MY FRIENDS 97 3500 WITH A #10 PLATE, 4in EXHAUST AND K&N AIR FILTER NV4500 W/STOCK CLUTCH HAS A PROBLEM. HE WAS DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD IN 5TH GEAR AND HIS TRUCK JUST SEEMED TO QUIT MOVING THEN HE TRIED TO SHIFT IT OUT OF 5TH AND IT POPPED REAL LOUD THEN HE COULDNT GET IT IN ANY OTHER GEAR

 

Can he get it into gear when the engine is off? What happens if he trys starting it while its in gear?

 

The 5th gear nut fell off. Yes fell off. Happened to me when i was driving my brothers 99 with a 5 speed. I was cruising down the highway and then all of a sudden she reved up like i was in neutral. Had a shop fix it. With a new gear that needed replaced and labor i think it was around 350$. Some weld it onto the shaft. Do a search for 5th gear nut fell off. The truck shifted fine thru all the gears tho after it fell off, no popping or banging. May not be what happened. He might of not been as lucky.

 

Worst case senario is that he lost the snap-ring on the countershaft (5th gear)

Best case the shifter just popped out of the rails and the 5th gear nut backed off.

A lot of times the syncro on 5th will get worn and over travel and the tabs pop out at an angle. If that is the case it is serviceable without removing the transmission, everything else (transfer case and extension housing).

 

Well if it lost power transfer and he couldn't get it into any gear, then the clutch might have broken the center hub right out of the clutch disc.

 

he said even with ignition off it still wont go into any gear

 

I agree with Dodge359. Shifter slipped out of shift forks. Probably because 5th gear nut came loose and driver pulled to hard to get out of gear. Search 5th gear failure, 5th gear nut, etc.
Here is what you do. Take shifter boot off, take off top of shifter, push in clutch, align the little blocks, so there is one long gap when all three are lined up. Then only use 1-4 gears, take to shop have them remove rear of trans and get new locking style nut with set screw, degease tailshaft use tons of red loctite and tighen good on tail shaft and Put back together. Happen to me before. Let me know what you find. This happened to me in Oklahoma. Stroud to be exact. Wheres cleveland OK

 

35 min nw of tulsa thanks that is exactly what he said he did. he said he grabbed the shifter with both hands and it popped then he couldnt get it in any other gear but nuetral. i really appreciate the help

 

Yep that is what happened. Shouldn't be a big deal, just align shifter and use 1-4 gears. Either do it you self or take to shop to do 5th gear. make sure you use new nut with set screw and really clean up threads so locitite will work. Hope this helps.

 

Usually the shifter wont jam when the #5 gear comes off. I am going to lean twards the syncro being shot and allowing over-travel or the snapring on the counter shaft went bye bye.

When one or the other happens then it jams the shifter then when you yard on it the shifter pops out. JMHO

 

Well Guys I Appreciate The Help I Will Pull The Shifter Off Tomorrow And Try To Get Everything Where It Needs To Be The Local Tranny Guy Said He Had To Pull The Tranny Reguardless, But If I Fix The Shifter And Have 1-4 I Can Do The 5th Gear Nut And Save Money, Once Again Thanx Yall

 

His Shifter Is Really Loose Like It Is Not In The Right Slot. How Do You Pull The Shifter To Put It In The Slot?

 

Unscrew the two rubber boots around the shifter, pull the shifter off the tower (its just a slip fit) push down on the dome and turn to release the pivot. Now you can take out te pivot and move the rails where they need to be and reverse the order to put back together.

 

Ok I Got The Shifter Out , But The 5th Gear Rail Was Very Hard To Get Back In Neutral Once I Got It Close Enough It Shifted 1-4 Fine. I Buttoned Everything Back Up And Started It And It Pulled Itself 1-4 And In Reverse. It Is A Little Hard To Hit The Slot On The Shifter Rail Going In And Out Of Reverse, I Never Tried To Put It In 5th So Maybe It Isnt Lined Up Exactly Perfect.

 

The rails are self aligning when you use the shifter. Reverse and 5th are on the same rail. Maybe there is problems with the rail or gates themselves?