Manual Transmission locked up

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arpaulus

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I replace the clutch on my 73 1 ton dump truck and after I got the transmission pushed up against the bell housing I can’t move the shifter out of gear.
I know the clutch is working because when I turn the starter and push the clutch in it stops turning the driveshaft
 

arpaulus

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I wonder if when I Took out the transmission and laid it on its side it caused something to lock up in the transmission
 

Frankenchevy

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I replace the clutch on my 73 1 ton dump truck and after I got the transmission pushed up against the bell housing I can’t move the shifter out of gear.
I know the clutch is working because when I turn the starter and push the clutch in it stops turning the driveshaft
You put the stick into the forks wrong is my guess. Some people alway put it in first, others neutral, pull the shifter from the tower and you’ll likely solve your mystery.
 

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The proper way, I believe is slightly in the reverse detent, not all the way in reverse. Its the same for going in and out. If you mess up the cogs in the case you can move them with a prybar.
 

arpaulus

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You put the stick into the forks wrong is my guess. Some people alway put it in first, others neutral, pull the shifter from the tower and you’ll likely solve your mystery.
maybe I wasn't clear in my explanation, I didn't remove the shifter I just slid back the whole transmission , lowered it to the ground and turned it on its side and slid it out from under the truck , after I replaced the clutch I slide it back under the truck, set it upright and hoisted it back in place in line with the bell housing and slide the spline back in the bell housing
I was thinking about taking the top of the manual transmission case ( where the shifter is ) off to see if something was jammed or out of sync inside the case - is that what you mean by pull the shifter from the tower ?
 

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Frankenchevy

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Maybe try sliding the trans back to see if it’ll go through the gears…
 

Turbo4whl

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I wonder if when I Took out the transmission and laid it on its side it caused something to lock up in the transmission

maybe I wasn't clear in my explanation, I didn't remove the shifter .......
I was thinking about taking the top of the manual transmission case ( where the shifter is ) off to see if something was jammed or out of sync inside the case - is that what you mean by pull the shifter from the tower ?
You do not need to remove the whole shifter, just the shift lever. Right where the stick lever goes into the shifter is the round cover. The lever is pushed up by a spring underneath. Push that round cover down and turn it counterclockwise to release it from the two tangs on each side. The stick lever will come out, cover, lever and spring.

Laying the trans on it's side may have jammed the lever out of one of the shifting fork rails. Or maybe pushed two rails into gear. In neutral all three rails should be inline and in the center.

Easy way to remove the stick, lay a rag around the lever. With a large pair of water pump pliers, not holding but laying on top of the cover, push down with one hand near the plier jaws. The other hand holding the pliers level, rotate CCW. Try not to dent the tin cover.
 

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You do not need to remove the whole shifter, just the shift lever. Right where the stick lever goes into the shifter is the round cover. The lever is pushed up by a spring underneath. Push that round cover down and turn it counterclockwise to release it from the two tangs on each side. The stick lever will come out, cover, lever and spring.

Laying the trans on it's side may have jammed the lever out of one of the shifting fork rails. Or maybe pushed two rails into gear. In neutral all three rails should be inline and in the center.

Easy way to remove the stick, lay a rag around the lever. With a large pair of water pump pliers, not holding but laying on top of the cover, push down with one hand near the plier jaws. The other hand holding the pliers level, rotate CCW. Try not to dent the tin cover.
Tin cover? Did some have a cast iron cover vs tin one, then later aluminum too i guess. or am i not thinking of the same object as you rn
 

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Same. Tin = thin metal (steel) Not the whole cast shifter, just the round lever cover.
 

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Also a dowel pin for the shifter handle could have popped out of place, this could cause the handle to bind. There's two dowel pins on each side of the tower.
 

arpaulus

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maybe I wasn't clear in my explanation, I didn't remove the shifter I just slid back the whole transmission , lowered it to the ground and turned it on its side and slid it out from under the truck , after I replaced the clutch I slide it back under the truck, set it upright and hoisted it back in place in line with the bell housing and slide the spline back in the bell housing
I was thinking about taking the top of the manual transmission case ( where the shifter is ) off to see if something was jammed or out of sync inside the case - is that what you mean by pull the shifter from the tower ?
I pulled the shifter out , and placed back in several times , still locked up. I don't want to slide the transmission back from the bell housing if I don't have to, that would be alot of work if its not needed. the drive shaft is also locked also unless I push in the clutch , then its free, this leads me to believe its in the transmission case. I think my next step is to remove the top of the transmission case and see if I can see anything out of line. What are your thoughts? Any concerns that you know of before I remove it , Never opened this up before not sure if there are tricks to putting it back together or exactly what I am looking for
 

AuroraGirl

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I pulled the shifter out , and placed back in several times , still locked up. I don't want to slide the transmission back from the bell housing if I don't have to, that would be alot of work if its not needed. the drive shaft is also locked also unless I push in the clutch , then its free, this leads me to believe its in the transmission case. I think my next step is to remove the top of the transmission case and see if I can see anything out of line. What are your thoughts? Any concerns that you know of before I remove it , Never opened this up before not sure if there are tricks to putting it back together or exactly what I am looking for
so its in gear until you push in the clutch :p

then the shifter wont move, but its disengaged from the driveline

so its something in the shifter on top most likely :p

did you place the shifter as in the top of the trans or just the very top with the rod. because the way you describe it sounds like you may not have handled the shift rail things or what have you


is there fluid in it(not sure how much that would affect, but maybe when it was on its side something weird happened?)
 

arpaulus

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yes , i agree its in the trany, i placed the shifter back in place down into the trany and still have the same problem, Yes I refilled the fluid to full when it runs out the refill hole- 5 quarts
 

AuroraGirl

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yes , i agree its in the trany, i placed the shifter back in place down into the trany and still have the same problem, Yes I refilled the fluid to full when it runs out the refill hole- 5 quarts
ATF or gear lube

also I wasnt agreeing its in the transmission. and your reply still makes me unsure if you pulled the entire shifter off or just the stick.because I feel someone could "i placed the shifter back in place down into the trany" in relation to both the whole assembly and the rod on top
 

arpaulus

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Found the problem down in the shifter hole , the two shift slots were not lined up , used a screw driver to line up the slots and now it works perfectly, found on utube with someone who had a similar problem with a k20
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Thanks everyone for your help
 

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