Lately I was driving and having a tough time getting into second gear from first and I could not find 2nd unless I went in to first beforehand. My shifter feels stupid sloppy.

I attempted to get my roll pin out and it got flush with the metal and now is like stuck in there to the point where I tried a punch then lube then later on heat and its still flush with the metal. It would not budge not one bit. Now I can not find second gear at all, when I go from first gear and straight down it goes directly to 4th gear. My shifter feels much worse now that its moved to where it is.

Im lost and hoping its the roll pin. Do these sound like symptoms of a broken/stretched roll pin? Wednesday the plan is to drop the tranny so I have all kinds of space and get the roll pin out if need be by a carbide bit drilling it out. I need to drive the car 70 miles to make it home to do the job, will it make it or will I lose my other gears also?

 

Usually with a broken roll pin, you lose all gears but the one you are currently in. If it is damaged though, it could possibly cause your symptoms.

 

It didnt happen until some spirited driving on the highway and shifting from 2nd to 3rd after that I was never able to find second right again and now that its how it is I cant find it at all.

 

bringing this thread back from the dead because i just finished loosing all my gears just now

was on my way to get gas when suddenly i lost my gears after shifting. car is currently stuck in 3rd or 4th. cant tell but when i lost the gears i was able to shift for a tiny bit and even put it in neutral. neutral was now where 4th gear is.

at the gas station i checked the shift cables under the cup holder and everything looked good in there. when i went to leave i found out i can no longer get in neutral or any other gear besides possibly 3rd or 4th that its in. boy what an interesting drive back home that was lol thankfully i was close.

its too dark out for me to really find out what happen right now but im hoping its just the roll pins like ive been reading tons about since the last few minutes. seems to be a common problem folks have.

from what happen to me, what are you guys thoughts on it being the roll pins and not something else alot more serious? car drives normal, clutch works fine, no noises, im just stuck in whatever gear its in and cant do anything else.

 

Sounds like a roll pin. IIRC, John Powell used to just drill them out and install a nut and bolt. I'm not sure if he still does that though, he's changed his methods on a couple of things over the years. If you look hard enough, I'm sure you can find a post on here from him about it. Might be able to email him or shoot him a message on FB; I'm not 100% sure his preferred method of contact these days.

 

yep! definitely my roll pin. i was able to get to it and see it all about to come out from both ends but i couldnt get it out. once i disconnected the shifter inside i was able to freely move from neutral, 3rd and 4th by hand at the trans. connected the shifter again and was able to go into every gear with the car running. but then lost the gears again. thankfully i know what the issue is now for sure

as far as putting a bolt in place, isnt that bad? from what ive been reading on here about this issue it seems the pin is there to break instead of the trans breaking. is that not true orrr.?

 

That's definitely a possibility. Like I said, I'm not sure if he still does that; might have been more of a racecar thing. I remember him talking about using more robust pins, as well. It's been 10 years since I discussed it with him, so it's a bit hard to remember.

EDIT: https://www.cobaltss.net/forums/how-...ission-102830/

https://www.cobaltss.net/forums/gene...nstall-274085/

Looks like he had stronger pins that he sent out.

 

all is good! just replaced the pin and now my shifter feels great! i guess the pin has been on the way out for a bit because ive had an ottp short shifter for awhile and it felt like stock. i never really felt the shorter throw but NOW i definitely do lol

lets see how long this home depot pin lasts..