PLaSMaN

As the title says, I'm wondering where to start...

Last year, the third gear blew up and having no money for a towing I rode back home (20-30 miles) on the 1,2-4,5 gears. I know that I shouldn't have done that but there really was no other choice at the time.

So basically, even idle I can hear some noise coming from the underside so I think the transmission, gears, bearings are in pretty bad shape.

At this point, should I look to have it rebuilt or would it be cheaper to buy a rebuilt one? Would there be advantages in having the current one worked on?

specs :
1987 iroc-z, all stock.
T-5 to BW 9 bolt.
Worked fine till third gear went "bang".

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

Neither.

Get a LT1 T-56.

paulieet

T5's are only rated to about 280-300 ft/lbs and don't hold up to much abuse. The only thing that a T5 would have going for it in your car is that your engine is stock. If you have the cash look into a T56 swap

jmd

iTrader: (4)

You can't tell until it's apart.

Uncle Skeletor

iTrader: (5)

Based on the description, I'd say teeth are sheered off of 3rd gear, main and countershaft. You're looking at a cluster gear and new 3rd mainshaft gear, bare minimum. Non-World Class parts are a little more difficult to find, might have to make some phone calls instead of just googling. And from personal experience, the only time I tried pressing the rear countershaft bearing out of a NWC I ended up cracking the case.

If you want to stay T5, find a World Class box in good shape. I think that would be easier and cheaper in the long run. Otherwise, I'd say go with a T56. Those things are practically bulletproof.

Uncle Skeletor

iTrader: (5)

BTW, you probably didn't do any more damage to the gears by driving it home. You may have torn up some bearings with debris in the oil, but you usually get big chunks with this type of failure instead of small particles. If you try rebuilding it, inspect the bearings and races and be prepared to buy some if needed.

Uncle Skeletor

iTrader: (5)

And here's a link to a PDF version of the T5 manual. T56 manual is also here for those interested.

http://www.tremec.com/lit_oem.php