Several months ago I was stuck on a patch of ice and rocking back and forth with first and reverse. The shifter slipped and I felt like I was in a cloud it still moved but I couldn't find any gears. So I called a tow truck, get it home and tear the top of the shifter off and I have not had a lot of experience with this. But I remember pulling out the wavy washer, and trying the shifter and it worked, not perfect but I could drive it was a while before my dad finally pulled the boot off and saw that one of the pins was working itself loose. We tapped it back in and it worked but it continued to come loose. I got a screw that was the same size and put it in place of the pin. Then we could no longer get it into any gear, like the clutch isn't engaging. I read online that you should be replacing the fluid in a manual transmission every 15000 miles and I decided to get the stuff to do it. Well I accidentally grabbed two different things mercon 5 and mercon 7 I didn't think it would hurt it so I put the fluid in, and start my truck and drive, and it seemed better but it still wasn't going into gear, but I'm impatient and try to drive. It was like I was pushing to get into first and then something slipped and it's locked up, had to tow it home and get creative to get it off of the truck. My dad tells me mixing the fluids was possibly a bad thing, so I drained the fluid and it is still in my truck empty and stuck, should I pull it and get another transmission from the scrap yard, or put fluid in it and see if It will shift, that seems highly unlikely. But I'm new to this. My truck is an 88 and was running pretty well if I can fix it I would like to.

 

A manual transmission has a slot on each shift rod that the shifter can move forward or backward
In your 5 speed there are 3 shift rods, 1/2, 3/4, 5/R for the gears
One thing you never want to happen in a manual transmission, is for TWO GEARS to be selected at the same time

So transmission must be in Neutral BEFORE any gear can be selected, so if you are in 1st you must shift to neutral FIRST and then you can shift to another gear

Neutral is when all 3 slots are lined up in the CENTER, no gear is selected
You should always have shifter in Neutral before pulling it out, and trans must be in Neutral when re-installing shifter

So look down the hole and use a screw driver to CENTER all 3 shift rods/slots, and then install the shifter


The pin is called a roll pin and it holds the shift slot/fork to the shift rod, these should be tight, have to be pounded out(and pounded in), so it reads like the holes in shift slot/fork may be getting worn out, which would be unusual
As long as the screw doesn't stick out too far it should be fine for now

 

Do I need to have fluid in it to shift into neutral. If my mixing the two types of mercon is part of what caused the transmission to lock up, I've drained the mixture, will buying new fluid be a good place to start, or a waste of my time.

 

No, mixing ATF types wouldn't lock up trans

 

I pulled the top of the transmission off and with some effort finally got the forks into neutral. Now I am trying to figure out where the rings on the gears need to be in order to be in neutral as well. I was considering experimenting with it but how do I know that it's in gear? Should I climb underneath and try to turn the fly wheel?? Thanks

 

 

The "rings" are in between the gears not touching either, the "ring" is attach to the output shaft/driveshaft

A Shift fork slides on to a "ring", moving the shift fork forward or backward puts the transmission in 1st or 2nd, so the ring/output shaft is connected to either the 1st or 2nd gear, but when its in the middle its not connected to either, so neutral

If you have a 5-speed there are 3 shift forks each has its own shift rail with a slot for shifter arm
1||2
3||4
5||R

|| is neutral for each "ring"/shift fork, so in that position the "ring is not touching either gear that it "controls"

Yes, if rings are in the center position, neutral you can crank the engine/turn the engine, and truck would not move
The gears inside will turn, but NONE are connected to the OUTPUT shaft because "rings" are not touching any of those gears

Diagram here: https://www.leithcars.com/blogs/1421...StuffWorks.gif

"rings" are in purple(not idler gear)
They are all attached to OUTPUT shaft, in Yellow
When you move a "ring" it engages a gear, but when moved back to center no gear is engaged
The system is setup so you MUST move shifter back to Neutral position BEFORE you can move the shifter left or right to select another shift fork
Thats why you must have transmission set to Neutral, 3 slots in the center, BEFORE installing the shifter arm or you can LOCK UP the transmission

 

Okay I have it back together and it shift's I believe that the rings lined up to the forks, everything seems good. I'm going to put fluid in it tomorrow and I have 2 quarts am I okay to turn it on or do you recommend waiting for the other quart?

 

It will probably only hold 2 quarts, capacity is 2.8q bone dry and they never fully drain unless they are out and on their side
Yes it would be fine with 2quarts and you can add the rest later, if its not full

Forks go ON the "rings"

 

I feel like the forks are on the rings, is there any way to make sure other than starting the truck and trying each gear?

 

The slot should move forward and back all the way if that shift fork is on correctly
If shift arm is on then you should be able to shift into all gears, engine off, then try engine on

 

Well I am trying to understand why I am not able to shift my truck into fifth or reverse. With the top of the transmission off all three forks shift but I reinstalled it and I can shift into 123 and 4 but that last fork just will not move, I tried opening it back up and figuring it out but I am uncertain about what that actually moved inside my transmission. I've been able to operate the vehicle and just had no 5th and no reverse. I'm trying to understand why.