Just wanted to share my fix for my t19 borgwarner transmission being stuck in reverse on my 86’ F-250 6.9. Only seen one post about this on here that gave me a little help but not much.

So what happened was the reverse shift lever pivot bolt located on the top drivers side of the transmission came loose. Allowing the shoe in the bottom of the lever to disengage from the reverse idler gear. This caused the truck to go backwards even when shifter was in neutral, and for the truck to stall out in 1-4.

To fix this, I pulled the seat out, carpet out, tunnel cover off, shift tower of the transmission off. As I was tightening the pivot bolt back into place I had my buddy wiggle the shift lever to engage it into the idler gear. (I drained the fluid so you could see in the bottom of the case but not necessary just makes life easier). Once that is done you can see the idler gear moving in and out as you move the shift lever. Then reinstall shift tower (might have to shift the front collar back into third gear to allow the shift forks to align in the middle of the collars). Shift the transmission into third gear or first, whatever gear allows the six bolt holes to line up. After that, allow your gasket maker to seal up and start her up, release the clutch in neutral and she shouldn’t start going backwards anymore!

the video attached shows me moving the reverse shift lever while the “shoe”, as it is called in the t-19 manual, is synced up with the reverse idler gear, moving it back and forth.

T-19 Manual http://www.thedieselfiles.com/Ford/Borg-Warner%20T19%20tranny.pdf

 

I’m putting mine back on after a rebuild. Did you torque spec the pivot bolt by a certain amount and is there supposed to be any play on the arm back and forth between the bolt and the main shaft gears? I’ve tightened my bolt down to about 30ftlbs and there’s a little play back and forth on the lever arm between the where bolt protrudes and the main shaft.

 

I dont think you will get an answer as it was the only post that user posted and that was back in 2023!
Sorry I cant help on how tight the bolt should be or the play as I have not messed with a T19.
Dave ----

 

Thanks Dave! I figured it was a long shot. I ended up creating a new post for this after I commented.