OK! Finally, I got down to the problem that was plaguing my trans. I actually has stripped a gear inside there. It wasn't a spur gear, but luckily, was the same size as the spur. I swapped the stripped one out for the aluminum spur, and all is well!

The reason the trans worked when I pushed the shaft forward is that I was engaging what was left of the gear into the other gears. The gear was totally shot except for about 5% of its surface on all teeth.

Yes, my trans is the one that is pictured earlier in the thread.

Thanks,

Merc