The 100 Forum

I have just gotten my car licensed here in Italy and so am able to drive it.

At first everything was normal, but after a few outings, I discovered the transmission won't go into reverse.

I had the side cover off during restoration and there was no sign of wear or corrosion inside. Everything moved smoothly.

Since it was working and now does not, I'm assuming something broke. Anybody have any ideas about what could be wrong?

I'm hoping that it's fixable without having to drop the transmission.

Bob

Bob, any update on your problem?

Hi Bob, Congratulations . I hope you will enjoy the car a lot after all the work you have done on it.

Does the gear stick go into the right position for the reverse . If not it is maybe just where it is attached outside the box that someting prevents it going where it should go. If it goes into the reverse slot and you can't move it then , not in standstiil not with the engine running, then you are in for an inspection inside the box I am afraid. I can't help you any further I ama fraid. I had a completely blocked gearbox in first gear , I had to bring it to a repair shop, It was completely clogged , they cleaned ( and changed oil seals of course) and now it works ( not in the car yet). Nothing was broken, just years of not running.

Kind regards, Jacques

When I was first driving my car post restoration and struggling with the overdrive settings I once lost the use of reverse. It turned out that I had the overdrive still engaged and was told that had I revved the engine I would have severely damaged the gearbox. So, please check that your overdrive is properly disengaging, just in case (I wrote about this and the solution in another post on overdrives). I could put the lever in the correct position but it felt that nothing was there, ie no reverse gear installed; it was quite weird.

Thanks everyone for your input.

I believe I have identified the problem. I pulled out the shift lever and discovered that the little "bucket" that goes on the end of the selector knob had come off. This could certainly jam things up!

The parts don't appear to be damaged, but how can I keep this from happening again? The spring clip seems inadequate to keep everything together.

Anybody had any experience with this?

Bob

Bob,

The clip is just there to hold the two halves together until its inserted in the gearbox. The bushing should be attached to the shift lever as shown in the picture below.

Duane



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2023-08-12 09:20 AM by 58BN6L.

Bob,

There is an alternative to the gear lever brass bush with a circlip. A nylon piece is available at most of the normal parts suppliers. I have often suspected the brass bush had failed. But, it has never turn out to be the case.

The circlip is only used to hold it together until the brass bush is seated in the cup. After that it really can’t come apart.

GEAR LEVER BUSH NYLON ALTERNATIVE

Tim



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2023-08-12 09:36 AM by Taulle.

If the clip is only there for installation, how did the bushing manage to come apart while in place? (Understanding that it worked fine for a while)

I'm thinking the nylon is a better solution.

Bod,

I had both types. Last time I installed the shift lever I used the nylon one.

Why did it come apart? That is very hard to say since we are not privy to how it was assembled in the first place.

Are all the pieces there? Did the bush come apart during disassembly? If it came apart in use then at least one of the two pieces would likely have sunk to the bottom of the gear box. Did you drain the gearbox and pull the side cover off to retrieve them? (Assuming that you have side shift)

You photo off the shifter looks strange. The bushing is upside down. Did it come out that way? For a 1956 shifter it is very shiny. Again I have way no way of knowing; but, I think some work has been done on the gear box recently.

Curiously, when you reassemble with the bushing as in Duane’s photo, can you select reverse gear?

Tim

Hi Tim,

When I pulled the shift lever out, half of the bushing and the retainer spring were hanging from the ball. When I put my finger into the hole, I was able to snag the other half of the bushing and pull it out.

The photo of the lever shows the pieces as they came out, I agree that it looks upside down. Is it even possible to put it together like that? If so, then that is the likely cause of the failure.

I'm going to replace it with a nylon part. I'm hopeful that that will solve the problem.

Bob

Bob,

The hole at the bottom of my bass bush is to small to small to go around the shaft of the shifter as in your photo. The two pieces would not be able come together enough to be inserted into the socket. One more piece of information you might want.

Whether you have the bass type or nylon type, you cannot put the bush in the socket and then push the shifter into the bush. If you can the the bush is worn too much.

The bush must been on the shifter before inserting it into the socket. This can be a challenge as you cannot see all that well down inside and it is sometimes hard to keep the bush in the correct orientation. I use a bit of Red and Tacky grease on the ball. It will help keep the parts aligned during assembly.

You might want to verify that a properly installed brass shift lever bush will actually fix the problem and that you have all the parts before ordering a new nylon piece. It looks like might have a good bush if it was fitted correctly.

The are a few more parts the can prevent the proper reverse shift if broken/warn/missing/misaligned. The photo with the blue square show those parts.

I hope every thing eventually works out.

Tim



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2023-08-13 08:41 AM by Taulle.

Bob,

I am not sure where I got my nylon bushing from. And, now I am not positive that the BJ8 part will fit into a side shift socket. I often ordered parts from David Kock at British Car Specialists.

Here is a link to his part.
https://www.britishcarspecialists.com/store/product.php?product_id=828

Can somebody else weigh in on the compatibility of BJ8 nylon bush with a side shift gearbox?

Tim

Bob,

This discussion makes me think that the BJ8 nylon bush is not compatible with a side shift.

https://www.ahexp.com/forum/the-3000-forum.3/shifter-bushing-question.190662.190662/#msg-190662


To be sure order from British Car Specialists.

Tim

The part I ordered (from Moss) claims to be compatible with everything except the BJ8, so it might be ok. Of course, I'll check the size against the existing part before fitting it.

Thanks again,
Bob

Bob,

Yeah. It looks as if Moss has a nylon side shift and BJ7 center shift compatible bush also.

Tim