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Out of nowhere, shifting my 3-speed got very stiff. R to 1st was free and smooth, but 1st to 2nd was a little stiff at first, then got progressively stiffer until I couldn't even move the gearshift to the right side of the "H" at all. I read some of the forum topics about removing the entire shifter shaft along with the steering column, but wanted to try a simpler approach first. That approach involved disconnecting the connecting linkages to levers 3.328 and 3.329 on one end, then removing the clips holding the levers in place. The bottom lever (3.328) easily slid down the shaft, exposing the selector (3.316), but the upper lever would not budge when I tried to move it up the shaft. I had thought the reason I couldn't shift from 1st to 2nd was because the selector was stuck in between the upper and lower levers, thus locking the upper and lower levers together because of dirt and old grease preventing the tab on the selector from settling into one slot or the other of the levers. But when the lower lever slid down, exposing the selector, it was clear the selector wasn't the problem. The problem was the upper lever being stuck to the shaft housing (3.325). I went to work on it with repeated doses of penetrating oil applied at the top rim of the upper lever - as well as tapping up on the bottom of the upper lever with a wooden dowel rod. So far I haven't been able to get any movement between the upper lever and the shaft housing, whatsoever. If the answer is to remove the entire assembly after all, how should I go about freeing the lever from the shaft housing, once I remove the assembly?

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Answers from same topic in Pre-War Forum.

If you have not tried it-there is a small hole in the shifter column about 1/3 way up from bottom. Squirt some oil not wd40 into the hole-work the shift lever and/or let it sit over night. I was able to free mine up. It happened as recently as about 2 weeks ago. Good luck

packard1949, second post here, more info.

packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=23350&forum=1

Wes

Very common and been discussed here before a few times. I had to disassemble the '49s column to get the shifting back.
The same hole that is for oil is the source of water intrusion. A poor design.
You can disconnect the levers at the joints and check to make sure not in the trans.