Removeable shifter?

[bocefas]

2001 B3000 with the 5 speed...the other day I was sitting with the tuck running in neutral, talking on the phone in a parking lot...anyway, for whatever reason, I lifted up on the knob and the whole shift lever popped up out of the transmission. I was able to get it back where it belonged with minimal fuss, and I know this sounds extremely stupid, but that can't be normal, right? The truck has like 115K on it, family owned since new, and never abused. My main concern is that a clip or whatever broke and fell inside the gearbox and will bust sh!t up. Any thoughts?

 

[huh?]

did you see the bottom-most part of what came out or did the boot block your view of all the details?

in my (mis)adventures with ranger shifters i learned that the sifting stub, the approximately 4" section that passes from the outside of the transmission to the inside of the transmission can be lifted enough to be disengaged from the interior components of the transmission if the bushings that hold the spherical pivot point of the stub are goners.

if the transmission is in neutral when the shifter lifts out, then it is rather easy to get it back in place. if the transmission is in gear when it pops out, then just hope you're not at the front of the line when the light turns green during rush hour. ha! it was stuck in fourth gear for me when the light changed and i was lucky no one was coming from the opposite direction so i could burn that clutch across two lanes and get things operational again.

remove the screws holding the boot to the floor then lift the boot and the foam insulation in the boot up the shifter as much as can. the point where the lever enters the transmission has a ring around it with three bolts holding it in place. in my truck(s) they were TORX driven but the replacements i believe are philips. remove those three fasteners and you can lift the shifter up out of the transmission. the part of the transmission that the spherical portion of the shifter sits and pivots in should have plastic bushing to hold the shifter solidly in place.

if the bushing is really worn or busted up(mine were invisible) there are replacements or "repair kits" available at parts store or online. i got one for about $13 from rockauto a couple weeks ago when i bought clutch parts since it didn't add to the freight cost. however, i was in your situation before and it is just a personal recommendation to go get one from your local napa or oreillys, etc and get this potential for a bad day out of the way.

as far as damage goes the bushings are some kind of plastic material that would lose in a matchup against steel gear. there are two metal pins located at the pivot point(and included in the kit), but the way things are designed the pins would fall outward if dislodged, not inward. but even then the ring holding the shifter down also retains those pins.

 

[RonD]

Have a look here: http://www.therangerstation.com/Magazine/winter2007/shifterbushings.shtml

Nothing can "fall down" inside the transmission, well nothing that would bother the transmission.

No it is not normal.

MAKE SURE TRANSMISSION IS IN NEUTRAL, if you need to remove lower shift shaft

 

[96firephoenix]

that happened to the one I scrapped... I was trying to take the knob off and got the whole shifter. I just pushed it back in and went on my way. it stayed in the right gear though, because the little bit of mine that goes into the trans was still with the trans, it was just the 19-inch long handle that came out.

Hopefully yours just came off the trans part, rather than coming out of the trans. it was just a set screw or bolt to secure mine back down, but I didn't bother since this occured while loading up on the trailer.

 

[bocefas]

Have a look here: http://www.therangerstation.com/Magazine/winter2007/shifterbushings.shtml

Nothing can "fall down" inside the transmission, well nothing that would bother the transmission.

No it is not normal.

MAKE SURE TRANSMISSION IS IN NEUTRAL, if you need to remove lower shift shaft

Thanks for the link, if that's what I have to deal with it shouldn't be too bad. Do you know if that write up is for the 3.0 V6 transmission?

 

[adsm08]

Do you know if that write up is for the 3.0 V6 transmission?

They are all the same.

 

[bocefas]

They are all the same.

Excellent! Thank you!