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71 Hurst Shifter Stuck in Neutral

oliv3rcle

Newbie
Joined
Feb 5, 2018
Messages
13
Let a buddy take my 71 on its 3rd trip around the neighborhood with me along. Still have a lot of sorting to do but seemed ok. Floor hurst shifter 3 speed.

Friend had difficulty with the gear pattern and came from a stop in 2nd even with me screaming in his ear, a little rough but it happens. From that stop swung back to his office, parked it, and talked for a bit.

When I went to leave put foot on clutch, started fine but found I couldn't find any gears, feels tight and no sense of movement not as it had earlier in the day. Vehicle is in neutral and we can push it back and forth. Has since become hit or miss on whether it starts.

In my searching on this wonderful board, I find recommendation on bushings (pb blaster) or having to knock the linkeage around by hand from underneath. Could use a little more clarification on where you would start and what to search for on google images to see where to work. If you were me would you remove the shifter first or start underneath?

Vehicle is towed to a local mechanic but they recommended this morning to take it to another close transmission place for a more specialized look at it as they mostly deal with newer cars. I'd like to get it out of their parking lot asap and without another tow if possible (save my uses for more dire needs).

Appreciate any assistance and looking forward to contributing more to this board.
 

DirtDonk

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
Nov 3, 2003
Messages
47,345
Hey oliv, welcome. Sorry to hear your troubles started so soon after first driving it. Usually they at least wait for you to get as far away from home as possible before messing with you!

First thing I would do is make sure that the transfer case shift lever is in drive mode, and not slipped into it's neutral position.
If that's good, then get underneath to make sure that the transmission's two levers are in their neutral positions. This is done by moving them forward and back to make sure they click into position.
If one of them is slightly out of neutral, the other can't move. You may find that they're a little off and need fiddling with.

If so, then once you have them in neutral and the shift lever is still in neutral, you can unclip the rod ends from the levers (not as easy as I make it sound) and make sure that the end's tips fit into the holes without moving the levers or rods. Should fit in without moving, but if not you can thread them up or down to fit correctly.

If things are too floppy, then yes you have found worn bushings and stuff that you've been reading about. I know where the stock ones fit and what part numbers, but not sure bout the Hurst setup.
For that though, pretty sure Hurst still services those parts and Duff may even have some of that stuff. Not sure they ever sold bits and pieces though. Just the full shifter kits.

Good luck. Let us know what you find.

Paul
 
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oliv3rcle

Newbie
Joined
Feb 5, 2018
Messages
13
Thanks for the quick advice, hoping its the transfer case shifter, maybe got nudged while he was having a look around or being a bit rough on it. Planning to head over there in a bit since they are just closing up for the day and get into it after their hours, hopefully drive it home.
 
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oliv3rcle

Newbie
Joined
Feb 5, 2018
Messages
13
Thanks for the helps, she's back up and working. A little wd-40 and a screwdriver, got the levers moving. I've attached the image that helped. Was easy to figure out once I had my buddy start moving things around. The picture helped me know what to look for since it was in a repairs shops parking lot rather than my home garage where I could poke around for awhile. http://classicbroncos.com/img/tn_tranny_tcase_6a.jpg
 

DirtDonk

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
Nov 3, 2003
Messages
47,345
Great! Good to have it back on the road again.

Paul
 

rspd505

Contributor
Jr. Member
Joined
May 3, 2016
Messages
144
Loc.
Rising Sun, IN
If things are too floppy, then yes you have found worn bushings and stuff that you've been reading about. I know where the stock ones fit and what part numbers, but not sure bout the Hurst setup.
For that though, pretty sure Hurst still services those parts and Duff may even have some of that stuff. Not sure they ever sold bits and pieces though. Just the full shifter kits.

Good luck. Let us know what you find.

Paul

They do sell bushing kits for those shifters. I just bought some for mine a while back.

Rick
 
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