My A833 is stuck in first gear

[Supercharged Riot]

This happen to anyone here?

My friend from auto class said all I need to do is disconnect the shift linkages and re-adjust them and replace the cotter pins.
I took a visual inspection this afternoon and didnt see anything visually faulty.
I was playing with my stick shift and once it got into 1st gear, it got locked in its position.

Im hoping nothing jammed inside the tranny.  Ill probably take my shifter out this weekend and put it back after inspeciton..
I'll take pics and post them tommorrow.
I just want some experienced feedback.

THanks,

[Dans 68]

This is with a Hurst shifter, correct? First get the car out of first gear by going under the car and manually (by hand) moving the linkages forward to the neutral position. Should not be too difficult to do. If "out in the field" park over a curb to get the room to crawl under (I've done this). Then adjust and lube the linkages per the factory settings. See http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,50880.0.html also. Also see the forum for A bodies http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/forumdisplay.php?f=72..they have a dedicated 4-speed section.

Dan

[Supercharged Riot]

Thanks for the link. I havent got pics yet, but im still posting them.  Ill consider your advice and give it a try this weekend and see how things go.

[resq302]

I had this happen on the way to a show out in PA.  About a 2 1/2 hrs away from home before we had a trailer.  It turned out the nut that holds the linkage lever to the trans backed off and was not allowing the linkage to move the way it should.  Luckily, we found a place that loved to work on old cars, especially mopars! The stopped what they were doing and threw my car up on the lift with me inside and sure enough a couple turns of the wrench, I was back on the road again.  Since then, I have always used the medium strength lock tite on any nut or bolt on any moving part like that.

[Chatt69chgr]

Note that the gears on the main shaft, including 1st, don't actually move.  They are in constant mesh.  What moves is the 1-2 and 3-4 shift collar.  I seriously doubt that the shift collar won't move.  So the linkage is most likely the culprit as suggested.

[bull]

So what was the cause?

[Supercharged Riot]

still workin on it. I'll take plenty of pictures for you guys still. sorry I havent had time to mess with it yet...

[Supercharged Riot]

Well here it is guys. I got underneath to tinker around with the shift linkages & shifter...

Looking at the picture.  I took off the cotter pints that hold 1 and/or 3 and used a rwench to move my transmission around a lil bit.  It seemed to move ok (with the little space I had to work with).

When I unbolted the shift linkages I tried to move them around to see it my shifter was jammed or not.  it didnt move. 

So now my next step is to take out my shifter and find out why it locked up.  I suspect that I need a new shifter anyways because the current one seemed too "Flabby"

Ill keep you guys posted.

[Supercharged Riot]

I figured it out! And I dont need any new parts (nessesarily).  I'll make a tutorial on it later. 

[Supercharged Riot]

I feel soo good about myself that I finally got my car out of the garage!  Its been out of commission for 4 months.

[Dans 68]

Very nice!    Now, what really was the problem?  Shall we guess based upon the photo? 

Dan

[Supercharged Riot]

OK.  I finally had time to post this a a tutorial for all you A833 owners out there that had the same problem as I did.  To recap what happened and my solution.  Following that I will post pictures of me fixing and verifying my solution to the problem. I was basically moving my shift lever around when all of a suddend I got stuck or jammed in gear.

Problem:
Stuck in (1st) gear
Shifter was jammed


Solution:
Detach the shift linkages and reposition each gear back into neutral position


Let me clarify a couple things and take a look at a general diagram of an A833 transmission...


Based on my diagram, you can see the 1st - 2nd linkage, 3rd - 4th linkage, and the reverse linkage and where your shifter is connected for each linkage...


The Solution in Detail:
My transmission was really stuck in 1st gear, however, my shifter was locked in the position for 3rd gear (dont ask me how). So basically I could not disengage from the 3rd position without diesengaging from 1st gear as well.  THis basically conflicted what my A833 transmission wanted to do (or was designed to do).  So in order to correct this, I had to remove the shift linkages that connects my shifter to my transmission, thus allowing me to freely move my 1st-2nd & 3rd-4th transmission back into their neutral (disenganged) positions.

Once I put each gear back into position, I moved my shifter in each gear to make sure it was engaging correctly without jamming again.
I tightened up my bolts that connect my shifter and transmission with an adjustable wrench and put my car back on the road.

[Supercharged Riot]

If you were looking from below your car, The reverse part of the shifter is located closest to the transmission.  1st - 2nd lever is in the middle and 3rd - 4th is located on the outer most part of the shifter

When the shifter is in a neutral position, all three levers should be perfectly alligned with each other (see picture below).

[Supercharged Riot]

her's a labeled picture for better visualizATION.  Please no replies to this thread until the tutorial is done...

Right now this is an image of my stick shift in neutral. the arrows pointing in each direction will show what position the shifter will be in when you are engaged in gear.

[Supercharged Riot]

Ok. so after I thought I had fixed the problem. I tested out each gear to make sure I was 100% confident with my solution.

The following are pics of me in first gear...

[Supercharged Riot]

Next I tested 2nd.

The following are pictures of me in 2nd gear...

[Supercharged Riot]

Next i tested 3rd....

[Supercharged Riot]

Next i tested 4th...

[Supercharged Riot]

Reverse...

[Supercharged Riot]

and then i placed everything back in neutral...

[Supercharged Riot]

ALL DONE. MY CHARGER IS NO LONGER STUCK IN FIRST GEAR AND NOW IM BAK ON THE ROAD!  

also, big thanks and credit for Dans68.  The solution was consistent with your advice!