TKO 500 stuck in gear

[Jimbocobra]

I see several posts on this with no definitive answer. I have a TKO 500 that is stuck in gear. It happened once before and the mechanic did a quick fix by pulling the shifter cover a realigning some things, but he said it would happen again (and he was right). To fix it permanently, he would have to pull the trans. He has never done it before, but called a colleague who specializes in transmissions and is getting instructions to repair. Anyone know what's wrong, the internet is filled with this happening, but no real solution. Does anyone know for sure what happened and how to fix?

[redmt]

I've never had one of those apart but my guess would be that the pins on the shift rails are loose or worn and the shifter lever arm is slipping between the slots on the rails when they don't line up correctly. The fix would be to replace the rail/shifter dogs and the shift lever arm in the tranny. If this is the case, try and put the lever back into the position of the gear it's stuck in and try and "square shift" it . Of course if that's not the problem forget about what I just said.

[CWizard]

This problem, at least for TKO 600s, has been extensively discussed here. Probably as far back as 2006-7. Try the search function. I'd use "TKO600" and/or "stuck TKO" for initial search terms. You should be able to find all the answers there are, including, as I recall, that the root cause is unknown and there is no definitive fix.

[Zoom This]

Check out SCOF web site for info. on your problem and the fix. My old Tremec 3550 stuck in 4th for the first AND last time about 4-5 years ago. I was so pissed about it that I had the tranny removed and a TKO 600 installed. It's been just fine for years now and 10k miles.

Bill

[Jimbocobra]

Tremec recommended Libertygears. They said Liberty can resolve it once and for all. I need to pull the trans, send them some parts and a lot of $, then they modify them, send them back and we put it all back together. The weather is finally getting nice out here too! Now I am down for a three weeks!

Very dissapointed in Tremec. They were so apethetic to the problem, they said they get "calls all the time on this" but it is not that big of a product for them and they never looked into how to solve the problem or prevent it in the future. But their happy to keep selling them... This is the last thing I buy from them. At least he knew who to refer me to.

[Tugboat]

Wow, just finished fixing this problem last Friday!!! Also Google TKO 600 stuck in gear and you will find lots of info on the WWW. The Chevelle forum had the best info.
I took my car to the Big Bend Open Road Race a few weeks ago and on the third practice run my TKO600 stuck in 4th gear. Yes there is a quick fix but will reappear. I had Rosehill Performance here in Houston take the trans apart and fix it. He found the shift fork bumpers, little plastic things, were destroyed from shifting hard. He replaced them with bronze ones and then removed and rebuilt one of the shift gates that has to be beveled a certain way. $400.00 later it is BETTER than new. After hours of reading on the internet this problem seems to be with tremecs produced around late 2006 and early 2007. The TKO 600 was new at that time. I personally know of three Cobra's that have had this problem. Seems like alot in our small world.

Try reading this thread;

New TKO 600 stuck in gear? - Chevelle Tech

And you will find lots more info. Read it thru and all the threads associated with it and I bet you have a better understanding.

Larry Boatner

[Jimbocobra]

Originally Posted by Tugboat

Wow, just finished fixing this problem last Friday!!! Also Google TKO 600 stuck in gear and you will find lots of info on the WWW. The Chevelle forum had the best info.
I took my car to the Big Bend Open Road Race a few weeks ago and on the third practice run my TKO600 stuck in 4th gear. Yes there is a quick fix but will reappear. I had Rosehill Performance here in Houston take the trans apart and fix it. He found the shift fork bumpers, little plastic things, were destroyed from shifting hard. He replaced them with bronze ones and then removed and rebuilt one of the shift gates that has to be beveled a certain way. $400.00 later it is BETTER than new. After hours of reading on the internet this problem seems to be with tremecs produced around late 2006 and early 2007. The TKO 600 was new at that time. I personally know of three Cobra's that have had this problem. Seems like alot in our small world.

Larry Boatner

Liberty Gears described the same problems as above and did a similar fix. I also had some bent shift rails that were replaced. Those plastic "things" were worn out and caused damage to the metal they were lining. We sent them the parts and they replaced and repaired them with stronger ones, no more plastic... I took it racing and had no issues at all, problem seems resolved and is stronger than new. There was no internal damage to the transmission, just the shifter linkage.

[Clois Harlan]

So what did Liberty charge you for that service? I have a TKO 600 that my need the upgrade too.

[Jimbocobra]

I don't have the reciept in front of me, it was arouud $400-$500 to have them repair the parts. I still had to the mechanic to pull the trans, remove the parts, ship them to Liberty and back to me and then reinstall the parts and tranny. The total bill was around $900.