OK, so I just got my car (a '73 1.7) back from the local mechanic, and it feels as if I no longer have 4th and 5th gears. What I mean is that I can't physically move the shift lever to the right past 2nd and 3rd. I suspect that he did (or didn't do) something to the shift fork for 4th/5th, but I'd appreciate any thoughts on how to point him in the right direction to get it fixed. Thanks!

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Did he work on the internal bits of the tranny? Is it a sideshifter?

If so, he has the shift forks inside misadjusted.......... BTDT! The book says to put a bigger gap between the 2/3 and 4/5 selector forks. But if you do that on a 30 year old tranny, it won't shift into 4/5. You have to adjust it the same as the gap between R/1 and 2/3.

Sounds like he has the shifter mis adjusted. Pretty easy fix if you have a 13mm socket and a racthet with a extension 3inches or longer.

Let us know if you want to adjust it yourself.

I << typically test drive everything before it rolls out.


B

This turned out to be an odd problem that may or may not have been affected by the mechanic pulling the shifter out of the transmission. In any case, 2nd/3rd wasn't springing back, which prevented the shifter from reaching 4th/5th. After driving it a couple of miles in 3rd, I was finally able to shift to 4th/5th. I'm hoping that this was caused by something like the lack of gear oil, rather than something like a faulty detent spring.