Working on getting my 914 back on the road. Installed the rebuilt tranny, but when trying to adjust linkages, couldn't get it to select gears. Dropped the rear shift coupler, and tried to select gears with the selector on the tranny (side shift). Found two problems:

1) Shifter is in neutral - will move in&out (up&down) through entire range, no resistance, no binding. BUT... Try to start the car, it's in *some* gear. Starter can barely turn it over. Push in clutch, starts fine. Let clutch out wheels turn. Guess is 4th or 5th based on how fast they turn relative to engine RPM, but I could easily be wrong.

2) With shift linkage disconnected, can move shift selector on the transmission through the neutral gate, no problem, but can only select reverse. No other gear can be selected. Feels like everything is locked up - no movement at all when turning the selector. As I understand it, that suggests the 3 shift rods are correctly aligned in the neutral position, but something is out of adjustment and one of them is actually in gear.

I'm guessing shift rods out of whack - anybody with more tranny experience got some suggestions before I yank it off & start disassembling? Plan is to pull tranny, disassemble to get intermediate plate, shafts & gear stacks out, put it on the bench & see if I can figure out what's not right.

Tranny rebuilt by a reputable guy, but due to finances and life events, it's been sitting on the shelf for long enough I don't figure I can go back to him.

Thanks for any advice anybody has.

Henry Bibb

You might be able to talk to the guy and let him know you don't expect him to do anything but are asking for suggestions on what to do. 3 things can happen. 1) he tells you how to fix it. 2) he fixes it for free or very cheap. 3) he tells you to go to hell. really don't see 3 happening if you are nice.

Fixing it is probably a matter of removing the shift console and pushing the rails until they are correctly lined up, then re-installing the console. (Assuming side-shifter, at least.)

Oh, and cleaning up all of the gear oil because you forgot to drain it first. And re-filling the gear oil with new.

--DD

Could be a stuck shifter fork, could also be shifter rod not lined up correctly.

Both are not to hard to fix.

I would take it out and pull the gear stack out.
Get an alignment jig (beg borrow or steal) to set the shifter rods perfectly, or it may happen again.

Thanks, guys. I'm figuring the shift forks and / or shafts must be the problem.
I thought about trying to realign things through the hole after removing the shift console, but even if I get it to work that way, I don't think I'd ever trust it, and if something slipped at speed, my guess is it would grenade the box, so I guess I'm going to have a go at removing the gear stacks.

Now, for shift fork adjustment, it appears there is no need to remove the 30mm bolt for 1st gear, just pull the intermediate plate and the mainshaft & pinion shaft should come out with all the gear stack, right? Then its put the shift rods into the shift jig, and study and twiddle with things until it all seems to be working, then put the whole shebang back in & have a go, right? Mention is made of a couple of paper shims that go between intermediate plate & housing? Or is it intermediate plate & tail housing? I imagine those are put on with some sort of sealant such that I won't get them off in 1 piece, right? So I guess I'd better get some of those. I haven't found a procedure for figuring out how thick those shims have to be - I've read 0.1mm & 0.2mm, are those the only sizes, or are there others? I guess I'll call around & see what I can get.

Thanks for any advice you can provide.

Henry Bibb

The mainshaft and pinion shaft come out with the intermediate plate. Adjustment is done pretty much how you describe.

WARNING: The paper gaskets (usually more than one) between the intermediate plate and the body of the transmission are SHIMS, not just gaskets! You need to MEASURE an un-crushed section of the gaskets and match that thickness with new gaskets. Those come in several thicknesses. You don't want to lose the information about how thick those shims should be, as it's a big PITA to figure it out again.

When adjusting the forks, you want to be sure to set them up in between the two gears that the fork selects. If they are touching one or the other, they will cause lots of extra wear to the synchros on that gear.

--DD