Put the tranny in, but now its stuck in gear

[Henry]

So I got the 'new' transmission in last week, tonight I finally got around to filling it with gear oil and putting the front wheels back on. I started it up, made sure it was in neutral, and it starting going forward on its own

Here's the DX:

-The shifter is completely in neutral and moves about freely
-But I can't get it to go into any gear other than EL while in 4wd. It does shift freely into EL while in 4wd.
-When the car is in 'neutral', it moves forward easily without hardly any gas... which makes me think its stuck in a lower gear. I'm guessing 1st by how easily it moves
-When the car is in 4wd and EL, it stalls, which makes me think that its stuck in a higher gear then
-With the car in 4wd and in 'neutral', it moves freely as if it was first again.
-With the car off and it in 4wd and EL, I can't push it anywhere
-With the car off and it in 'neutral', I can push it.

Whatcha got, Loran?

[Neu]

That is some really random behavior.

I'd say your shift linkage is goofy, check it.

[Henry]

I pulled out the shifter and made sure it was seated in shifter bar thingy... whatever you call that bowl on a stick that is in the toploader.

[Neu]

weird...I think you have a bad tranny.

I'd definitely look over more of the shift linkage though, and that would require removing it.

[Petros]

This is what happened to my trans when it failed. I was able to drive it home in 2nd gear, but it would not shift and it made really bad noises. I drove it 50 miles in second gear to get home, but I made it.

If you can not find a problem with the linkage, it might be this trans is junk. Was it working when you pulled it out? Or this a replacement trans?

My bundled up trans is still sitting on my garage floor as a possible parts donor, I will likely junk it sooner or later.

[Henry]

i bought it from a junkyard. It was out of the car, but it felt like it shifted well when I was playing with it...

[Neu]

i bought it from a junkyard.

did you buy it as is? or did they warranty it?

[takza]

Mine had some slightly strange issues when I put it in...150K on it. I think there was something about needing to make sure it was in neutral and/or having the 5th gear in the right spot???

[Henry]

So, how does one insure that is in fifth gear or neutral with the transmission out? I'm afraid I may of knocked something out of alignment.

[Petros]

You put the shift lever back in place, and run it through the positions. If it is in neutral, you can turn the input shaft without any of the outputs turning.

[takza]

That's the whole thing about these used trannys...they can shift fine when out of a car...but it is Russian roulette as far as what condition they really are in when put in. That's why I think that using the Restore or axle grease in a loose but functioning trans you HAVE is worth about 2 trans out of the recycling yard. I just happened to luck out I guess.

[Jonesy]

A brief update:

After buying the car I have since taken the transmission to a repair shop. He pulled it apart and says that the gearing looks great. It was in fact stuck in 5th gear, but he has no idea why. He is replacing the center plate, the input shaft bearings, some seals, and we'll see what happens..

Stupid transmission is the only thing keeping me from putting this beast back on the road!

[takza]

If you had the trans separated from the diff...the 5th gear...which sits out in the open could have been bumped and maybe put into gear?

[Jonesy]

I'm unable to recall what I saw when I pulled the trans, but the 5th gear is exposed? If so, I suppose that could have been a potential issue. I'm dropping the bell housing this weekend to take to him. Hopefully you are right, though it'll be a bummer to have dropped all this money on a transmission that works but was just installed incorrectly.