Getting harder to shift Richmond 5 speed

[Tommy]

While doing some slow speed cruising last weekend, I noticed it was noticably more difficult to pull the shifter out of first on the way to second. I didn't feel anything unusual in 3rd, 4th or 5th gear. When i got home, I checked the clutch and confirmed that I'm getting full throw of the clutch fork. With the engine off and the clutch fully depressed, the shifter feels very stiff going from 1st to second and feels normal moving between other gears.

Does anyone have tips for troubleshooting this problem other than pulling and inspecting the interior of the transmission? Also, will clutch wear increase or decrease the space between the flywheel and the clutch plate when the clutch pedal is fully depressed?

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by Tommy

With the engine off and the clutch fully depressed, the shifter feels very stiff going from 1st to second and feels normal moving between other gears.

Do you think it could be the linkage binding? Chect the linkage to make sure the rods are not loose where they connect to the shifter/tranny. You could disconnect the linkage rods from the side of the tranny, and shift it manually to try to determine if it's in the trany vs. in the shifter/external to the tranny.

[CJ428CJ]

As Anthony suggested, make sure the shift rods aren't rubbing on the transmission tunnel. Also, I find that my Richmond shifts a lot easier when I use synthetic gear oil.

Chris

[Tommy]

Problem found and solved. The Hurst shifter mechanism includes three metal bars (one for 1-2, one for 3-4 and one for 5-R) that slide against each other during gear changes. Apparently some corrosion between the bars made the 1-2 bar hard to move. After I lubricated that area, everything went back to normal.