Ranger five speed stuck in gear, now what?

[LonesomeSTX]

I swear, this damn Ranger is going up in flames soon. I have never had these kind of problems with any of my older Rangers. I was in the process of dropping the tranny so I can do the clutch. The bolts that hold the end of the drive shaft at the pinion were cranked in there good. I had to double wrench them and put all my strength into breaking them lose. The wrenches were flexing so hard I thought for sure the 12mm I was using was going to snap. The last one I could not get any leverage on with out spinning the drive shat over. So, I jacked up the rear, disengaged the parking brake and tried to spin it. I thought it was already in neutral. It did not spin so I re-installed the shifter so I could put it in neutral and guess what. That thing is stuck like I have never seen a shifter stuck before. I have tried everything I know to do to get it unstuck. I am wondering if maybe I jumped a gear tooth while torquing down on those wrenches.

 

[rboyer]

I am willing to bet that you pulled the shifter by unscrewing the three torx screws on the top plate. If you removed it that way and happened to remove it while it was engaged in a gear then I know what your problem is. Inside that hole on the top of the transmission you will see three rails. These rails have notches in them. When the transmission is in neutral those notches will be lined up across the center and if they're not like that then you need to make them that way. A decent sized screwdriver will provide enough leverage to pop it back in place.

 

[LonesomeSTX]

I may have put it in gear while removing the shifter and not realize it.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I am willing to bet that you pulled the shifter by unscrewing the three torx screws on the top plate. If you removed it that way and happened to remove it while it was engaged in a gear then I know what your problem is. Inside that hole on the top of the transmission you will see three rails. These rails have notches in them. When the transmission is in neutral those notches will be lined up across the center and if they're not like that then you need to make them that way. A decent sized screwdriver will provide enough leverage to pop it back in place.

I agree because that's happened to me.

 

[LonesomeSTX]

I was finally able to free it by working the shifter then crowling under and working the drive shaft. I heard a loud clunk then it spun fine.