Tranny in neutral despite shifter, Car currently broke down on road Options

[86motoman]

Taking the 914 out for the first time to town. About 2 miles from my house and go for fourth. It's not thier...I wiggle a little more...still not there. I go back to third...nothing...second...first....stopped. I tried reverse, got it. Backed up to a wide place on the road and tried for first again...nothing...went back to reverse...nothing. Car is currently still sitting on the road. I tried to manually go back and turn the tranny shifter piece. It looked to me like it was moving around and the shifter (bushings etc.) is still operating.

'72 Tail shifter 1.7

Is there anyway I can fix it on the road?

[lapuwali]

There are no cone or set screws on the tail-shift linkage.

Under the plate in the center tunnel right at the firewall is the join between the front and center parts of the linkage. This may have come adrift. If so, the shifter will feel very floppy. If you can still feel some heft and hear clunking when moving the shifter, this isn't it.

The center bit of the linkage is L-shaped and connects to the aft section of the linkage using a ball-shaped bushing. This center piece is normally covered by the oval shaped cover at the firewall. The aft bar then leads all the way back to the knife and fork arrangement at the rear of the gearbox, which may itself be covered by another cover (count yourself lucky if so, as these things are NLA and frequently missing).

If you grab the aft bar and move it by hand (rotation matching side-to-side motion at the lever, fore/aft matching fore/aft motion at the left. All motions are reversed, so moving the bar aft is the same as pushing the lever forward), see if you can engage a gear. Twisting it anti-clockwise (facing forward) and pushing it forward should engage first.

If everything is intact from the lever to the knife-and-fork, the problem is inside the gearbox. There's more linkage in there, which will be revealed if the tail cover is removed.

If you can seem to engage a gear, but the car still doesn't go anywhere, I'd bet a CV joint has expired. Grab each halfshaft and see if there's any radial play at either end. Shouldn't be any at all. If these seem OK, then next most likely candidate is the clutch disk has sheared the center section.

If the external linkage is intact, tow it to safety. You'll not be fixing anything else at the side of the road.