Technical Having problems with my saginaw 4 spd

I finally got my truck up and running and drove it two hours from my grandparents to my house with no problems. Supposedly the ****** was rebuild and I put a new clutch and hurst shifter on it. Today I couldn't get it to go into first, it just grinds when I try to release the clutch. Same with third sometimes. The ****** has a small leak and it was a little low so I topped it off, still has the same problem. I checked the linkage, it seems fine.

 

Sounds more like the clutch is not releasing all the way.

Try putting it into gear while the engine is OFF. Then with the way clear of anything you may hit push in the clutch fire the engine and see if it works ok with good grabpoint. If the trans is in first with no problem with the engine off then I would look at the clutch release.

Hurst shifters are easy to adjust put the correct size drill or allen wrench in the hole on the side of the shifter mechanism while in neutral then disconnect the linkage one at a time at the shift arms and the linkage should go into the hole easy if they are not lined up screw in or out to make sure they go back into the hole easy.

 

Had a similar issue with my 64 348 with a Saginaw. After driving it about 50 miles it started to shift hard and then it would not go into gear without grinding. Could not drive it so we got up on the lift and determined that the clutch was not being released enough. The clutch arm when fully depressed was just touching the floor pan which was very hard to see but I finally found that but only after tearing the ****** out and the clutch twice, replaced the shifter with a new Hurst kit and swearing a bunch! All of this was complicated by a hydraulic slave kit that I had installed with a truck bell housing so it was not your usual install. In the end we determined that the body mount rubber had settled and allowed that body to drop just enough that the pan interfered with the total throw of the fork. Think shifts like a dream now after we adjusted the floor pan a bit in that area!

 

double check the clutch linkage for flex. If your truck uses a Z bar in the linkage make sure one of the arms is not starting to break off. Seen that more than once.

 

So I took my transmission to the shop, they said a snap ring broke and they fixed it. Installed the ****** last night, they didn't line up my linkage correctly so I fixed that and it still wouldn't go all the way into 1st or 3rd. I adjusted the linkage and everything was working fine, I drove it for 20mins and then 1st and 3rd quit working all of sudden.

 

Wonder if they s-t-r-e-t-c-hed that snap ring! If you still have problems with the ****** itself, there's a GREAT Saginaw fix.
It consists of some hard washers, and a Torrington bearing. (it's a 'kit' just for the end play problems in that trans.) Some of our GM HAMB bros will have the part# and particulars.
I'm thinking Squirrel? Or ******...

 

I'm thinking something's not right in the linkage or shifter. I adjusted the linkage once again 1st worked, now I can't get it to pop over for reverse. I have a new hurst comp shifter and I've tried to line it up properly were you stick something in the hole to line all the levers up on the shifter but 1st and 3rd don't work when I line it up like that.

 

Thanks for everyone's help I really appreciate it! Still trying to figure it out.

 

Make sure that it is not in reverse.

I ran sags for years. One common problem was that they would remain in reverse when trying to go from reverse to first. Most commonly it was an external problem, the linkage would screw up or the sift dog would be loose.

With the engine shut off crawl under and get someone to shove it into reverse, watch what happens. You can figure it out if you think about it.

 

It's not getting stuck in any gear because it rolls while in neutral. I have to go through the linkage again. Is there any way to adjust the levers in the shifter itself? Because the truck drove fine and I can't find anything that has changed or is messed up. The shifter will go in 1st and 3rd but it just needs a little more to go in all the way. Once I try to release the clutch while in 1st it starts to grind.

 

And I could get it to go into 3rd sometimes if I hit it hard enough.

 

Alright finally figured it out! Thanks everyone! There was a bolt on the shifter that allows you to adjust how far the shifter can move forward or back, well anyways that bolt came loose. Sorry everyone, my first 4 speed and I don't know what the hell I'm doing.

 

Check the stop at the front and rear of the shifter body. Front is for 2-4 and the rear is 1-3 stop.


jerry

 

Slow typer. Entering answer when you found it.



jerry

 

Thanks Jerry.