3...2...1....abort

1. New coupler designed and created - Check (Thanks Paco)

2. New Coupler attached to motor - Check

3. Motor tested with low voltage - Check

4. Tranny opened and bearing replaced - Check

5. Motor and Tranny mated together - Check

6. Motor/Tranny tested at low voltage - Check

7. Motor/Tranny re-installed in car - Check

8. Tranny fluid added - Check

9. Motor/Tranny tested at low voltage in car - Check

10. Motor/Tranny tested at slightly higher voltage - Check

11. Test tranny by changing gears - uh, Houston, we have a problem.

So everything was going as smoothly as it could have on Saturday, other than the near triple digit heat, all the way until the point where I thought I should check the motor/tranny out in different gears to make sure we don't hear any weird noises. It apparently did not occur to me during the previous tests that the tranny was in a gear and spinning the axles and that maybe it should have been in neutral just as it was when I removed the tranny from the car. Somehow, during reassembly, I think I locked the transmission into a gear, so I can now go forward, but can't change gears or go backwards. The last item in the above check list should have been done right after number 4. 

So, now the motor and tranny are joined together and back in the car and I have to either find a simple solution for unlocking it from the gear it is in, or take the whole thing out again, open the transmission and figure out why it is not switching gears. There is some hope though. There are 3 bolts that have springs and a ball bearing on the end which tighten up against three shafts in the transmission which shift the gears. My hope is that since one of the shafts is engaged on a gear, that maybe that bolt is overtightened and won't allow me to move it to get back into neutral.

Here is a shot of the bolt holes where the bolts with the springs and ball bearings go.

Bolt holes for Detent bolts

Zoom in to read the text

The next shot is the tranny right before we put the case back on. You will notice that 4th gear appears to be engaged and that the detents in the shift shaft are deeper for when the shaft is engaged in a gear than the detent for neutral. This is my hope, that since it is engaged in 4th, I tightened the detent bolt, spring and ball bearing down too hard and now it won't let the 3rd/4th shift shaft move back into the neutral position.