Toploader no shift

[RonJ]

It looks like I get to learn about the toploader now. I was out the other night and began to have a difficult time getting it to shift.It was getting late and I had to get my son home from football practice. By the way the Cobra is a big hit amoungst the the team..lol..I took it back out this afternoon to see what was going on. Shifting became harder and harder until it got to the point where I drove the last couple of miles home in 3rd. I had to push it into the barn because I couldn't get it to go into any gear at all! I'm thinking it may be linkage related but I'm not a toploader expert by any strestch of the imagination. Reckon I'll find out when I get time to look at her which hopefully will be Sunday. If anybody has had this issue happen to them I certainly would appreciate any insight you may have to offer.

[brfutbrian]

i had that happen to me early on with my car. it was just loose bolts where the handle bolts to the shifter. you probably have a similar problem . later, brian.

[Naumoff]

Is your trans stuck in third or is it that you can't shift it because the clutch won't disengage?
I had an issue with the shifter jamming up. If you jack the car up and put it on jackstands.
Get under the car a put the trans in neutral by the linkage then see if the shifter works.

My shifter does not like to be jiggled or stirred as there is no slop in it. Neutral is a straight side to side movement.
Wife thought it was like our old Jeep with a wore out T-18. You could make a 4 inch circular movement when it was in neutral, even when in gear you could move the shifter around about 2 inches.

[RonJ]

Sorry, I guess I wasn't clear enough. Not unusual considering my lack of typing skills. It was not suck in 3rd. It was becoming hard to get in any gear and 3rd was the only one it would go in to. It came out of gear just fine when I stopped to open the barn doors to pull it in. It would not go back into any gear then and I had to push it in...good thing it's a light car! I ran out this morning at 5am to look at real quick before I took off for the day. The slave cylinder mounting bolts were the only ones I could find loose. I snugged them up and was able to go through the gears with the engine off. I didn't want to wake up the family that early so I didn't start her up and try it while running. Okay it was raining like crazy with hurricane Hannah blowing through the area, just let my wife think I was being considerate for once okay I should be able to get around to starting her up tomorrow. I'll find out then if the liitle bit of movement being caused by the bolts being loose was enough to prevent the clutch from operating properly.

[Naumoff]

Get someone in the car to operate the clutch pedal while you are under it and see if the slave is moving. It needs to move around 1 inch to disengaged the clutch.

[pgermond]

If the slave cylinder was loose, that was most likely the problem (clutch not operating properly). Tony - with all due respect, mine doesn't travel anywhere an inch. You can however, have someone depress the clutch pedal and looking inside the bell housing (where the clutch fork enters the bell housing) with a flash light and see the clutch disengages from the the pressure plate.

If the piston on the slave doesn't move, then it could be:
1. Bad m/c
2. Bad slave
3. System needs to be bleed

Good luck!

[Naumoff]

Phil, It really does depend on the pressure plate specs on how much movement it needs.
Most of the ones I have read need 1/2" of movement at the throw out bearing to fully disengage the clutch. That usually translates to an inch of movement at the slave. At least on the ones I have work on and that is surely not all of them.
With that being said, It could be anything.
I think yours travels near and inch. Have you put a tape measure on it while it is being operated?

[RonJ]

It was the mounting bolts. They weren't very loose at all but it must have been allowing just enough movement to prevent the clutch from engaging. Went for a delightful 100 mile drive Yesterday afternoon and she ran flawlessly! Man, I love this car! I feel so blessed to be able to drive such an awesome machine!

Looks like I get to wait a bit longer before I tear apart a toploader

[Naumoff]

Glad to hear it wasn't anything serious.

Enjoy