OK fellas, I've got a question for you. I've had and worked on T's for over 35 years and have run into something new. Here's the problem. The transmission will lock itself into high for no reason when the car is NOT running. You can go and start to crank the car and the first few pulls will be fine and then the next pull it's locked in high gear. You can push the all the pedals and move the brake lever back and forth. . . no effect. If you roll the car back and forth a bit, sometimes that will release it, but sometimes you need to jack-up one wheel and start the car to get it to release. It doesn't happen often, about 5 times in say about 70-80 starts. This has happen both when the car is cold and after it was warmed up. I've checked the band settings, the clearance for the clutch fingers, the clutch spring/plate movement and everything is fine. There must be something going on in the clutch pack, but I can't think what it would be. The clutch doesn't have any extra drag when you're cranking, has never grabbed when the car is running and is as smooth as any T I've ever owned. I'm sure I'll have to pull the engine/tranny and tear it down, but my question is, what could be causing it??
Sometimes the brake drum gets worn and the disks do not separate when you put it into neutral. I can't explain why it would do it after the first few pulls. Does it ever stick in high after it is started? Unfortunately, I don't know of any way to fix it without disassembling the clutch. you will need to pull the engine to do this.
Norm
The clutch works fine when the engine is running. It has never grabbed or malfunctioned in any way when the engine is running or driving. When I think about it, it has only happened 4 times in about 80+ starts. . . .that's one of the reasons it's got me stumped.
How's the adjustment screw on the clutch lever to the brake lever cam? It could be that it needs to be turned in farther. When you drive, you release the clutch by depressing the pedal. If the screw is not quite in far enough when you pull on the brake, it would not quite release. Or possibly the cam is bent so that the screw slips off putting it into high.
Norm
Could be the clutch discs hanging up on worn lugs in the brake drum.
Similar thought as Steve's. Maybe a couple of cracked/broken discs hanging up on each other?