So I finally got my Z out of storage this year and was reminded of an issue I had when I put it away a couple of yrs ago. I put in a brand new 345/350 crate motor, drove it almost 1200 miles with no issues. Then when I went to my friends house, everything worked fine, went to leave and no 3rd or 4th gear! When you try to put in in one of those gears, it feels empty, no resistance nothing. I drove it to the car wash the other day, washed it, pulled up onto and incline and stopped, couldnt get the car out of first. So I turned the car off, grabbed the shifter with both hands and pulled it out of first. Fired it back up, no firts, but third and fourth were found!. Drove it home fearing I would be dead in the water at any moment, turned the car off, parked on a level area, started it back up and back to having all gears other than third or fourth. WTH?! So I was wondering if anybody had any ideas of what could be going on before I tear it apart. Seems like everytime I go to fix something, I go the long rout only to have someone tell me the easy simple solution AFTER I take everything all the way apart.

Thanks for any info!

 

If third and fourth go away and then re-appear i would venture to guess that its a shifter issue itself and not a transmission issue. If it was a transmission issue 3rd and 4th would be gone or going and you would not get an empty feeling but a grinding/throwing out of gear feeling. I would pull the shifter apart and look for something amiss.

 

WHOOOO HOOOO! I was hoping for something like that. Thanks for the info, I'll pull the shifter out tonight and see what I can find. If anyone has any tip or suggestions on what to look for and adjust, that would be great. I can probably figure it out. Thanks again for the suggestion!

 

Allright, I took the shifter off, moved the part that the shifter moves for gear selection, moved it into third, reconnected the shifter and I can shift into third and fourth. If I try to shift it into first, secon, fifth and reverse, it boggs out and dies.

Any ideas? doesnt look like there is any adjustment of anything, pretty straight forward looking, do I just need to replace the shifter? Does anyone suspect that a rail or something is bent inthe trans?
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forgot to add that with this condition, neutral is a forward gear. Not sure which one as I am just in a parking spot. Might not be able to get it back off the street.

 

Hmmm thats interesting. I would have sworn it would be outside the transmission since it works fine sometimes and others not. Im going to sit this one out for the remainder and wait for someone else to chim in. Sorry that i cant be of any more help.