TR2/3/3A TR3 shifter popping out of selector shaft

[Palmer]

It happened again tonight. I guess I'm a little heavy-handed with my shifting, but tonight on the way home the shifter popped out of the selector shaft when I shifted into second pulling away from a light. It then settled into the slot on the 3 - 4 selector shaft, leaving me unable to change gears. Once I got home, I took off the shifter and got the selector shafts lined up again, so everything is back to normal, but this isn't the first time this has happened, and I won't be surprised when it happens again. I thought replacing the spring under the shifter might help keep it from popping out of the selector shaft, but neither Moss nor TRF shows that spring as being available. Does anyone else have this problem? Does anyone know of a suitable spring replacement? Thanks.

 

[TR3driver]

I'm wondering if you're missing the bolt through the center of the shift lever. It, not the spring, should be what keeps the lever from coming high enough to slip out of the socket on the shift rail.

I've dished out a lot of abuse for a lot of years, never had that problem. Closest I've come is breaking the pin & pulling the 3-4 socket off of it's shaft.

Revington shows the TR5/6 spring as a replacement for the TR2-4 spring; and it seems to be readily available. ISTR it has a larger opening at the bottom though, so it may be you need a washer in the joint.

 

[Palmer]

The bolt is there and seems to be in fine shape. I'll take a closer look at it. Thanks for the idea.

 

[KVH]

Are you sure it's not the same problem I had? On my 4A the anti rattle plunger had too much play. My shaft popped out twice, so I did two things:replaced the cross bolt since I saw some wear (maybe 1/64th), and I installed a longer spring and a longer plunger. Clearly part of the problem is the wear in the slot of the shift shaft itself.

One question I have: Where was your anti rattle plunger when you took it back apart?

 

[Palmer]

When I took it apart the anti rattle plunger was gone. I assume that when the shifter popped out of the selector shaft the plunger and spring escaped. Do you think they fell out earlier and contributed to the problem? I agree that part of the problem is almost certainly wear on the selector shaft itself, and I may end up replacing that if the problem continues. I think I'll start with a slightly larger cross bolt since the current bolt does seem a little loose. It doesn't look original, although I don't remember replacing it. Thanks for the help.

 

[KVH]

If your shifter popped out again after you first lost the anti rattle plunger, then the problem may be something else, but here are two points to consider:

a) if the cross bolt looks good, but is actually worn or even bent, that might be part of the problem; and

b) when the anti rattle plunger pops out, you're stuck. Totally stuck, because the plunger lodges beneath the shifter inside the fork cup, and you can get into maybe one gear and that's it. And, when you take the shifter apart without looking carefully both the spring and plunger can fall under the car, get stuck in some crook of the frame, etc.

Just things to consider. I went to Ace and bought a steel pin and machined it to make a slighlty longer and wider plunger. So far, so good. I'm not comfortable yet, as I've only put about 100 miles on since then.

Let us know how you fare on this.

 

[Palmer]

Things just went from bad to worse. I checked out the shifter, anti rattle spring and bolt, and everything looked fine. So I put it back together to see what was making it pop out. Now I've lost 3rd and 4th gear. The middle selector shaft won't move. First, second and reverse are all good. I can't imagine what's wrong now, although I see a transmission tear down in my future. Oh, and I can't get the shifter to pop out of the selector shaft anymore, so I guess something good came out of this.

 

[TR3driver]

Before pulling the transmission, take off the top cover and see if the shaft will move then. My guess is that the shift interlock inside the top cover has come apart (or more likely was put together wrong). The 3-4 rail has a pin through the center and balls between each end of the pin and the shaft on that side. If one of the balls didn't get put in the right place, the pin may have worked it's way out until it has locked the shaft in place.

You'll still have to remove the tunnel, but at least the transmission can stay in place.

 

[Marvin Gruber]

I have several top shifter covers. Just PM me

Marv

 

[Palmer]

I finally got around to pulling the top cover. TR3driver, you were correct. The ball from one side of the interlock was rolling around inside the cover. I probably didn't check to make sure they were both secure when I rebuild the thing. Took a little while to get everything back together, but it's shifting fine now. Thanks for the help.

 

[TR3driver]

I love it when a plan comes together !