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MG TD TF 1500 - Stuck in reverse

(not all that different from that old C&W song, Stuck in Lodi again).

Our son came out from Maryland to join us in celebrating our 50th anniversary this week and after going out to dinner with some friends this evening, I gave him the key to the TD to drive home and I drove his rental car. Going into the garage, he over shot the parking spot (one of those rubber stops that has two humps to indicate where to stop) and shifted into reverse before the car came to a complete stop. The transmission is not stuck solidly in reverse. What I am I looking for when I open the gear box to rectify the problem? Thank you in advance. Cheers - Dave
DW DuBois

Try rocking the car back and forth Dave at the same time have someone gently try and move the stick.
G Mills

Selector rod bolts have come loose I would guess. Im sure Neil mentioned it, or some some other. easy enough to carefully lift the lid, take out springs/ balls and try selecting whilst seeing what moves or doesnt.
mog

There are 2 balls the ride between the 3 shifter rods. They move in and out of detents and prevent any more than one rod to leave neutral position at a time.

Sounds like he's managed to jam one of them.

I'd take the carpet out, lift the rubber tunnel cover and GENTLY pull on the end of the remote shift rod with a hook and small ball peen to see if you can unjam it (pull towards you).

You may not be able to get the remote tower off. Going at it from the top cover might help.

You might also schedule the inspection/replacement of those rods and the 5 balls/springs this winter.
MAndrus

Gentlemen - Thank you all for your input. I am fairly certain that where the problem lies (with the two balls between the rods). I was sort of hoping that some one had some magical way to fix it without having to burrow through the floorboards and gearbox cover to fix it. Alas, I am nearly down to the covers by now. Fortunately, I have a second gearbox that is in good condition that I can swap in if necessary. Cheers - Dave
DW DuBois

Here's what the ends of the position of the selector rods should look like when the gearbox is in neutral.

Tim
TD12524

TW Burchfield

Turns out the reverse was just jammed in to the other gear. a couple of taps with a slide hammer pulled them apart and every thing appears to work fine. Now I just have to put everything back together and test it out. Thank you all for the suggestions. Cheers - Dave
DW DuBois

This thread was discussed between 17/08/2015 and 18/08/2015

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