Help! Has any one experienced touble shifting into reverse? I have a 2001 1 ton dually, and when I went to drive it the other day I had a major issue getting it into reverse. The trans shifts into the other gears fine. The other symptom is that once shifted into fifth gear it seems to have more resistance when shifting back into neutral. When the truck is rolling there is no problem shifting from 5th to neutral. When the truck is not rolling and it is shifted into 5th, it is very hard to shift back to neutral and nearly impossible to shift into reverse. Double clutching does not help. I can get it into reverse with a combinantion of feathering the clutch while pulling on and jiggling the shifter, and holding my tongue right! The problem seems to be in the 5th/reverse Gate of the shift pattern.

Right now the truck is not very driveable. Any ideas????

Joe

 

From your description I would suspect that your fifth gear nut has worked back a bit and is causing the shift fork alignment to shift enough to bind your shift lever. However, if you have a lot of miles or have aggressively shifted the unit at one time or another, it may be as simple as the spring loaded shift lever assembly that is located in the top of the shift tower has worn or one of the locking pins in the tower has become depressed and allowed the retainer to shift slightly to one side.

The fix to the shift lever is pretty simple, and can be done in about an hour if you have the procedure handy. My recommendation is to pick up either the Dodge repair manual or a Haynes Manual #30041 (about $15 at most auto parts stores), and follow the procedures and check the retainer and lever assembly first.

If that is not the problem, then it will likely be time to have the fifth gear shaft and nut problem fixed.

 

In case it turns out to be the 5th gear and shaft, what would you estimate the cost at for the fix? I read another string regarding the 5th gear problem and there was a recommendation to change the synrco's as well.
In for a dime....in for a dollar!

Joe