84 550LTD shift fork fell out!

While changing out the shift shaft seal ( trying saying that 5 times fast ) I made a mistake that im kicking myself for now, I pulled the shift rod out! When I pulled the rod out the 2nd shift fork fell off the shifter barrel and down inside the pan. So I went ahead and pulled the motor out and took the pan off to see if I could get it back on without splitting the cases. I can get the fork back on the barrel but it doesn't line up with the rod. I've tried shifting it to see if maybe the barrel needs to be in a certain position, but to no avail. What am I missing? Thanks in advance for any help.

Your photo is of a very small area and of a very narrow view, so I can't be sure........ but it looks like you positioned the forks around the shift drum itself. The forks go between the gears on the input shaft. The pin on the shift fork rides in the groove on the drum. That should properly align the rod and shift fork.

Okay this helped me out a ton, but after what seemed like 2 hours of fiddling with it I still cant seem to get it to align. I get the fork when i *Think* it goes, but the shift shaft wont go all the way through. It seems to bind up. Is there a specific gear it needs to be in? And just to be sure, does the fork go in the 1,2, or 3 position? Thanks again

Try it with gears in neutral position.

The forks ride in these areas.

The forks slide the gear sets back and forth engaging and disengaging with the other gears. So try to get the fork guide pin in its groove in the shift drum and then slide the gear side to side to try to allow the fork to slip into its groove on the gear set.
Easier said then done I’m sure.

Maybe this will help you to position your shift drum/gear into the right (neutral?) position to
put the shift fork into the gear/shift drum slot.
When the shift fork fell of the shift shaft in a specific position, it can be insert in same position.




Michael