833 OD sticking in 4th, chipped synchro
I have an 833od behind a slant six (out of a feather duster originally) that I rebuilt a little over 10 years ago. Recently, it got stuck in 4th gear. Disconcerting when it happens. After several attempts on the freeway offramp, it came out. I thought it must be a shifter rod coming loose as I've had the nuts back out before, but all was in place and it would stick in 4th even with all the rods removed. Bonus, ti got more and more difficult to get out the more I messed with it. The last time required starting the engine and letting out the clutch before it slid out.
To cut to the chase, I have spent 3 months with gears 1-3 working fine and me avoiding 4th. I finally had time to remove the transmission this week. After removing the side cover and much staring at it in various gears, the issue is that a single strut key is catching on it's synchronizer ring. If I push that key down, it will slide out of 4th. The synchro ring is chipped on top on the key side and the key is catching on a step in the synchro on the key side. Hopefully the photo will make that more clear. So the key tips up slightly when shift into 4th, then it can't come back down to flat because it hits the step in the ring.
So I know what the problem is, but I don't know what caused it. I realize I am destined to disassemble it to at least replace that ring, but I would really like to stop it from happening in the future if that's possible. Any ideas or suggestions are much appreciated. Anything I can measure to confirm things are where they should be while it's still assembled?
I have an 833od behind a slant six (out of a feather duster originally) that I rebuilt a little over 10 years ago. Recently, it got stuck in 4th gear. Disconcerting when it happens. After several attempts on the freeway offramp, it came out. I thought it must be a shifter rod coming loose as I've had the nuts back out before, but all was in place and it would stick in 4th even with all the rods removed. Bonus, ti got more and more difficult to get out the more I messed with it. The last time required starting the engine and letting out the clutch before it slid out.
To cut to the chase, I have spent 3 months with gears 1-3 working fine and me avoiding 4th. I finally had time to remove the transmission this week. After removing the side cover and much staring at it in various gears, the issue is that a single strut key is catching on it's synchronizer ring. If I push that key down, it will slide out of 4th. The synchro ring is chipped on top on the key side and the key is catching on a step in the synchro on the key side. Hopefully the photo will make that more clear. So the key tips up slightly when shift into 4th, then it can't come back down to flat because it hits the step in the ring.
So I know what the problem is, but I don't know what caused it. I realize I am destined to disassemble it to at least replace that ring, but I would really like to stop it from happening in the future if that's possible. Any ideas or suggestions are much appreciated. Anything I can measure to confirm things are where they should be while it's still assembled?