Hello, normally I am over in the 2K5 section, but I have a question regarding my father-in-laws 64.5 Mustang. The transmission has gotten stuck in 3rd gear a couple of times now, and I am wanting to know if anybody else has had experience or advice on this situation. We have had the clutch replaced, and the linkage cleaned to avoid possibility of binding, but the same thing happened 2 days after we got the car back.

Is this common? Is there a possibility that a "shifter fork" may be the culprit? Any advice would be much appreciated, thanks. Lee

 

More than likely it IS something inside the tranny. Possibly either the fork or syncro.

 

I would agree with tranny internals. If you can pull the trans and take the cover plate off, you might be able to see the problem with tearing it all apart.

 

Thanks for the info, was just curious if other people had had the same problem. The car has been sitting for the past few years, and since we have gotten it running, we heep running into gremlins like this. You know how it goes.

Thanks, Lee

 

Well we took it to a shop, and they really don't seem to know jack. They said it may be the shifter fork, but that it would be an $800 part. I don't believe that it would cost that much.

My questions now are:
1)How would I know if it was the shifter fork, or syncro?
2)Where can I aquire a shifter fork?
3)Can it be replaced by an average, recreational mechanic (like myself )
Thanks

 

The 800 probably included the labor to pull the trans, order the part, replace it and reinstall. I see estimates of $400-600 labor charges for this type of thing all the time.

As far as where to get the parts, there are a couple of websites (like toploaderheaven.com) that deal with the 4-speeds, or you could try scouring the local junkyards or newpapers. Would the average mechanic know if the syncro was crushed or fork bent? Maybe not unless you had parts side-by-side, but I think it's worth the effort. You may need a little help removing the trans tho.

Do it yourself? Of course! I rebuilt a 1980 Jeep 4-speed with parts from a 1979 Mercury trans, while I was in the Army in 1985 using only a Chilton's manual and and a beer bottle cap.... Ok, so I had help and it was a lot of bottle caps, but we got it done!

 

Definitely check with www.toploaderheaven.com and www.4speedtoploaders.com for parts and possibly manuals/videos. Both those guys have been helpful to some folks I know.

 

Thanks,

We already took the car home because I didn't think that transmission shop really knew what was going on. I think the part he was trying to tell me about was the whole shifter unit(which he was trying to tell me was $800, just for the part). So, I talked to the guy that actually took the transmission out, not just the guy at the desk, and he said that the internals were fine, but the whole shifter unit is screwed up.

The 3-speed itself is an archaic unit. I am thinking about going ahead pulling it and installing a T5. Third gear is a pain on the highway, sounds like it is turning 3 grand + @ 65-70 mph, so an over drive gear would be really nice. From what I understand, the swap is fairly straight forward, with an adapter kit (either of you guys have exp with this?). I am going to do the work myself, so I may have a questions down the road. Thanks for your input