Hard shifting

bsatocker68

I'm having a hard time getting my transmission to go into reverse and 1st gear. Second and third do fine. I have a 51 pacemaker with the 3 speed. Is there a adjustment that could help? Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

48Sed

It could be the cable is not moving the shift selector fully to engage.

When you attempt 1 or Rev have someone move the shift selector lever at the end of the cable on the trans in the same direction to see if that helps.

It may not be traveling as far as it needs due to the cable being dry?

If the upper bracket on the steering column moves upward causing a gap you could lose travel on the cable making shifting more difficult.

Hope this helps

Park_W

Sounds like the "crossover" cable adjustment is a bit off.  Service manual has a good description of the cable adjustment procedure.

bsatocker68

Thanks guys. I adjusted the cable and it shifting much better now.

48rob

Is this a pretty common reason for a car not shifting correctly?

I've come across several cars for sale in my search that seem like good ones, until the owner says "but the clutch could use some adjusting"...
Unless it is flat out slipping, one would think the most common reason someone would say that is because of gear grinding, no?
bsatocker68, is that what you were experiencing?

Rob