Sherman A4A2 diesel 2-3 shift problem

[Jesse Browning]

A Korean War tank mechanic brought up the subject to me as one of the common problems of the day. He said the cause was that the syncromeshs were not worn in yet. He said the solution was to force it into third without the clutch, and after that it would be easy to shift normally. I never had the heart to do that to my transmission, so 2 to 3 remained difficult to the end. The first question the buyer of my Sexton asked me: “what’s the secret to shifting from 2 to 3”? The mechanic also told me they would wire open the governors on the radials on all the vehicles, that the radial engines tanks were much more reliable than the GAA engined tanks, and that they would start the engines on pure alcohol in the winter.