I bought the transmission used and found I dont have 5th. No grinding, or anything wierd, just no 5th.

The search function tells me I probably lost a snap ring on the 5th gear.

I am wondering if I can pull the tail shaft while the tranny is in the car to check and see if that is the problem.

 

You can, but its almost as much work as removing the trans from the car. You will need to open up the center console enough to get the shifter out, its better just to remove the console as the rubber boot covering the hole in the trans tunnel has bolts along the sides that are impossible to get to with the console in place. You can lift it up and work a ratchet in there with a swivel joint and get to them.

Then remove the 4 bolts holding the shifter in place and remove the shifter. Next you'll need to drive the roll pin out of the shift block, don't push it down any farther than you absolutely need to so it disengages from the shaft. Otherwise you'll do what I did and drive it into the tailhousing and break it off. From that point its a lot of work and swearing to get it out.

Under the car you will need to remove the torque arm, driveshaft, and trans crossmember and drain the transmission fluid. Let the trans sag down in the back as the engine rocks back on its mounts. Watch your distributor doesn't get jammed into the firewall and crack the cap. Remove the bolts holding the tailhousing to the main case and slide everything back.

There is a spring and a ball bearing under the shift block that provides the "feel" of the shifter slipping into gear. You don't want to lose those as you remove the tailshaft so either cover the shifter hole with duct tape so they don't go flying, or have a friend in the car to hold onto everything.

If it is just the retaining ring on 5th gear that is missing, you don't really need to remove the tailshaft housing completely. Sliding it back a couple inches should give you the clearance you need to replace the ring. Don't forget to check inside the housing for pieces of the old ring.

There is no gasket between the tailshaft housing and the main case. Just run a bead of black RTV around the mating surface to seal it back up. After you get the transmission back together, fill it back up from the shifter hole. Its much easier than trying to lay under the car and push the fluid up into the fill hold on the side. Just leave the top plug out on the side and when you hear the fluid start to run out into the drain pan you know its filled to the right level.

To remove the trans from the car only involves removing 4 extra bolts from the front of the trans where it bolts to the bellhousing. For the small amount of extra work, I'd just pull the trans out. Its much easier to remove the tailshaft housing when the trans is sitting on a bench.

 

Probably....

But by the time you did all the stuff you have to do to get to that point, you'd have the shifter, torque arm, crossmember & mount, speedo cable, and a few other misc goodies all removed ANYWAY; and at that point, it's just 4 more bolts to drop the trans and work on it the easy way.

Besides, removing it doesn't require removal of the TA like trying to disassemble it in the car would, and therefore might actually be less work in addition to making the trans work itself easier and less error-prone.

Even though it may be "possible", it is not a "good idea"; and certainly not "faster", "easier", or "better" than just doing it the right way.

 

Ok I will just pull the trans. Where do I get the clip from?

 

I have a spare tail housing if you need one.

 

Anywhere that sells rebuild kits online should have the piece you need. You might have to buy it as part of a "small parts kit" or something similiar. I know in my rebuild kit, all the clips and snap rings and small parts like that were all in one bag.

A few sites you can try:

http://www.5speeds.com

http://www.allstategear.com

http://www.transmissioncenter.net

Actually, if its just a snap ring I may have what you need. Once you get it torn down and can confirm what part broke, shoot me a PM with a pic of the part that broke and I'll look through my bag of T5 parts. When I rebuilt my T5, it didn't really need it so almost all of the parts were still in good shape. I only rebuilt it because I had to pull it to swap the engine and figured while it was out I might as well go ahead and rebuild it.

 

Well today I drove it around for the first time, and sometimes it would forcefully pop out of 1st while taking off from a stop. I have a B&M shifter in it do I need to adjust the stops again to allow a little more shifter throw? Or do you think I need a rebuild?

Thanks for the links.

 

Do you have access to a stock shifter to swap in? To me that would be the easiest way to test it. If it works fine with the stock shifter then you know its an adjustment issue. If not, its probably a bad synchro and needs rebuilt.

Does the shifter stop at the same point in first as it does in third? If it doesn't move as far forward in first gear then you probably just need to adjust it. If it does move the same distance in first and third, you're more likely looking at a rebuild. The shifter travel is the same forward and back in the first 4 gears. Reverse and 5th should be the same as well, but I'm not 100% sure of that.

