removing countershaft on NWC t5
 

I am rebuilding my NWC T5 and am down to the Countershaft. Is there a trick to getting the bearing to push out? Do you need to remove the forward plug. should I skip it?

Thanks for any help!
Chuck

There is no "plug". That's the bearing.

Only way I know of, is to drive the whole thing out from the front. Press on the front bearing; that will press on the thrust washer, which will press on the gear, which will press on the rear bearing (which incidentally is the same part # as the axle bearings for a 10-bolt).

To reassmble it, install the gear with the thrust washer on it into the bearing bores; press the rear bearing in from the rear; and press the front bearing in from the front. The rear bearing has to go in far enough for the little washer to go behind it, between it and 5th gear. The front one only has to go in to just under flush with the exterior of the case. There should be around .030" - .050" of end play in the countergear when it's all assembled correctly. The rearward thrust bearing for it is in the extension housing, so it will have some extra end play until the ext hsg is installed.

Thank you very much

the rebuild book I have is lacking a bit!

Thanks
Chuck

Big bucket of suck!!!

I was able to press out the counter shaft bearings and remove it from the case. of corse I cracked the case doing it :(

What are my options now. Junkyard? new case? or change trany?

thanks
Chuck

Well that DOES suck.

Yes; junkyard, other trans, other case; any of the above. For just a case, assuming that's all you need, any 1st design (87-back more or less) GM T-5 will do. A 6-cyl, or from a S truck, or whatever.

Where did it break? Why & how? How was the case supported while you were pressing it? I've never managed to break one by doing that.

I set the case front end down in the press with a 4" steel block on either side of the forward bearing, i then lowered the press to the Rear bearing and shimmed the blocks to square the press to the bearing. When I was pressing it out a crack accrued at the thinnest point between the rear bearing hole and the input shaft hole.
Now I have the trany and a window to fix!!!

Window was broke by flying tools in an attempt to relieve stress!

Thank for the help
Chuck

:eek: :eek:

No wonder it broke!!!!!! You did it exactly backwards. Next time, do it that way. Set the case on the press on its rear, front facing up, with the 5th gear part of the countergear sticking through the press rails, and the rails far enough apart to allow the rear bearing to pass through. Put the ram on the front bearing, and press the front brg INTO the case. The front bearing will press on the thrust washer, the thrust washer will press on the front of gear, and the rear of the gear will press on the rear bearing.

Sorry, I got my FWD and AFT mixed up.

I did it the correct way. The shaft was down between the press rails and i pressed directly on the larger of the two bearings. the smaller bearing was pushed out alowing the smaller gears to pass through enough to tilt the larg end and remove the hole thing from the open cover. A hairline crack accured between the large bearing hole and the larger input shaft hole.

the hammer passed form the inside of the garage to the outside, so the glass inside was keep to a minimum.

Chuck

Oh...


That probably means that it was already cracked; or at least weakened.

That exact place right there is where those cases always fail. Excessive torque, espcially shock loading from clutch dumps & speed shifting, will stretch and distort the case across that narrow little place of that thin metal. When that happens, the front bearing will no longer fit the case tight, and it will leak fluid. Furthermore, and even more destructive, that allows the clutch gear and the countergear to spread apart; which allows the teeth to mis-align; which makes them very noisy, even with brand-new gears, and rapidly and brutally eats the teeth off. So even if you keep it full of fluid, its life will be EXTREMELY short, once the case has reached that point. That's the single strongest weakness of the T-5. It's why I fail to see how hardened gears and all that other stuff you hear about really make one of those any stronger; because in order to strengthen something complex you have to strengthen the weakest link, and the gears aren't the weakest link in a T-5. That very place in the case, is the weak link. I've got several cases from transmissions I've trashed over the years sitting on my shelf right now, I don't know why I even keep them because they're all garbage; some of them, the bearing is so loose that it could spin in its bore :eek:, which you can see from wear marks on it where it rubbed on the bell housing.

Just out of curiosity, why are you doing all this, in the first place?

Why am doing all this? man that is the big question!

Anywho, the trany has had problems shifting. Hard shifting between gears. I had to put it into 1st and slam it onto reverse to get it in and push hard to go from one to the other.

Figuring it was the syncros, I made it this years my winter project. got the rebuild kit and jumped in. the syncros are shot and my reverse idler gear is toast, everything else looks o.k.

Well except for the case now $%#&#$

Chuck

Re: removing countershaft on NWC t5
 

I know this is an ancient thread, but maybe I can save someone from breaking a case, like I did. When I pressed the front bearing into the case it also split the case because the bearing had a little lip on it. The replacement case I bought had a bearing in it that did not have a lip on it. Of course this lip is not visible so there is no way of knowing if you can press the bearing into the case without damage. According to the T5 manual the correct way is to press on the gear to push the back bearing out of the case. I haven't tried it, but I guess you just press on the gear where it sticks into the hole for the input shaft.