Morris Minor Owners Club

Hello all - newbie here - I have a 1958 Morris Minor 1000 - I was going to back it out of my garage and went to put it in reverese and it "locked" up in what I think is 4th gear. I tried rocking car and jiggling shifter to no avail. Took shifter off and tried to "work" with a couple of screw drivers but no luck. Before I proceed I figured I would ask if someone has seen this before and or if someone knows how I should proceed as to not destroy anything.

Thank you.

Hmmmm - if it really won't come out of gear - you could remove the transmission tunnel cover -and then remove the 'remote control' which will give you direct access to the selector rods - it may come out of gear then with careful 'manipulation' of the rods.....

It really won't come out of gear - shifter won't budge at all - it's like it is welded in place. As I say I took off the shifter and tried prying gingerly on the shifter insert connected to the rods - would not budge - thanks - I wanted some input before I just started taking the darn thing apart so as not to mess anything up or disassemble stuff I really didn't have to.

Aaah, take it apart, what's the worst that can happen

Rebuilding gearboxes is actually pretty fun, but to begin with I'd start with draining the oil and then removing the gearbox cover in the floor, then the inspection plate off the side and take a look ... you may find that you can manipulate the selectors more easily from the inside ... or you may find a mess of torn teeth

You shouldn't be able mess anything up by just removing the covers btw ... they're there so that you can take a look inside without having the pull the whole lot out ;)

I've had this once - also when trying to reverse (off mum's drive).
I managed to get the side plate off the gearbox and manipulate the gear hub (synchro hub) out of gear. (with front of car on wheel ramps & working from underneath)

I'm not sure what / or why mine played up, so I've no idea if you've got same problem, but as mine was fixed without removing the box it's maybe worth looking at.

It can be something as simple as part of the 'anti-rattle' mechanism having fallen down at the gear lever - and jamming it. Hence my suggestion to remove the remote control and try directly on the selector forks. Certainly also worth trying as Ray suggests - in the side cover - just be careful to not lose the two springs and balls when you remove the cover - and don't break anything when 'levering'. It may also help to remove the interlock balls/springs from thr port holes below the gearbox -just make sure you know where to refit each one...

bmcecosse wrote:It can be something as simple as part of the 'anti-rattle' mechanism having fallen down at the gear lever - and jamming it. Hence my suggestion to remove the remote control and try directly on the selector forks. Certainly also worth trying as Ray suggests - in the side cover - just be careful to not lose the two springs and balls when you remove the cover - and don't break anything when 'levering'. It may also help to remove the interlock balls/springs from thr port holes below the gearbox -just make sure you know where to refit each one...

If memory serves me correctly the springs and balls are at the end of long-ended nuts bolted into the structure of the box ... just removing the cover plate should not disturb any of these ... the cover-plate is just a bunch of 7/16'ths bolts and a gasket, the main thing you want to be careful of is not tearing the gasket, or have some 'instant gasket' to hand to seal it back up again (just don't let any 'bits' float around inside the box)

These springs and balls are 'right there' when you remove the cover...........and can v easily jump out if you are not ready to catch them.

Trouble is that if you semi strip and only manage to free it without finding the actual problem,I would be worried that it may stick again,maybe 50 miles from home.Think I would be looking for a second hand box,many about and not expensive.

I agree! Unless it is something simple like anti-rattle bits fallen down the remote...... However I'm guessing this car is far overseas - not so many spare boxes floating around.....

Took shifter and top part of transmission off where the rod attached to shifter housing is - the two shifter rods were bound up - looks like a pin was "twisted" so - i monkeyed it so as to free it up and then "bent" it back into position. I took some pics that I've attached - the part bound up is where I have the long screw driver pointed at down in the case. Will see how long it lasts - looks as though you could pull tranny out right up through opening into the car if I need to.[frame][/frame]

Yes - you can - so now when you refit the remote control - is it going in/out of all gears as it should?

Note 1958 model, but it has a 1098 box mounted to it, has the engine also been changed as the 1098/948 boxes are not quite like for like replacements and this could have caused the selector lock up resulting from clutch confusion.

Perhaps -if a '948' gearlever (shifter...) is being used with the 1098 gearbox. Otherwise all differences are internal -at least to the extent that they could in any way affect gear selection......