The shift rods and levers on my 1950 Mercury 3-speed overdrive transmission frequently get locked up, mostly in reverse. I must raise the hood and manually reset the shift levers. Does anyone out there know the cause or the cure?? Thanks.
usually the rods have a little to much play in them. and sometimes they just get out of line. put car in neutral get under the hood and make sure the rods are lined up.if so you need to put some bushings in them. if not you need adjustment. sometimes both.
X2--some have small notches in the shift arms by the column and factory had an alignment tool--made one out of an old hack saw blade. Mine would get wacky when I powershifted too hard from low to second. Also new bushingmake a big difference.
Thanks for your answers. Can anyone tell me how much play is acceptable in shift rods? (up and down and sideways)
49-50 Merc shift levers (on the shifter housing) are notorious for getting sloppy. Fix the bushings of course, but check the levers. They made these from stamped and rolled sheet steel. The holes for the retaining pins get wallowed out, and worse yet, the levers often get stress cracks in them. The cracks allow even more sloppy movement. Remedy is to remove the levers, and weld up the holes back to 1/4" diameter. Then weld closed any cracks. Merc levers are never as firm and rigid as the Ford forged levers, but can can bring them back to useable condition.
Mac, Thanks for your response to my transmission problems. After receiving your answer, I got under my car to check for slop in the shift levers. There is no slop in the levers at the retaining pin. However, there is some side to side movement at the bushings. I just don't know how much movement is normal. Can you advise?
I don't have a spec for that. The bushing is actually a br*** insert inside a rubber grommet, which fit into the round hole in the lever. The shift rod would fit snugly into the br*** insert.
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