I'm a real rookie when it comes to manual tranny's so bear with me. I thought I blew the tranny last night when it POPPED out of 2nd HARD.

It seems to only happen when the tranny is cold, after it warms up, it seems to shift into 2nd much easier. Anyways, when cold this is what happens- I hear a "grinding" noise occasionally, and it seems like it doesn't want to fully engage. If I yank it down pretty hard, it WILL engage though. Every other gear seems OK though, and reverse works fine.

I checked the oil level and that's OK. I adjusted the clutch linkage, and it makes no difference. Mt speedo also seems to "bounce" up and down if I let up on the gas slightly and then goose it a little when cold also, if that has anything to do with this, I don't know. But even the speedo settles out as it warms up!

Anything I should look for without having to pull the tranny, or is it shot?

BTW - The car was parked for 4 years due to grinding in the tranny when I bought it, and I found out the input shaft needle-thrust bearing was completely gone- ground away!! I suspected that was due to being ran low on lube. Anyways, I replaced it and it's been fine for the 1st 1,000 miles or so- until now.

Any help greatly appreciated. - Jeff

I would think that the syncos are shot in the trany. if you already seen damage in the tranny then it was proberly run hard by the previous owner. how many miles are on it.

The Syncos are SHOT!!!!!

Thanks for the responses. The tranny has around 103K on it. When I had it apart, I checked out what I thought was the synchros....they were thin brass rings, but the teeth seemed to be OK. I mean, no teeth were missing or anything. How hard is it to replace them??

Should I just replace the synchros, or just replace everything? Is there a kit available at a resonable price for my old Borg-Warner- -or would it be better to get a newer World Class. I still have the old mechanical linkage though, not the hydralic type.

It's not too hard to replace the synchronizers blocking rings. you'll also what to replace all the snap rings, bearings and seal while you have it apart. Never bought the kit to tell you where to get one and how much, maybe $100 to 150 for every thing. You might need a press to knock out the counter shaft bearing races... its been a while since I had one apart. A pair of snap ring pliers and a ruber mallet plus a good memory and you should be set.

I bought a good rebuild kit from 5speeds.com for about $150. It had everything I needed for the rebuild (bearings, brass blocker rings, shims, all the little stuff)