Very, very strange!

[TJ]

Originally Posted by Joe Shell

Think I will change the transmission oil before I reinstall floorboard. Transmission oil looked good and was at proper level.

Draining trans oil may shed some light on what happened.


Joe

I've read all the postings and have a question. When you say it won't start are you saying the starter engages and won't turn over the motor? or are you saying that the starter does not engage at all until you depress the clutch? Could it be the "snap' you heard was the hot cable of the starter switch shorting out on the clutch pedal? The 36 has the starter switch placed between the brake and clutch pedals and maybe a cable loosened up and allowed it to come in contact with something metal? It's interesting that all appears to be fine once you have removed the floorboards.

[trainguy]

Just a guess!After idling in neutral the bearing between the input and output shafts heated up expanded and seized due to lack of lubrication.After cooling at low temps the bearing returned to size thus freeing up the trans,and the problem went away.I would drain the transmission checking the oil for stray debris and refill with the proper grade fluid.Phil

[cmbrucew]

Phil
That would be my guess also.
Bruce

[V8COOPMAN]

Originally Posted by trainguy

Just a guess!After idling in neutral the bearing between the input and output shafts heated up expanded and seized due to lack of lubrication.After cooling at low temps the bearing returned to size thus freeing up the trans,and the problem went away.I would drain the transmission checking the oil for stray debris and refill with the proper grade fluid.Phil

Idling after a cold crank-up in chilly Long Island........that bearing wouldn't get THAT hot in 24 hours. DD

[tom brown]

all great advice-before major tear down,carefully remove trans plate and check shifter fork alignment for re installing. check for fragments stuck between gears and stuck gears. drain gear fluid and with a turkey baster get all fluid out of case- what you find may lead to your problem. Just don't cook any more turkey . good luck

[Joe Shell]

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Update on the very very strange trans problem:

Yesterday morning the problem I described in my initial post reoccurred. This time I got the trans unjammed in two minutes by moving the shift lever around.

Decided to drain trans oil and remove shift tower. The oil was very dark brown. Shifter tower looked good. Inspected the gears and found no evidence of damage Or a missing tooth. The only thing I noticed was some wear on the ends of the teeth on the sliding gear toward the rear of the trans.

I put a finger in the drain hole to check for debris. Could find nothing. Wiped the gear lube of my hands on a clean paper towel and notice a very few and extremely small metal particles. This is probably normal wear (I hope).

I filled the trans with new gear lube and drove a few miles around town shifting many times. Transmission worked fine but I still don't know what caused the input shaft to lock up. Guess I'll just drive it locally and hope for the best.

The only gear lube I could find was for GL 5 applications..I don't think GG 5 gear oil is right for transmission with brass synchro rings. When I find out which oil is best for 1936 transmission I'll change out the GL 5.

Many thanks to all for your suggestions and ideas.


Joe

[cmbrucew]

Joe
When you pull and open your transmission, I believe you will find the pilot shaft/main shaft bearing bad.
Bruce

[Binx]

Joe Shell, when the engine dies, does it somewhat jump like dumping the clutch or simply die like turning off the ignition?

Lonnie

[Joe Shell]

It just abruptly stops not like popping clutch as the car doesove even a half inch.!

[JM 35 Sedan]

Something you might consider doing, just incase there is someting metallic inside that gear housing that occasionally jams the gears, would be to epoxy a very strong magnet to the inner cavity of the drain plug that would attract/trap any metallic pieces and particles moving around inside the case.

[Binx]

Originally Posted by Joe Shell

It just abruptly stops not like popping clutch as the car doesove even a half inch.!

So it just stops without a jolt or anything?

Lonnie

[Tony, NY]

Sounds like your clutch linkage is cutting into a wire. I had this happen way back in the 60's on a off topic car. Push in the clutch pedal and it would short out a wire. Doesn't sound like you have a mechanical problem. Check out the wiring.

[Binx]

Originally Posted by Tony, NY

Sounds like your clutch linkage is cutting into a wire. I had this happen way back in the 60's on a off topic car. Push in the clutch pedal and it would short out a wire. Doesn't sound like you have a mechanical problem. Check out the wiring.

That's what I'm thinking too

Lonnie

[Jack E/NJ]

Joe Shell>>>I started the engine again I with the transmission in first, second and high gear and when I took my foot of the clutch pedal, the engine stalled without the car moving at all. The only way I could move the car was if the clutch was depressed.>>>

Jack E/NJ

[Joe Shell]

Since my last update on my transmission problem, I decided to drain the transmission, remove the shift tower and inspect the visible gears. I did this even though the transmission seemed fine at the time.

The shifter tower looked good. All the gears I could see looked good even after turning them as best I could. I reinstalled the shifter tower, filled the transmission with new gear lube and road tested the car. The transmission worked fine and shifted smoothly.

The old transmission lube was black and very thick. I took the pan of the old trans oil and put it aside out of my way. A few days ago I decided to get rid of the old oil. As I was pouring it into a plastic container, I noticed something in the bottom of my drain pan. It was two pieces of metal. Each piece was triangular in shape.with the longest sides about 3/4 inch long, tapering to a sharp point and the shortest side about 5/16 inch. Upon close inspection, these pieces fit together perfectly looking like one gear tooth that broke off and later broke into two pieces. The above post by JM 35 Sedan explains all the strange events with this transmission. I thank JM and all Barners who took the time to make suggestions.

So now what do I do? Just drive the car and hope for the best, or tear down the transmission and rebuild? If I leave it as is do I risk a problem which requires towing the car back to my garage. Can this transmission work long term with a missing tooth from who knows what gear?

Thanks again for all the help.

Joe

[JSeery]

Another question would be why did the gear tooth break off in the first place? There has to be something else going on, a gear tooth does not just break off.

[VeryTangled]

Originally Posted by JM 35 Sedan

Something you might consider doing, just incase there is someting metallic inside that gear housing that occasionally jams the gears, would be to epoxy a very strong magnet to the inner cavity of the drain plug that would attract/trap any metallic pieces and particles moving around inside the case.

Hi Everyone; I've been able to scavenge some super powerful magnets by disassembling computer hard drives. There will be at least one, sometimes two in there. I find all kinds of cool uses for them. A side benefit is that the hard drive is completely useless afterwards, so no information is at risk when disposing of it. (The thrifty among you will want to give the 'frame' and some other parts of the drive to the aluminum recyclers.)

[earlyv8]

FWIW

Continuing to drive with broken transmission teeth could lead to gears locking up and breaking an otherwise good transmission case.

These cases do break and could possibly already be cracked around the input shaft. Not exactly a thing to justify avoiding timely repairs of the transmission.


Jack