Hey guys! I need a little help... I have a 1941 Studebaker President with 3 on the tree. Straight 8 model. It's a car that I just acquired and I know very little about it, especially mechanically. Up until now, I've had no problem running through the gears. Then yesterday, completely out of the blue I went to move the car and the shifter just jams. Successfully moved it once from neutral looking for reverse and it slid into 2nd and pretty much stayed there. Shifter handle is now sloppy and doesn't feel like it's moving anything. Had a buddy over last night (thanks Josh!!) and we moved a few things around at the coupling box located at the base of the column and found neutral again, but everything is really sloppy and doesn't seem to find position at all. Nothing seems to be disconnected, either. The car belongs to my father. Telling him about it last night he said that it did it once when he was driving it, but that was in the late 60's and couldn't remember how he resolved the issue. Anyone else have a similar problem? I would definitely like to discuss this in case someone has had similar problems, before I start pulling things apart. Any help would be appreciated! THANKS!
Can you drive the car? My '35 get's stuck in 3rd every once in a while and if I rev it up and start to release the clutch while in third while double or triple clutching it'll come out. Some times it just needs to be rolling to release it.
Had a three on the tree that the grommets dropped out of between the end of the column and the trans linkage that did the same thing. New grommets removed the slop and made it shift much better.
Tried that. No luck. But, maybe I don't have the required finesse to make it happen. Seems more like it's in the linkage, but maybe not.
That's they type of thing that I'm expecting to address. It feels like something has actually come out of place.
Sounds like starting with the interfacing box at the end of the column is the place to start my search. It's easily accessible, as well.
Get under it and manually move the arms to neutral...if it's like a Ford it will have two arms on the side. Both have three positions. Move both of them to the center position. It's probably just sloppy linkage and bound up.
If that trans is a 'toploader', like '52-'54 Studes, you can remove the shift forks from inside the trans and bolt a Stude pickup shift tower right on. I've done at least 6 of them, easy job.
The guy in the Nash Rambler was also stuck in 2nd gear..Ask the guy in the Caddallac...LOL..Age required...
put the park brake on so it wont roll away. raise the hood. look where the column comes thru the firewall. you will see the arms that go to the trans. one of them is jamed. pull up or push down on them till they line up. now you are in neutral. dont shift fast next time. easy does it.
Yeah, that's where we moved things around. No success. I'll mess with it some more though. Was getting dark when it happened. Hate this time change stuff...
Sometimes if they are hung up between gears you might have to tap the linkage lightly with a small hammer to get them lined up,,, As was said previously,,move both linkages to the middle and everything should in neutral. hrp
Is that a selector style trans? That is only one lever on the selector box on the collum? And a cable to move the selector leaver on the trans. Had a late 30s Hudson engine/trans in a 33 Essex with a selector trans and a little ball on the shift lever on the collum broke off. By moving the trans selctor lever I could have either R and low or 2-3 but not both. Get someone to move the lever inside the car and watch what happens under the hood.
ck at column where arms attach then ck levers on trans. Had this happen a couple of times on my 57 FI car with a 3 spd on the column--found it was the 2nd/hi lever not tight on the shaft--felt like it was really lose in the car and got stuck in two gears at once--the last time it was after speed shifting from 1st to 2nd
Thanks for the input guys! I bet it's just something stupid. Has to be! This thing shifted so nice. It almost put itself into gear. Just had to guide the lever and in it went. Anxious to get out there and mess with it. Driving me nuts. But, have to wait till the weekend...
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