Hard to shift into forward

[romantic comedy]

After having my Atomic Four for 24 years I an excited that I finally have a problem that I can post here for advice!

It was getting hard to shift into forward so I lubed the shift cable. I had it hanging for about a year with oil running thru it.

The cable moves easily. I just ran the engine after it was sitting for about a year. It was very difficult to shift into gear requiring a lot of force. I removed the gear cover and took a peak. I also unhooked the shift cable. I noticed that the 3 shift fingers do not ride up on the collar. Also each finger has a small spot of rough metal where it contacts the collar. Maybe you can see it in the pictures.

I assume that I need to adjust the collar as outlined in the MMI procedure. But I will most likely have to remove the fingers so I can remove the raw metal. But that worries me as far as the smoothness of where the fingers hit the collar. (There has always been good oil at the correct level)

It always took some force to shift. I am wondering if I have been using too much force for 20 years.

Does this happen sometimes?

[romantic comedy]

cant tell if pictures loaded:

[Dave Neptune]

Looks like the adjustment is to tight. The pawls should ride in the "detent grove" which holds the trans in forward.

If you shift with the lever on the trans do the pawls ride in the detent?

Dave Neptune

[romantic comedy]

Looks like the adjustment is to tight. The pawls should ride in the "detent grove" which holds the trans in forward.

If you shift with the lever on the trans do the pawls ride in the detent?

Dave Neptune

Dave, I cant get the pawls to ride in the groove. I have the cable unhooked but have great access to the shift lever. I just opened it today so have not tried the adjustment yet.

[Al Schober]

Those fingers have to ride in the groove. Make sure your shift linkage gets you there. If it doesn't, fix the shift linkage.

[Dave Neptune]

romanticcomedy, it is not uncommon in my experience with these A-4's to find that they were not shifting into forward properly. Most were just adjusted to tight and relied on "FRICTION " in the controls to "hold" them in gear. The problem would be discovered when the engine would slip out of gear while under power when actually the trans was never locked in forward.

Adjust the ring a notch or two then try shifting with only the lever while it is disconnected. Once the detent is achieved it is time to adjust the shifting cable to the trans arm.

I ran my A-4 for almost a year before I discovered the above as I started pushing the engine harder, she'd pop out of gear. A thirty minute adjustment and it worked for another 33 years and is still going.

Dave Neptune

[romantic comedy]

I adjusted the nut a notch or two or three, not sure. Started it and had no forward. It was pretty funny. I ran it in gear, without the trans cover, and I could hold the shaft with my hand.

I gave it another try and made it fairly tight to put in gear. I had both forward and reverse. I may need to give it another adjustment but have to wait for the prop to be cleaned. It has so much growth that there is barely any turbulence when turns.

Not too bad of a job and now I know what do to, I hope. The Tartan 34 has the engine in the middle of the cabin and the access is great.

Hope to give an update in a week or two, after I have a clean prop.

Thanks guys!

[Al Schober]

Recommend the following:
With the engine off, remove the reversing gear cover. As you move your shift lever, you'll see the shifter cone around the main shaft move fwd (towards the engine block) and aft.
With the shifter in fwd gear, you should see the cone move AFT and engage the three fingers that engage the fwd clutch pack. The fingers should go over the hump in the cone and kinda snap into place. If this doesn't happen, you can try loosening the adjustment for the fwd clutch pack and try again. Once you get it to shift fully into fwd, you can tighten the clutch pack.
With the shifter in reverse you'll see the cone move fwd. It should almost come into contact with the notched ring for adjusting the fwd clutch pack. 1/32 or 1/16 of clearance is fine. If your clearance is more than this, try backing off the reverse adjusting nut a few flats and try again. If you can't get the cone to move this far fwd, your shifter is likely faulty/out of adjustment. You can alway tighten up the reverse adjustment.
Making adjustments to the reversing gear to compensate for a faulty shifter is futile and likely to damage the reversing gear.