locked in reverse

Did the Transaxle just get rebuilt?

If the shifter forks aren't aligned in with the shift lever then your transaxle will give you these exact symptoms.

I was lucky enough to find this before I stabbed my ZF onto the motor.

It requires you to pop the back of the ZF (the cast cover, and the rear housing) to get in there and align the levers. It's like a 3 dimensional jigsaw puzzle.

Hopefully it is something simpler than what I describe.

Good luck

Rocky

P.S. I called Roy Butfoy (RBT) and talked with him when I had the same symptoms, and he told me this. I verified it was true on the second disassembly of my box.

Thanks Rocky. i will give that a try.

A little irony, I have a Pantera, and I had a 1974 FJ40 that I restored. I sold the FJ however, couldn't stand the thought of putting the thing in the mud after restoring, and it was not a joy to drive on the road. I'm in Atlanta, so no sand here, just mud

Here's mine... Not so perfect that I worry about taking it off road. It will go anywhere....

Just had it out yesterday.

I tried to upload pics with no luck yesterday, I will try again soon.

On my transaxle, when you pull the end plate off, the little spring the keeps reverse in neutral looses its pressure. Someone had pulled the end cap and allowed reverse to slide into gear. An easy fix.

Now however after that fix, the transaxle is now in second gear all the time, even though the selector says its in neutral. I have the case split and pulled back enough to see that everything indeed is in neutral. If I fully engage 2ond all is well, but as soon as I select another gear, everything locks up again.

Any ideas?

My suggestion is to give Lloyd a ring at RBT. I was usually able to catch him between 0900 - 1200 California Time.

I always found him to be very helpful, and willing to talk you through things.

RBT - Contact Info

3821 E La Palma Ave., Unit A
Anaheim, CA 92807 US

Lloyd Butfoy
Sales & Service
Shop: 714.630.2450
fax: 714.630.2453
email: lloyd@rbttrans.com



Good luck -

Rocky

PS - When my shift levers were misaligned with the cross "Shift Shaft", The box was locked up all the time, except when it was supposed to be in Neutral - then it was in reverse.

One thing that helped us out was to make little U-shaped shims that went under the cross shift lever & ball (Part #612 & 639) to hold it in position when aligning the tab with the shifter rods. We made two - one was 1" and one was .875". It's tough to pull that spring loaded rod out and hold it for a long period of time.

Do you have the manual? Here's a link for a download...

(-2) ZF Manual - For Maserati Bora

Nothing to these shims, really...

Had to pull down the transaxle. Second gear sincronizer is jammed tight and frozen to second gear. How in the world does that happen?

Thanks for all the help Rocky, and especially the link to the manual. I had the same manual in paper, but in my paper copy the pics were so dark they were useless. Your link to the manual made a big difference.

If I need parts I guess mr. Butfoy is the guy to call?

Hadn't really been thinking about the shims until you sent the pics. I had been holding the shift rod in place a lot, fighting the springs with my hand...

I will make a set for my tool kit!

Interesting discussion on Synchro repair options...

2nd gear repair thread

I have a similar problem on my car.

The transmission works fine most of the time. Rarely, when I roll up to a stop sign in 1st gear with the clutch depressed all feels normal. As I let the clutch out the trans feels like it’s stuck in 1st and reverse. I shut the car off and cycle the shifter from reverse to 1st then to natural it frees up and I drive away. This only happens on an incline???

I don’t post often but the topic caught my eye.

In spite of a few owners' successes, ZF gearboxes are NOT simple to work on. One friend changed his 5th gear-pair for a different ratio himself, and in reattaching the 5th gear shift rod, as is good practice he Lock-tited the allen setscrew that holds the fork to the rail. He apparently used plenty of Lock-tite. The ZF was reinstalled in the car and could not be shifted.

Excess Lock-tite had run down into the synchro assembly and lock (tited) it up! Fix was another removal and disassembly, hammer & screwdrivers to free up everything, Scotch-brite to clean all the parts of extra Lock-tite, and a second reassemble/reinstall. The ZF Manuals are not good on detail, photos in repro manuals are poor quality and some steps aren't shown or even mentioned. Good luck, all.

As far as transaxle repair, I am the kind of guy that HAS to do it, just because someone said it was hard and I shouldn't.

I agree that the current manual is poor. Maybe someday someone capable will prepare a better manual. I would buy one!


Rocky,

Did I read that right, this second Gear issue was your transaxle? Either way, sounds like my tranny issues are not over.

Yes...

I went through several levels of analysis, but I had a different issue than you. My issue was a second gear "crunch" if I shifted too fast. It was getting worse. So that was the reason I went into my box - to fix / replace that synchro.

Along the way, I had some challenges... The last was the final reassembly where we got the shift levers & cross shaft installed incorrectly. That required a second disassembly (of just the rear part of the case) and shifter mechanism alignment.

PS> Again, I want to emphasize that I just supported this ZF repair. I worked hand-in-hand with a master mechanic (Mark IV/4280, Wade Musil) who did all the precision work, and we outsourced the gear for cone replacement.

Speedlimit170,
The issue with your trans has to do with the reverse detent/spring. It is either missing or broken. Of the 100+ ZF transaxles that I have overhauled, I have found 4 completely missing. One resulted in broken teeth off of the input shaft. Not a good thing.

Ron

Thanks for the information about this spring. The thought of transmission bits bouncing around inside my ZF is worrisome.
Can the spring be replace without disassembly?
In your experience, does the spring stay put when broken or migrate?

Chuck