Im on vacation. Drove from Reno to Phoenix last Friday. No problems except me being sleepy. I get to Kingman, AZ to eat, fuel, take a leak and let the dog get out a bit. Get in the car to get back on the road, and the car would NOT shift into first or second gear at all. It was down to 3,4,5,R. I didnt know what the heck was going on. It was pretty humid because it had been raining like crazy just before I got there.....but that shouldnt effect the mechanical side of the shifter. Im wondering if the humidity may have messed with the computer or something. The car is fine now and it hasn't happened since. I was kind of worried being 800 miles away from home without tools. Any ideas what happened? Has something similay happened to anyone else?

I don't think I have the dreaded water leak that causes all the electrical problems as everthing else worked fine. I had the a/c, stereo, wipers and headlights on and they worked normally.

 

Maybe a rock or something got lodge on the shifter arm keeping it from going in to 1st and 2nd. I don't think the computer has anything to do with the transmission.

 

What comes to mind is the following:

Was your car unusually overloaded (rather than your every day drive)

I am thinking may be you have the MGW way down and is getting obstructed by your driveshaft. especially if you have a 1 piece 4 inch driveshaft and the mgw set lower than 8 turns.

My 2 cents

 

Computer problems and a water leak have nothing to do with the Shifting.

There have been several accounts of people on this forum having shifting issues with a lowered car and the subsequent incorrect pinion angle it causes. I see you have a UCA, but you might want to double check it is set correctly to give the proper pinion angle.

Also Vasmans comment regarding the car being overloaded could bring the driveshaft closer to the linkage causing interference.

 

one way to check if you had the driveshaft issue is check for markings (scratches / rub marks) on the bottom/side of the mgw shifter (little aluminium square).

 

Wow. I thought I was the only one with this crappy problem. The shifter is set to 50% throw, and I am lowered. And there are scratches on the driveshaft. So, i guess I got to get the UCA...

 

Not sure what was going on. I thought our manual transmissions had a computer of there own.

Yes, I'm lowered have a one piece 3.5" shaft with loop. I'm at about 7-8 turns on the shifter. I was just under the car before I left checking everything and lubing bushings. Everything is tight, all the nuts and bolts shouldnt be coming loose any time soon. The shifter was hitting the d/s loop when placed in first gear and a very noticable clunk sound was heard when doing so. Bending the d/s loop slightly fixed the problem. loop is not rubbing shaft anywhere, shaft is not rubbing tunnel anywhere. Pinion angle was set to roughly -2.0 degrees, maybe -2.5 (don't remeber). I should probably check that now that everything has been abused and settled, although it shouldn't have changed much, if any. I bought a solid UCA and adjusted the angle with the LCA. I've had the shifter since probably March (around there) and had no problems with it until this event. I used to have a B&M shifter and had absolutely NO problems with it....before ro after the suspension. When i installed the shifter I made sure to not turn it all the way, because it would have rubbed on the d/s, where it is set now, there is a small amount of play.

Vasman......not sure exactly what you mean by "overloaded". Do you mean like hauling *** and putting more stress on the engine and drivetrain? Or do you mean using the a/c and such? Neither can really be accounted for anyway, I had the cruise set about 70 mph nearly the entire trip, and I always have the a/c and radio going. I made the same drive back in December during Christmas. However, I didnt ahve the MGW shifter and I was hauling *** trying to beat a snow storm which was knipping at my heels.

I've been driving it between Maricopa and Gilbert all weekend and it seems normal. I plan on taking the car to Firebird Raceway on Friday night seeing what she can do.....hopefully everything is fine then.

 

Pretty sure he means overloaded as in carrying more weight than normal (luggage, etc.)

 

Yes, I am pretty sure this is what he meant. Luggage, bodies, spare engine block.

 

LOL. Yes thats what I ment....

Couple of kegs of beer, (or friends that actually drunk them), children, tent(s), wife and her 2 lesbian friends that are into you.. etc.