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MG MGA - A Tranny-stuck in first, but acts like neutral??

Took my recently purchased MGA (1960) for a spin today and had something strange happen - Going from 2nd to neutral to first at a stop sign, went to pull away, and car was in neutral, even though shifter indicated first.

Shifter is now stuck in the position of "first", but behavior is as though it is in neutral. clutch, engine, rolling, etc. make no difference. It is truly locked in first.

Anyone have any idea what is going on? I hope (but suspect it is) that the next step isnt to pully the tranny.

I apologize for my ignorance. I'm generally car savvy but not as mg savvy as I'd like to be. Appreciate the help.
Jim Paul

Jim,
pull the boot off the shifter and see whether the shift lever is centered in the gearshift tower. Also, the shift lever might have come out of the rear selector lever. You may be able to correct this through the shift tower area; equally you may have to pull a transmission.
Good luck.
mike parker

Jim:

It is very likely that the bolt that holds the shift fork to the 1 - 2 shifting rod has loosened. It is held by a jam nut, but I have seen one other instance where the bolt came loose with the same result. The bolt and fork can be accessed through the plate on the l.h.s. of the tranny, but either the tranny has to be pulled or the floor boards and the tunnel cover removed. Pulling the engine with the tranny is definitely easier, if you have had practice. (I also have seen an MGA tranny tunnel "modified" by cutting a hole on the l.h.s. to gain access, but that is a difficult personal choice, at best, if you want to keep the car "original."

The good news is that there is probably no expensive damage to the drive train -just a pain-in-the-neck labor intensive job.

Steve
Steve Brandt

The two previous post are the best back to backs ones I've seen! I'm with you guys. Jim, hope for your sake Mike is right but my first guess was as Steve says.
Isn't there also a bolt that can come loose on the shifter extention? Or that's the centering thing Mike was refering to?

Cheers
Paul Hanley

My Magnette (same tranny) does the same thing from time to time. Put it in 1st and no go. You can feel it go into position but nothing. I can get it to work by putting into 3rd, letting the clutch out a little and then back into 1st. It never leaves me stranded and has always done it.
Wray

Wray,
I fear you are really risking disaster with this. Something is loose in there, and if it comes adrift, you may be looking for a gearbox or worse. It is possible to wind up in two gears at once, or for the loose setscrews to get betwixt gears, or for a number of other things to happen. If it happens at speed, you can crash as well. I have seen a few gearboxes where this happened, not pretty a'tall!
FRM
http://www.usachoice.net/gofanu
FR Millmore

FR, could be. As far as breaking the tranny is concerned I have two spares. When I replace the engine with a 3-main 1800 I'll swap the tranny.
Wray Lemke

This thread was discussed between 23/11/2004 and 25/11/2004

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