Gearbox/shifter dead?!

[Spin]

So I just got my SHO working again, and almost two weeks later, I'm just cruising down the street with my friend and for a while (even before my SHO died) it's been a pain shifting the car. Anyways, we're rolling down the street and I shift into 2nd (this gear is the most problematic out of all the gears) takes me a couple seconds to get it in, I do my superman pull and it pops in. Get to about 32 mph go to shift to 3rd, I put the clutch in, move the stick and it feels like nothing is there and the stick can be moved freely. I pull over to the side of the road to find out that my car is stuck in 2nd gear and i can't do anything about it. I drive 5 miles to get home, park it in the garage and once again it is dead. Any ideas as to what happened? I'm going to take it to the mechanic within the next couple of days but would like people's input from here before I do. Thanks in advance.

 

[SHO_Driver]

Look underneath. Not sure if it's a cable or rod shift mechanism but it sounds like it's disconnected.

 

[JoeHoe_SHO]

Your car has 234,199 miles on it? Wow...not too many folks have that many and still running.

Sounds like you broke a diff. pin. Do you hear shit moving around in your tranny(metal pieces/gears?) Check your rod/cable linkage(can't remember when Rod was standard in SHOs) If it is your diff. pin, be prepared to pay big money to get it fixed. I would suggest a Quaife...LSD, a little more than a stock diff. and its gaurenteed for life and it puts more power to both wheels and it does wonders to a SHO's performance(so I've heard) Good luck.

 

[Spin]

JoeHoe_SHO:
Your car has 234,199 miles on it? Wow...not too many folks have that many and still running.

just got the engine rebuilt also thanks for the input. also i have a cable shifter, i don't think ford started using the rod shifters until mid 1991. i don't hear anything moving around but seems pretty messed. I can't see anything hanging from the bottom, and it didn't make any abnormal noises when i went to shift to third. I'd like to check the cable but not sure how to take apart the center console or how to get the boot off the stick. any help would once again be appreciated and I'll keep everyone posted

 

[Spin]

also i could take some video of the loose stick, not sure if it would be really noticeable in the video but if someone is interested in seeing it, i'll try my best to portray it

 

[JoeHoe_SHO]

Use This Link to help you with taking apart the shifter console, boot, cable etc...

You didn't hit anything lately have you?

 

[Spin]

nope haven't hit anything. for the last week and a half that i've had it back i've just been cruising around, haven't gone over 4,000 rpm cause of the rebuilt engine, also thanks for the link

 

[JoeHoe_SHO]

Check back here tomorrow...more knowledgeable minds will give there thoughts and or solutions. How many miles have you put on the car? Do you have service records? Ever had tranny work done to it? That search option does wonders, and you might find your answer buried somewhere in someone else's thread that has had similiar problems.

 

[autobahnsho]

My 1991 has Feb 91 build sticker inside the door and has a rod.

You can tell by looking underneath while someone else shifts if it's disconnected or not, you can't miss where the tranny moves.

Good luck

 

[Spin]

i just went outside, got underneath the car, and checked if it was rod or cable and it's cable. also i searched through the forums and found pepople with similar problems. out of the 20 or so messages i found, one person's was stuck in 2nd like mine, another in 4th, it kinda seems that it breaks or falls off when you have to go to the lower part of the gearbox. i also found a site that shows how to take apart the console, so when I get some time tomorrow i'm gonna go outside and mess around with it. If the cable just fell off and i can reconnect it, i'd be if not and i gotta buy a new cable i'll do that too once again, thanks for all the advice.

by JoeHoe_SHO - How many miles have you put on the car?

I've only put about 250 - 300 miles or so on it over the last week and a half

 

[stevesho3o]

man the same thing happened to me like a month ago. i broke the rod shifter cause the bushing went bad in the trans mount. the part was about 150 used from a junk yard...it was the hardest part to find...i found mine in oregon...and then the guys i have do it did it for like 200 hundred dollars. so it wasn't that much but it still sucks...u don't have to get it towed either just slip the clutch thou all the gears and you'll go like 20mph...and if your lucky and go down hill a little cruise control kicks on at 25mph...i can be done. but good luck

 

[sdpatt]

Superman pull = broken shifter linkage.

If you force it enough, you will break something.

 

[Spin]

thanks for the new replies guys, everyone was right, broken shifter linkage... it's getting repaired as we speak. i'm just wondering if the new cable will be easier to shift than the one that broke. i'll be in heaven even if it is 30 - 40% smoother. thanks again