4 replies to this topic

[Terry Haines]

...OK, I needed to post this some time ago.
If you have decided to not have the tower modded and 'The Bolt' (or pin) goes and you are still stuck in gear THIS is why the tower won't come out and you will have to pull and open the trans...

 forks_n.JPG   528.9K   4 downloads

...these are the 3 forks in the position they sit in the trans...these are in NEUTRAL with all the central cut outs(white) in line.The shift tower 'lever' moves these forks either left or right...and the lever of the tower sits in the cut outs...


 tower_N.JPG   481.63K   1 downloads


..this is the tower in NEUTRAL. The lever that moves the forks is white, notice the parts above and below the lever, these are the gate interlocks that only allow one fork to be moved at a time by the lever.


 forks_5th.JPG   498.54K   1 downloads

...these are the same 3 fork but in gear (5th), see how the cut out has be moved from the other 2 when in gear, when in gear the lever moves to the same position as the fork but the interlocks stay central in the fork cut outs..

 tower_5th.JPG   535.67K   1 downloads

...the tower is now in gear (5th).

It can be seen that without being in NEUTRAL there is no way the tower will lift out. A combination of fork,lever and interlock positions,other than neutral, will not let the lever/interlocks slide out and up of the fork cut outs..

Some may have tried to pry the tower out but this will only result in damage to the lever/forks/interlock..Trans has to be opened up and the shift fork moved by hand back into neutral position.

I know many baulk at the idea of our 'Keyed Tower' mod but it will save pulling the trans etc....So now you all know 'WHY' the tower won't come out...Easy eh!!

[TRicker]

i dont' mean to contradict you terry, but less than a week ago, i managed to pull out the tower while stuck in second gear, with the transmission fully intact. i bet you can figure out how, i just had to make some "wiggle room" and it came right out. :)

[Terry Haines]

....in every gear with any shift fork to the left or right of center, the LOWER interlock ,which always stays in the central cut out position, will be UNDER a non cut out section of an engaged shift fork..this will stop it moving up.You may have been stuck in 5th or R , the topmost fork in the 'stack' and been able to lift the tower a small amount and slide in a piece of wire etc, to move the fork back to N...or the interlock positions were bent/worn or forced apart to give more wiggle room..If this is the case the the gap that the operating lever sits in the tower,between the upper and lower interlocks, is too wide and you are at risk of moving two shift forks at once...ANY manual trans that ever engages two gears at once locks up solid. I hope the interlocks and tower were not damaged/bent out of spec in your case...

[TRicker]

well it drove okay. not my car, but it was fine. i got it away from the "interlock" slots by removing everything on the top side of the tower, so the shaft had a lot of extra play. i wouldnt suggest it, but the owner of the car was okay with trying it, he really didnt wanna pull the trans a fourth time ;)

[Terry Haines]

I do understand what you mean, with enough slack and maybe move the tower towards the cable side of the trans case you may be able to disengage the tower lever from the fork that is engaged..not something I would advise as with parts disconnected at the top re top shaft support bearing,top arm boss for levers etc any pulling with the shaft only supported at the bottom could damage the shaft/bearing/ tower cage. I don't think I'd write up a how to on this as if the gear engaged is on the lower or the 3 forks it would not be that easy ...Lets hope those who break a bolt get lucky eh!!