Gator 6x4 Transmission Trouble

[Safari]

Hello,

Yesterday I purchased a Gator 6x4 that needs a little work. It won't start currently, but I think I traced that to a relay....

But the problem I'm having is that the shifter arm on the top of the transmission is extremely stiff. The actual lever inside the cab moves fine when disconnected but the actual arm on the transmission won't move without being forced.

When I put a pipe wrench on it and apply slight pressure it will move and go into gear. I tried spraying it with WD-40 and Fluid Film but its still wont move easy.

Is there something I can do? Is there a bearing or something that could be frozen and in need of replacement?

Any help is greatly appreciated!:BG:

[purplewg]

Kind of hard to tell what "slight pressure" is. There is not a bearing where the shift shaft goes through the housing. Only a bushing. The shift shaft engages in a shift collar and a pin on the shift shaft moves this collar forward or backward. Is it hard to move with the engine off or only when the engine is running or both? When you do get it in gear does it work ok? Both forward and reverse work ok when shifted with the pipe wrench?

[Steveo3117]

purplewg,
I just bought this gator from Safari today. The electrical problem was in fact the relay. I drained the gas, replaced fuel filter, spark plugs, and cleaned the carb. The engine runs good. As far as the transmission it is very hard to move the lever. I used a pipe wrench and had to use quite a bit of force. Its hard to move with the engine off AND running. I tried putting it in reverse while the engine was running and it immediately stalled out. I did not try forward gear while running yet. I called it a night and will try again tomorrow.
Thanks

[Steveo3117]

ok heres an update. I slowed the clutch down by hand and shifted the gator into forward gear and it works fine. Reverse also works fine. Drove it around for a bit and works well. Differential lock works also. But I still have to use a pipe wrench with force to change forward reverse and neutral. Should i begin to remove the transmission and split open? Any ideas?

[purplewg]

Steve, it sounds like you just have some binding inside for some reason. Sounds like you are in luck with the basic operation of the tranny which is good. If you want to do it right, I would pull it and split it to see why it is binding. You will need to reseal the two halves when you put it back together. I used some Permatex Ultra Grey gasket maker. Same stuff I use on rearend housings.

Not the best picture but this should be similar to yours. This when I opened mine up on a 4x2 I used to have.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/purplewg/Gator%20Project/95ece46c.jpg