Half-way between gears

[duluthmuffler]

I have a junkyard motor that is really close to working.... (the original is being rebuilt).
I was having all kinds of clutch issues, so I took the clutch apart and soaked and cleaned the plates in brake fluid, and re-assembled everything with some 20w 50 Castrol motorcycle oil... with about 1/3rd bottle of seafoam.

I am missing the ball bearing that lives in the clutch worm lever thingy in the left side cover.. but I've adjusted the clutch to work anyway...

The clutch action is good... moving out and in nicely. Neutral is lovely.

But.

Getting it into 1st gear is kinda frightening... sorta half way in and out.

Sometimes it will clack as soon as I select 1st.
Other times it will wait to clack until I let out the clutch.

I did get it into 1st all the way (I think)... I added power and let out the clutch..and it slipped out and began to clack away...excitingly as I mentioned before.

Second seems to work like a peach.

Is this gear-selecting related? Seafoam? Missing ball-bearing? Faulty clutch adjusting/building? When I put it together the clutch spring bolts seemed to run out of travel room, before they seemed to need a torque wrench..could that be it?

Thanks for any help!
('77 -the dark blue kind)

 

[angus67]

u need the ball. its 5/16. u can get it any hardware store. put the ball in there and trap the ball in there with a wad of bearing grease. once the cover is back on, it won't fall out.
are you sure u have all of the frictions and drive plates?
do you have a manual? check the spacings on the star lookin thing up and to the left just behind the clutch basket.

 

[angus67]

and?..........

 

[igya]

It almost sounds like a bent shifting fork or worn gears. Just a guess. I can't imagine the missing ball bearing causing that. The ball is very important though because it prevents a possible meltdown to the clutch engaging rod.

 

[duluthmuffler]

Hey gang,

Thanks for the advice!

I got another ball bearing and the clutch action and adjusting is even better than before, but was not the solution...

All plates accounted for also.
Original, and Hanes Manual present.


This morning I finally got myself out there to work on the right side of the engine.

I watched the action on the star as I moved it through the gears. I rotated the inner part of the clutch with my right hand while shifting up and down with my left. I noticed two things.
A. Several gears seemed to not fully engage after the shifting action had moved completely, but seemed to engage as I continued to rotate the clutch..either due to the the rotations, or to some type of shaking I was doing to the assembly. I know that rotation is necessary to get it through the gears, but this felt like a bit much. It felt like I could trick it into being engaged....
B. the second thing I noticed was that the star itself was loose...

I figured out how get the clutch basket off! Tightened it. Moved two gears... and then had to leave for work...

So maybe it was that star...
Is there a shifting action stopper that I can adjust? It seems like if the shifting action could move a hair more, everything would work correctly.

 

[blackbetty]

Adjusting the shift shaft is on pg 81, clymers.

 

[jayel]

the star selector being loose is most likely the problem, but a bent shift fork is possible also if this roller on the pin that follows the groove of the shifter drum has broken it could result in partial engagement

 

[duluthmuffler]

Just spent a couple hours fiddling with the shift shaft adjustment... which was off a little...
centering the claw to the posts in 2nd and in 3rd... the adjustment looks pretty good in every gear.

Nothing really seems to be worn very badly...

I worked it up and down through the gears after my adjustment.

Moving it into 1st seemed better, but I'm still having this delayed movement in the shifter drum (part 1 in the diagram above), across the range... which makes me think the real problem is inside.

Every gear can be selected... but occasionally it will be hung up. 1 and 6 seem to be the worst.

In you guys' experience, is this hanging up something that will go away when its being oiled and the engine is doing its notorious shaking?

On a whim, I unscrewed the Detent spring right above this on the outside of the case and it acted the same way... The pin itself I didn't bother to remove...but without the springs pressure, there was no difference in its movements.

Tomorrow I"ll probably revisit the pieces that hold the shift drum into place... maybe it's getting hung up there.

 

[duluthmuffler]

Another way to describe this is that the shift drum is "sticky"....

 

[XSLeo]

The transmission is pressure lubed by the oil pump. If the engine has set very long the shift drum is lacking in oil. This may be part of the trouble.
I'm more inclined to think the dogs and the slots they engage in are worn.
I would get the engine running and see if it helps. If not, time to slpit the cases and inspect the gears.
Leo