 

It came with a B&M shifter in it. The shifter had no bushing on it and the ball was just rattling around in the hole long enough to put a wear pattern in the end of the shifter.

I can adjust the stops on the shifter to allow for a little more throw as it does kinda feel like it barley catches the gears.

I also noticed that I have a lot of gear whine, sounds like an old rock crusher. Is that normal?

I have a feeling over all that the tranny will need a rebuild and that I got screwed on the whole deal. Oh well. lessons learned.

 

I don't notice any gear whine on mine except for reverse, but I've had that with every manual I've ever owned.

Rebuild kits are easy to find for these transmissions, and they are easy to rebuild. My T5 is the first transmission I ever rebuilt, and I did it with just a PDF file and a few online pics to guide me through it and had no problems.

I got my kit on Ebay for a lot less than some of the "transmission" sites were selling them for. It was just a repackaged kit from the second link I posted earlier.

Just thought of something - Are you SURE its a T5 and not something else? Before the T5s were used, the first couple years of Thirdgens had 4-speeds in them. You're lack of a 5th gear and noise problems might just be from having the wrong transmission.

 

I know it is a T5 cause I bought it from a kid and it came out of an 87 TPI car. The tranny and all of its parts are definately not original.

As I exceeded my budget long ago (just means more broke then I originally thought I would be) will a regular rebuild kit work good? Or should I save for the premium kit?

If the difference is just bearings, then I am not so worried about that.

 

If the "regular" and "premium" kits you're referring to are the ones I think they are, the only difference is the premium kit contains the synchros as well as the bearings.

If the "regular" kit is for a non-world-class T5, and the "premium" kit is for a world-class T5, then it does matter which one you get. Some of the bearings are different as well as the blocking rings. Its not just the cone bearings that are different. The WC T5 uses needle bearings in plastic sleeves under 2 of the gears whereas the NWC T5 uses bushings.

If that T5 is originally from an 87, then it should be the NWC version. For the extra $22 to get the synchro rings in the kit from allstategear.com, I would do it. You'll already have the transmission opened up, you might as well change everything you can.

If this isn't you DD, then I would assume you have the luxury of tearing the trans down and seeing if you need new rings or not. In that case, that would be the best way to go about it.

 

Well the place I was looking at has regular master kits which include everything, and then say the premium master kit has timken bearings, but is like $60 more.

 

Can you post a link? I wouldn't mind taking a look at it.

If the difference is just the brand of bearings, then I wouldn't worry about it for a DD. If it will see any street abuse, track use, or autox then I would go for the upgrade.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...=STRK:MEWAX:IT

This is what I was looking at. It has koyo bearings which are still decent bearings.

 

Looks like its probably a stock photo at the top as I don't remember some of those parts being used in a T5, but from the description it sounds like everything is there.

 

Ok thanks, once I get the windshield in the car then I can work on getting the tranny rebuild kit.

I did notice that the input shaft had a bunch of play in it, like over a 1/4" total. I heard this can cause the whining noise I am hearing. I just hope I dont have any trashed gears.

 

That's a LOT of play. A loose input shaft can certainly cause whining. Might have a bad thrust bearing or a missing shim behind the input shaft.

I don't think you'll have to worry about broken gears. Excessive wear can cause whining though.

 

Well hopefully there are not any damaged hard parts. I cant afford anymore big purchases. I will build it right and make sure clerances are good and everything is shimmed right, it cant be any harder then building axles.

 

Back when I was rebuilding mine in '08, gears were pretty plentiful on Ebay and at good prices too. I don't know about now though.

As for how easy it is, I did mine without a shop press for the bearings. I used a hammer, vise, and a bearing separator to remove/reinstall the bearings and I still think it was easier than doing a rear axle. LOTS more parts to lose track of though.

One piece of advice: mark where the keys are in the synchros and which keys go in those spots. I didn't do that and I think that's why my gears feel a bit "notchy" when I shift through the gears. Its not really a problem, but it definitely isn't as silky smooth as I expected a freshly rebuilt trans to be.

 

That's normal, as lateral play at the input shat is not measured until it's in the pilot bearing. If it's sloppy then, you have problems.

 

Nope, the input and output tightened up when I put the tranny in the car.

 

When you say it had 1/4"+ of play in the input shaft, are you talking about when you turn the input shaft, or if you move it side-to-side, or in-and-out? If you meant turning it, then yes that is normal. I was thinking you meant in-and-out play.