Free Play in grear shifter

[James J Knight]

Hello everyone.

My name Jim Knight. I am new to this forum. I happen to be the proud owner of a 1979 Case 580C. And, I have had the unfortunate experience of flipping it on its side. The machine continued to run on its side for about 30 seconds after I flipped it. I had to turn it off manually. It was then returned to its upright position and it runs beautifully. Everything operates perfectly. "EXCEPT" for the 4 speed transmission shifter. It just flies around freely. This machine had the four speed transmission with reverse, and the forward/reverse (Shuttle) mechanism. I lost control of the machine when moving up hill and then tried to change gears (from second to fist). When doing so, I took it out of second and tried to get it into first. Not an easy task when realizing that I had lost my brake mechanism. Therefore I was on a downward flight with no breaks and in a neutral position transmission wise. What I am trying to decipher is, what could possible be wrong that would allow the shift lever to move freely. Could it just be something connecting the shift lever to a rail within the transmission itself. I've tried to find an article/conversation relating to this problem within one of the "Heavy Equipment Forums," just couldn't find one. Could someone kindly give me some foresight regarding this problem? By the way, no injuries other then a bump on the head caused by the mishap. Lucky.....I know.

Regards, JJ Knight

 

[Equipmentguy224]

It could be anything BUT it sounds to me like the shift lever was "unhooked" from the shift forks. I would remove the shift cover and take a look, then go from there. You will probably need to remove the floor to do this. Let us know what you find...

 

[Tinkerer]

Things happen fast, but you should have dropped the FEL to the ground. Are you going to repair the brakes especially since you operate on hills ?

 

[catskinner 10]

There is or should be, a rubber boot on the shift lever at the floor plate.
Raise that up, and you will find the lever lock bolt (#6 in the link) that goes in from the side of the trans. shift tower to hold the lever is broken.
You need to pull the lever out realign the shift forks to neutral reinstall the shift lever engaging
The forks and new bolt pin.

Case 580C parts diagram
https://partstore.casece.com/us/parts-search.html#epc::mr49912ar805663

Tom

 

[Equipmentguy224]

Things happen fast, but you should have dropped the FEL to the ground.

To keep him from tipping or to slow him down?

 

[mitch504]

To keep him from tipping or to slow him down?

Either one would be desirable...

The loader does make a pretty good emergency brake though.

 

[Billrog]

going backwards down a hill your not going to have time to curl your bucket so it would be of any use slowing you down.
I would do what Tom suggested & you may have to lift the back wheels off the ground so you figure out where neutral is.

 

[mitch504]

It is VERY easy to find neutral, just line up the slots in the shift forks.

 

[John C.]

It's a common problem on the older machines. They weren't made to speed shift. The last one I worked on the top plate of the transmission unbolts to reveal round bars with square slots cut in them. The end of the shift lever is a ball shape with each side cut flat. The lever below the plate is only about three or four inches long. The slots in the bars line up when the transmission is in neutral. When you move the lever to put the tranny in first the ball end moves to the right side rail slot and pushes the bar backwards to engage the gear. The other bar slot has stayed in the same place so the round part of that bar keeps the ball stuck in the slot on the right side bar. What has happened is when you tried to make the quick shift you forced the ball out of the slot and in between the two bars and out of the pattern if you are lucky. You can take a bar and force the transmission back to neutral and reinstall the shifter plate back on and go back to work, after you fix the brakes. If not so lucky the ball on the end of the shifter was broken off and dropped into the transmission and is hopefully stuck on the bottom outside of the gears. You will have to pull the top off to find out.

Good Luck!

 

[mitch504]

John, that was a nice job explaining that. It is something that is so common I don't think of people not knowing it. I catch myself just giving out one nugget when sometimes they need the whole happy meal.

 

[John C.]

I appreciate the thought. Thanks