1971 3sp column shift manual, bushings are good but it will not go into gear. I'm new to this style of transmission. Here are my questions and I'm sorry if they seem naive:
1) When I disconnect the linkages at the transmission I can move either one from neutral either direction, but I can not move both at one time. Is there a problem with the transmission?
2) The shifter lever on the column will move smoothy up and down, but will not pull toward me for 1st or move away from me for 2nd/3rd. Does this lack of movement indicate a bad column?

Thanks!

 

Yes your right the trans. will only go in one gear at a time...thats why you can only move one arm at a time..the colum is probley out of alignment..yes colums do wear out..But first if you look at the two shifter plates at the bottom of the colum where the rods come up to hook up..In nutral they should be alighned togather..at 12 oclock high theirs a small hole to put a nail or pin to keep them togather while you ajust the rods to fit back to the trans.If out of alignment it wont let the colum move up and down .you might need some oil to get the shifter to move up and down in the H pattern..Get the colum to work the H pattern first..Find 1st 2nd 3rd smothly..than hook up the trans..good luck bill

 

FYI. If your cab mount is bad on that side, it will affect your shift linkage.

 

That does make me feel better that the Transmission levers are working as designed.

For the Column, prior to lending it to a friend (resulting in it being towed back home) the column shift moved too and from as well as up and down. Should I be concerned about the shift lever motion is only up and down now?

Also, when having someone else shift and while I look at the attachments at the end of the column in the engine compartment, should I see the two shift lever attachment points scisoring up and down (moving independently) or should they move in parallel? Mine are moving as if they were one unit.

Thanks for the help, this is a great truck, low miles (100K) and I think it has a lot of life left in it.

 

They should move one at a time independently.

 

Sounds like my cloumn is the problem... can I get some more advice?
1) does anyone have a schematic/disassembly instructions for the column?
2) does anyone know what piece typically breaks to cause this problem and is the replacement part available?

Thanks for all the help. I'm an ex-BMW mechanic so you'll have to be patient with me (and go slow with me, but I can be taught), hopefully my limited inventory of standard size tools will get me though this, Ford wasn't metric back in 71'?

 

dont loan your truck to anyone

 

Although I've never had one apart,it would seem fairly straight forward if you methodically start taking it apart. It's a tube with shifters in it. Hopefully someone will come along here and shed some light on it, but it's not rocket science.

 

This may be of some help. It's for a Bronco, but a lot of stuff crosses over.

 

Very helpful, thanks. Looks like that shift arm stackup may be locked together or perhaps the shift tube that runs through them got jammed too hard (by an over agressive driver) and now it locked up. I suppose the next step is to pull it out and see what the damage is.

Thanks again

 

I have the exact same issue. Did you resolve it? how did it go? Pictures? wow I'm demanding.

Thanks

 

I tore it down as far as I could, then talked to the nice people at "Steering Columns Galore", they said this is a common problem and that there are internal parts that bend and crack, requiring considerable rebuilding effort. I decided to send it to them. I'll get it back in a week and I'll let you know how it turns out. They quoted me $325-$425, but after tearing it down they said it would be 425. I'm still waiting to find out what all was wrong, but hopefully I'll have somethign nice when they're done.

 

For something thats only a few moveing parts..And easy to fix if you weld or braze some..thats a weeks pay for 3hrs work..but if you cant fix it your self..than you have to pay through the nose..good luck

 

Thanks for the support, in my defense though I lost all my welding and brazing equipment in Hurricane Katrina, then again I was never very good with it... on a brighter note, it is supposed to come with a nice paint job.

 

Thank you for the response, what about the tare down stopped your progress? I will buy a new transmission before I send the column to be fixed for that price. Plus shipping, eek, I cant justify it.