NV4500 stuck in 4th gear

[adamey1000]

I thought that I would post a thread just in case anyone ran into the same thing I did. Last week my wife drove my truck to an appointment while I was away on a business trip. She called and said that the truck was stuck in 4th gear and she couldn't get it out. Since I was 4 hours out there was not much I could do. Luckily she kept her cool and got it off of the interstate and into a hotel parking lot. When I got there, I just assumed that it was jammed somehow. No manner of pulling or pushing would free it up. I drove it home in 4th by shifting from 4L to 4H on the transfer case. Pulled the shift tower off to take a look. Apparently the shift tower had worn to the point that the shifter somehow slipped between the gates. The transmission was in 4th, but the shifter was not in the gate. Used a screw driver to put the middle gate back in neutral, and reassembled. The truck shifts great now. My questions: is this common on the NV4500? Should I replace the shift tower now? Anything I can do to avoid it happening again? It was suggested that she might have paused in neutral between 4th and 5th and that caused it but I cannot see how that could be possible. Anyone heard of this happening before?Removing and replacing the shift tower was really easy. I had it reassembled and driving again in about 20 minutes. Unfortunately I did not think to get any pictures!

[98whitelightnin]

I have heard of this happening more than once.

[dorkweed]

Just a thought here.............don't let your wife drive your truck in the future!!!!:stirthepot:First I've ever heard/read of this.

[adamey1000]

Well she actually does good! I made her learn to drive it because a vehicle she can't drive is useless in an emergency!

[scummins]

Actually this is fairly common. The same thing happened to me a while back but i was stuck in 5th gear. A quick google search is what i did on my smart phone to diagnose it on the side of the road. There is info out there just try a few quick key words. I guess that it wears to the point where it can slip between the shift forks but the weird thing is for some people it never happens or happens once and never again and for for others its a repeat offender. I haven't replaced anything since it happened to me and it hasn't happened since.

[Mopar1973Man]

:think:I've never heard of it. Weird but I learned its quick fix.

[Josiah_Fultz]

Hey I don’t know if anyone’s still on here but my 01 24 valve 5 spd manual is stuck in four and the clutch still will disengage drive but it’s just stuck in 4th any ideas if it’s the same thing or how to fix it?

[dripley]

Try the solution in the thread. Seems to work.