

From what I can tell some trash clogged up the oil holes on the input shaft and caused the failure.


Aw man, that hurts. I bet i had same issue to start the problem
. I just re-built the motor and while doing that i of course had to drain and refill the oil in trans. Bet it drug up some trash too... ouch...
 
Not really. I was doing some tuning pulls and the shifting was getting real notchy, then it wouldn't shift into gear until I pulled over and was completely stopped. Then it started trying to pull in neutral with the clutch out.

When I split the case apart there was tons of plastic pieces all over. That should be the first sign. Once you press the shafts out try and spin each gear, I would bet you will find one that doesn't spin. The input shaft has 3,4,5. The counter shaft will have 1 and 2.

A guy on the neon forum sells a rebuild DVD, buy it if you plan on doing this yourself. It's very helpful.
 
Do you know how to go through the gears on the transmission itself? I would like to test going 1-5 and back to neutral and see if output shaft still turns before i take it apart.
 
You can manually move the selector arms to put the trans in gear. The longer arm will put the trans in 3 or 4. The spring loaded arm is your side to side movement. Turn it one way and you can now get to 1 and 2, go the other way and you will get 5 or R.
 
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