problem with my truck, need help

[matt_stan40]

I have a 1968 F-100 pickup truck that just recently developed a problem. I was tryin to burn out so i put the truck in first gear (i usually use second gear because first gear is very violent with my truck). I punched the gas and i heard a clanking noise from under the truck and then the truck went into neutral by itself (the stick was still in first but the gear went into neutral). Now when i try to shift into gear (any gear) it just stays in neutral even the stick is in a gear slot. Some times the truck will shift normally but after driving for about 30 seconds or if i come to a complete stop or a rolling stop it shifts itself into neutral. Other times the truck will try to shift itself into neutral and at the same time try to stay in gear and i hear and feel a grinding under the truck. So the truck will only shift when it wants to shift. I have no idea whats wrong and i need to know. If anyone knows anything, please tell me.

[ToughOldFord]

First off, as you found out one should never use granny low to do a tire burn. Expensive things will break. If you're lucky you just busted something in the shifter tower, pull the plate off your floor and pull the tower and inspect it and what you can see in the transmission. Hopefully you didn't kill that transmission, but it doesn't sound good.

[mrung0wa]

You have found out empirically that "Experience is the best teacher".

Hopefully this will be a one time thing...

I'd check your shift linkage or if it's a top loader pull the inspection cover off.

Lawrence

[matt_stan40]

I dont really know what im talkin about so correct me if im wrong, but i dont think the problem is in shifter tower because although the truck shifts gears when it wants, the stick still stays in place. About 20 minutes after this became a problem i tried to start out in third to see which gear will actually shift and let me travel just enough to get home. well, i shifted it into third and nothing happened, it acted like it was in neutral. about five seconds later (let me remind i am at a dead stop) i heard the gears shift (well actually i heard the noise from right under the back of the truck) and i felt the truck shift on its own. i was able to travel for about 5 minutes (without shifting, i didnt want to take a chance of losing my gears because i desperately needed to get home) and i tried to do a rolling stop at the stop sign so the truck wouldnt lose gears. this didnt really help though cuz i still lost my gear, it went into neurtal (while the stick is still in third) and i had to roll into a parking lot.

I will still check though just the see if the transmission is busted.

[mrung0wa]

Q: What happens when you engage the clutch?


Lawrence

[72hiboy4x4]

sounds like you might have stripped the gears in the rear axle, maybe? and every once in while it grabs enough tooth to make it move.

[matt_stan40]

mrung0wa: Q: what happens when you engage the clutch?


A: the clutch engages normally and the stick shifts normally. its just when i shift nothing happens, ill just be reving the engine. I did try to check clutch linkage but there was so much mud underneath the truck that even if i knew exactley where the linkage was i wouldnt be able to see it. i think i did find it however i dont think clutch linkage is the problem. im purdy sure that if i lost my cluthc linkage the truck wouldnt even start.


to 72hiboy4x4: i have a friend who thought that something called spider gears that are in the rear axel might have been stipped or worn out. I assume that this is what you are talkin about and it would make sense, being that every once and a while the truck will move, just not for long.

[ToughOldFord]

sounds like you might have stripped the gears in the rear axle, maybe? and every once in while it grabs enough tooth to make it move.

That's a good call too, I did that in an old Plymouth a long time ago. Only my rear still had a few teeth so I could move, but what a ride; whir, clank, move, whir, clank, move....

[mrung0wa]

It appears to me that I need to clear a few things up.

When I asked you my first Q it was in reference to your SHIFT LINKAGE. It's the part(s) that connect your shifter to your transmission. Okay?

The second and more recent Q was in reference to whether or not it was a clutch issue. This was a separate and different issue.

Before "WE" go any further here I must stress that YOU MUST clean the under carriage of your truck! Get a hose with some decent water pressure a high pressure nozzle and clean it all up!

Lawrence

[matt_stan40]

yah, i dont know much about this kind of stuff. as far as linkage goes i only know about clutch linkage and i only know it on someone elses truck. As far as shift linkage and the transmission goes im gonna to try and check that out to. my friend has a brother that is really good with mechanics and ill see if he can check that out for free just to tell if the linkage and transmission is a mounting problem or not.
I'm purdy well convinced (until i get a professional opinion from some one who has checked out the truck first hand) that it is a problem with the gears in the case that connects the driveshaft (i think its called the drivetrain, i dont know) to the rear axel. The other problem that it could be is that there is a bunch of wire wrapped between the case and the drive shaft (or drive train, whatever its called). The reason why i mention all that wire in the axel is because a while back my friend looked at it (i didnt look at it all the close, big mistake on my part) and he said that it looked like that wire was pulling the drive train into the case and holding it there. He says that ever since the truck broke down it looks like that wire has been snapped and wrangled so that it isnt holding anything anymore. So that could also be the problem, someone jerry rigged that drivetrain into the case together with ordinary wire and now that its broke nothing is holding the drive train into the rear axel case.

[ol yeller]

When you put it into gear and release the clutch, have someone look under from the rear and see if the drive shaft is truning. That will at least eliminate the clutch and trans..

[matt_stan40]

yah, it still turns. so that is good i guess

[ToughOldFord]

If your driveshaft is spinning and you're not moving then your rear end is toast.

[matt_stan40]

it moves every once in a while..........for like 30 seconds. I might just have to replace the spider gears in the rear end. If i have to get a whole new rear end, how much would i be lookin at?

[ToughOldFord]