Shift fork rod interlock pins

I am wondering if anyone has gotten a direct look at the shift fork rod interlock pins in the 308/328 transmission. There are three. They are there to prevent more than one gear from being engaged at a time (in the event something goes really wrong with the shifter or linkage). I have only seen photos and parts diagrams, but they are short fat "pill" shaped pins that go into the web in the inner-middle of the transmission case where the fork rods pass through. Conceptually I know how they should function but don't know the actual mode or how they are installed between the rods and the case web because there isn't an illustration for that.

I have read in a few places that these can get gunked up and prevent smooth sliding of the fork rod. I would like to try and clean out that area when I go into my transmission soon to replace shift shaft seals and check overall adjustment of the shifter selector/fingers inside the transmission. I have some notchiness into the 2nd gate about 50% of the time that is unrelated to transmission warmup. I think it could be happening from an adjustment issue with the selector/fingers at the end of the shift shaft (although I find it hard to believe it would only affect 2-3), or the wrong detent ball or spring for the 2-3 rod, or sticky interlock pins.

The notchiness sensation is an initial block and resistance pushing into 2nd that gives way and lets me follow through. I don't think it's a synchro problem (never any grinding and I hear the synchro spin up nice and smooth) although it's always possible the pins/springs/keys on the 2-3 selector hub are sticky. I'll be able to assess better when I am looking inside the case and moving things around by hand, except those interlock pins are hidden and not easy to get to without removing the fork rods.

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Great thanks, that helps a lot. I think it answers my question. If the transmission is in 3rd, the side pills are already "parted" to each side by the 2-3 fork rod and it would be unlikely they could squeeze back inward to create resistance moving into 2nd since there are no springs involved. So I think that eliminates them as a source of resistance on a 3rd to 2nd downshift.

I like how simple and clever this design is.

 

I have run into that on other gearboxes and it can prevent the synchro ring from releasing to pivot and let the dogs engage. All parts are speed matched at that point so it cannot grind but acts like the dogs are head to head and the gear is blocked, or the dogs can't push past each other without a lot of extra effort on the shifter. So I will pay attention to that for sure, since it describes what I feel very well. I would hope I could maybe blast those parts out with cleaner and air if needed without taking everything apart.