popping out of gear......and an electrical question

[montysano]

Hi all,

My '65 Chevy truck has a problem (which until now I've just lived with) of popping out of 3rd gear. It's not a shifter problem, I don't think. It did it with 3-on-te-tree, and it still does it after a conversion to a floor shifter. Is this a fixable problem, or should I just look for another 3 speed tranny to drop in.

Also: I did a generator to 3-wire alternator conversion, thanks to a fantastic thread on this forum (thanks, Toddtheodd!). However, now, after sitting for a few days, the battery will drain. In poking around, I notice that I've got continuity from +battery to the case of the alternator, which seems wrong. Ideas? Advice?

monty

[Fred T]

Tranny sounds like a synchronizer is worn. They are replaceable. Factory rebuild manual tells you how, and it's not that bad to do. Biggest problem is the 3 speed is not a real durable box. If I pull the side cover and find gear teeth in the bottom I look for another. Last one I worked on took about half a day to pull, repair and install. Be sure to replace both front and rear seals if you have it apart.

Alternator could be internal. Battery drain is a problem with them. I would take it to the parts store and have them test it. It's free at most places, but they do want to sell you a new one.

[Chevyboy1962]

Fred T is right, the tran's 3 gear syncro is bad.
You can test the charging system if you have a digital volt meter. You would first do 2 test with the engine off, you would first put the red terminal on the rd terminal, and the black on the black on the batterry posts, what's it reading?

With the engine off it should read something like 12.9 volts.
Then try the red terminal on the main powerat the alternator, what's it reading? It should be the same as the battery.

Then try the same thing again with the engine running. It should read right around 14 volts running.

I had this problem, and as soon as the engine was turned off, I could literally watch the battery count down to like 7.5, then I pulled the neg terminal. What I did to fix this was by adding a ground strap from the negative terminal on the battery, and grounded it to the body, when I did this, it goes no lower than 12.5.

Also when doing this test you can see right away if the voltage regulator(if external) is bad, alt, or battery real quick. Like Fred T said, they do try to sell you new items when you don't really need them. It's happened to me on more than one occasion.
David