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Author Topic: Transmission does not engage  (Read 6085 times)

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Offline 3aJeeper

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Transmission does not engage
« on: April 18, 2011, 09:41:33 PM »
New to the forum, looks to be a good group.

Been s-l-o-w-l-y working on a 51 Cj3a. Finally got the engine going and tried out the clutch/gears to see what I got. What I got was nothing. The transmission would not engage. I shifted through the gears with the clutch, but except for the one time 2nd gear gave me a little grrrr, nothing. Was able to move the shifter thru reverse and all 3 gears. Guess I shouldn't expect too much for $300!  ;)

Now, for the noob question: where do I begin to chase this down? Clutch? Transmission?

Based on what I've read I should probably tear it down and start over including a rebuild of the transmission anyway.

One piece of background, somewhere in its' past a PO put in a F-134 hurricane engine. I found a RockAuto.com with a rebuilt Holley 1904 carb that is low enough to fit under the hood line. So it runs - blue smoke and all. I wanted to get that far to check the transmission.

Thanks
1951 CJ3a
F-134 Hurricane engine

Offline F Bill

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Re: Transmission does not engage
« Reply #1 on: April 18, 2011, 11:25:32 PM »
Have you tried all the positions of the transfer case? Are all the driveshafts present and functional?If you jack one wheel on each axle and spin it do the driveshafts turn (gearbox in N) ... A severely worn clutch could cause your problem, as well as something in the drivetrail broken or not engageing properly..

It is not unheard of for folks to borrow differential components and button the axle back up, had a buddy that bought a jeep that way... >:(

Owner of the world famous?? Pintojeep 3A and one yet to be named stock project 3A.
Based in central TX and upstate NY.

Offline mud pie

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Re: Transmission does not engage
« Reply #2 on: April 18, 2011, 11:42:05 PM »
Yep, definately check the transfer case levers.  That's how I used to stop my little sister from taking my M38A1 when I was in high school.  Since it had no ignition key, I used to pop the high/low lever to neutral.  She'd try to take it, but it went no where, and she didn't know what the other levers were for.
1953 CJ-3A

Offline 3aJeeper

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Re: Transmission does not engage
« Reply #3 on: April 19, 2011, 08:11:53 AM »
Transfer case.

Well, I've made quite the impression with my first post, I must say. What's that saying? "Better to be silent and thought a fool instead of speaking and removing all doubt."

Yes - I put everything in neutral to push it out of the garage so it wouldn't fill with exhaust - including the transfer case.

I'll give that another shot tonight, this time with the transfer case engaged. If that doesn't work, then I'll try posting a better question.

Hopefully going forward I'll have questions that can't be answered with "Is it plugged in?"

D'oh!
1951 CJ3a
F-134 Hurricane engine

Offline mud pie

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Re: Transmission does not engage
« Reply #4 on: April 19, 2011, 09:55:56 AM »
No worries. I also own a Russian sidecar motorcycle, and post on those forums. Many a person has posted a "my bike won't start !!" post, and more than one person will say "check the kill switch".  9 times out of 10, that's the culprit.

Sometimes its the obvious things we over-look. We've all been there....
1953 CJ-3A

Offline 3aJeeper

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Re: Transmission does not engage
« Reply #5 on: April 19, 2011, 08:31:04 PM »
Amazing how well things work when you use them as designed.....

Tried the gears again, this time WITH the transfer case engaged- 2wd and 4wd. Clutch was tight and shifted into Reverse and 1st quite nicely. Not even a hint of grinding.  Only tried those two gears as I haven't finished the brakes yet.

Very excited to hit this mark as I've had this jeep for over a year and a half and only get to work on it a couple hours a week at best. It's renewed my enthusiasm.

It throws some blue smoke, not much, but it's there, along with a lot of other things the need to be done that I'll get advice on in other posts.

Thanks for the help!
1951 CJ3a
F-134 Hurricane engine

Offline Carls_jeep

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Re: Transmission does not engage
« Reply #6 on: April 19, 2011, 08:42:14 PM »
 ;D it's always more fun when it's something you overlooked ;). The smoke may clear up after you have driven it for a while. If not, you can always rebuild it later.

Offline F Bill

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Re: Transmission does not engage
« Reply #7 on: April 19, 2011, 09:35:48 PM »
I second the thought that the smoke may clear.....Sometimes soaking the cylinders with some Marvels Mystery oil or ATF/ACetone will loosen stuck oil rings, and driving it hard also has been known to clear up smoking rings.. Glad ya got it goin!
Owner of the world famous?? Pintojeep 3A and one yet to be named stock project 3A.
Based in central TX and upstate NY.

Offline macrisel

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Re: Transmission does not engage
« Reply #8 on: April 20, 2011, 04:27:09 PM »
It is such a nice change of pace to realize a major, complex problem has a mind-numbing simple solution!

My personal best:  I had a souped up '84 Chevy truck in college that would not start one day.  I spent all weekend messing with the carb (cussing), adjusting the distributer (cussing), changing the spark plugs (cussing), checking fuel pressure (cussing) and basically looking the truck over front to back, side to side and top to bottom.  On Sunday afternoon I had to drive back to school.  Dad came out to the shed to help me one last time.

Dad: "Did you make sure you had gas in it?"
Me:  "Of course I did!  I have 1/4 of a tank!  What do I look like?"
Dad reaches up and taps the fuel gage a few times and the needle slowly sinks down to Empty.
Dad: "You look like a smart college kid with no gas and a busted fuel gage."

Ahh, to be young and stupid again.... ::)

Offline jamesr

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Re: Transmission does not engage
« Reply #9 on: April 21, 2011, 11:08:55 PM »
Thats all right.  I bought and changed a fuel pump in my 79 Ford PU one afternoon on the freeway, because I THOUGHT I had already hit the tank transfer switch, and should have had at least 200 miles of gas left, in the aux. tank.  Fortunatly I "broke down" on the freeway behind a Pep Boys, so all I had to do was jump the freeway fence for parts.  Even with a new fuel pump, it would not pump an empty tank.  Two hours later, and a flip of the switch to a full aux. tank, and me and my new fuel pump were "on the road again", heading for home.  Felt awfully foolish.  Jim
Home of the 4-wheel drive chicken coup.

Offline Doug

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Re: Transmission does not engage
« Reply #10 on: April 25, 2011, 11:09:10 PM »
Jamesr, I did the same thing with a 77 old style bronco with two tanks.  I was testing it for a week before buying.   Drove one tank empty and flipped the switch on the dash to go to the other tank.  Little did I know, it had a dash switch for the electric gauge and a mechanical valve coming through the floor below the drivers seat to actually switch tanks.   So gauge said full, but not gas flow.  Engine died.  Killed the battery trying to crank it, got dark, called a tow truck, paid to have it towed, and two days later found the other valve.   Doohhhhhhh!   I ended up buying it.   I finally sold that bronco about ten years later.  Sometimes, I wish I still had it, until I recall how it wanted to roll over at highway speed (lot worse than my cj3a), so probably good I do not still have it.  

Offline p3ferris

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Re: Transmission does not engage
« Reply #11 on: April 26, 2011, 10:44:03 PM »
Ok since we are confessing..My step father bought me a car to drive,58 ford fairlaine stick shift.  It would not start on its own so he pulled me for over 2 miles.  Finally he stopped and came back to the car. He said " I don't understand why it will not run"  We knew it had gas as we just dumped 5 gallons in it.  "Are you sure you have the key turned on"    DUHHHHHHHHHHH :-?