I picked up a 86 pickup and it currently only goes into 3rd and reverse. I can not get it into any other gear. I got it this evening and haven't been able to go through it. Any suggestions on where to start?

 

Manual or Auto?

Check clutch

Replace Trans with a working used one on the Cheap. It's not all that hard, takes some time though.

 

Manual. Okay will start looking at them.

 

Usually the slave cylinder is the most common fail. I would have someone in the truck trying to shift it while I was underneath trying to move the shift fork and see if it would go into other gears. That would give you an idea if it is the hydraulic system or not.

 

I've been talking with some guys at work they seem to think it wouldn't be the slave cylinder because it does go into gear smoothly. I can line it up with the other gears and try to push it in and it just stops I don't even hear a grinding.

 

remove the gear shifter and see if the bushing is in need of replacment

 

I just installed a used transmission today and to save me time on installing the shifters in the transmission and transfer case, I use a large wooded dowel to shift them. Like kcaudill mentioned, it would be a quick and easy test to see if it is the shifter bushings causing problems or not. I shift it that way just in case I have a bad transmission and save me from having to take all the things back off.

When shifting with a wooden dowel, 1st gear with the wooden dowel is in the Reverse according to the knob cover. If you can get into gear by shifting it with the wooden dowel, then you know your transmission and clutch is good.

It is kind of hard to explain shifting it with a dowel but with a little practice, you will see what I am talking about. Transfer case, you just slide the rods one way or the other.

 

+1 on the shifter bushing... plenty of people have shifters that pop out of gear etc, think their tranny is bad, replace the bushing and it's fixed.
https://www.marlincrawler.com/transm...avy-duty-seats
https://www.marlincrawler.com/transm...y-duty-sockets

 

So after checking the truck out better in the sun light and messing around with some things I figured out that the gears are hard to find but they all work and can be shifted into. So that being said I'll be ordering them bushings next

 

My 0.02:
Throw bushings in and prolly be good to drive. Drain the tranny and upgrade drain/fill bolts to cool guy. Run cheapish gear oil for a sec.. Drain -mt90.