Stuck in Reverse!

[wbute]

Ha ha, even pro race drivers got caught by it, next time I am at the lights and it happens I won't feel so stupid lol.

Were the speco ones better? I have a speco 3 speed floor shifter here somewhere.

[buck]

Its wear in the shifter its self. When you go out of the reverse gate the gear lever moves but the selector stays where it was. If you then stick it in first you are now in two gears at once. There are washers and bushes that become loose over time allowing this to happen. But if you get excited when you pull it out of reverse it will happen anyway.
Seems holden converted what was basically a column shift setup to floor shift, and they were on a tight budget.
Finding second gear in an aussie 4 speed when it was cold was an issue from new from what I have heard. It will go in, but it clearly doesn't want to. Perhaps thats why most aussie 4 speeds blew up. I skip second and go for 3rd when its cold.
You can see why everyone went for a smooth shifting 5 speed conversion in the day.


How come no one ever made a quality after market shifter for the Aussie 4 speed? Reckon there would have been a big market for one in the 70's/80's.

yeap exactly the same thing, I have just had my m20 rebuilt, still easier to skip 2nd when cold its all so the same with my dads ZF 5 speed, always skip 2nd when cold, as for reverse you must use the gate properly and not try and drag it across.if it jams put it back in reverse and give it a bit of a jiggle to get the linkages moving again.
I swaped a 3 on the tree for a speco floor shift and still had the same problem with second gear jaming in the selector so the speco units where no better when they are worn.

[jennie285]

I think I skipped my Hillman hunter when cold, so its not just Aussie 4 spds. Never Rodney's van though

I had this stuck in reverse problem recently while following Rodney home from Albury in the red van, the lights came on at the railway crossing, and I stopped for them because it was double demerits,but what I didnt' notice was the dam boom gates which were coming down on top of my beautiful new van, so I quickly backed up, and then when the gates went up I was stuck, phoned Roddo, and he told me what to do, lots of annoyed caravans which I overtook previously gave me a stare and went around If I was stuck behind a classic car I would either hop out to assist, or oggle the car....no appreciation

[hxbunny]

I had one of those speco 4-speed shifters in a HQ ute, it was a pretty good unit, it has a separate lever for the reverse gear and basically just the H pattern lever for the 4 forward gears with an interlock between the two, the only hassle is the reverse lever is a small one and it is on the passenger side of the large one. no buggy though.
Cheers Mark

[JackHopkins]

Thanks for all the advice everyone really helpful good info. i got it out of reverse the 1/2nd gate was still slightly in 2nd preventing the shifter from going into that gate i just whipped out the screwdriver and shifted it manually seems to work now see how she travels now lol. cheers everyone

[sandman 78]

well there you go you done a simular thing to what some of us said well done whats the address to send the invoice carry the screw driver with you

[wbute]

There is an opening for a sticker there somewhere. You are not a true Holden owner unless you have had an Aussie 4 speed stuck in first and reverse.