I have a 1987 T5 manual tranny.


Every now and then when I shift into 5th gear, as it slides into place, the gears bite a bit, I can still shift into 5th no problem but I can feel it more than I can hear it.

What is the cause of this and is it bad?

 

come on guys please.

 

my '87 Formula does the same thing. ever try shiftin into 5th in a race (high RPM) situation? its downright freakin embarassin. it will just grind and wont go into gear at all until the RPMs drop to a suitable level. i think it is the synchros. hopefully someone with more knowledge than us will respond and help us?

 

THAT is the same situation I am having!! I should have been more specific, I was worried but now that I know I'm not the only one it has to be something. It only happens in high rpm situations such as high speed driving "spirited shifting" as I would call it. other than that it shifts fine.

So what is causing this???

 

finally, someone i can relate to! i think it has something to do with the synchros being worn from previous ******* and a LOT of people seem to back me up but i dont know for sure. here very shortly im gonna rebuild my T5 (or at least i ordered the rebuild vid and im gonna watch it and then decide what im gonna do!) and if i do before we find our "set in stone" answer, then i will be CERTAIN to tell you what the deal is. then we will know.

 

cool, I really want to know.


I will also be rebulding my tranny, but not until I overhaul my engine.

 

yea thats the same thing im waitin on. i wanna build a 335 stroker motor but everyone thinks it'll be a boat anchor...

 

Ha! A screamin boat anchor!

 

Ughh... yeah... a very heavy boat anchor. LOL

 

hey blackened. i LOVE your gauges!!! is there a way to do that to a Firebird? if so how and where do you get the stuff and approximate cost please. thanks

 

hey guy, guess what? my 5th gear went bye-bye today! it only goes into gear on occasion now. it now shifts INTO gear position now with NO GRINDING at all, but as soon as the clutch is released it grinds like hell and of course wont move, but every now and then it'll go into gear if i slam it in. hope you have better luck with yours!!

 

well that isn't good

 

hey guys, to give an answer, if it grinds going into gear into 5th but no other gear ranges, then of course it should be only in 5th, if it was present in any other gear range the symptoms are usually increased....but i dont want to explain that. also you guys dont happen to drive around holding onto the shifter do you? do you hold it between shifts? hold it in gear? if thats the case, yes that can aggravate synchro wear, also miss 4-5 shifts, and voila you need new synchros, with a problem you are describing i wouldnt just get a rebuild kit, replace the synchros and t/washers and bearings. Things like the contact face where the 5th speed synchro contacts the shiftfork, could be worn excessively if you do ANY of the things i described above. also that synchro contacts a polished metal surface on the gear itself, make sure it has a proper clearance between the synchro ring and the face of the gear (thrust surface? not sure on t5-s) as that can wear too....esp if you force it into gear and hold it, it will wear the shift forks more because they are soft metal as opposed to the synchro clutch cone surface which is possibly the strongest piece of metal in your car. but yeah anyways,yes your synchros are grenaded, but dont stop there, blueprint that tranny when you rebuild it....the "feel" of it going into gear has nothing to do with gears being engauged or disengauged, when you lose shift feel it is because detents, detent springs and sometimes interlocks wear...these items need to be considered too

 

hey thanks a lot for your response, do ya think you could e-mail me sometime with ALL the info i need to rebuild/blueprint this beast? if its too much trouble could ya at least tell me of some good resources? thanks again

 

the unfortunate news is factory service manuals is/are where its at. or Alldata. Blue printing a tranny just means its within factory spec, usually on the low side of tolerances, not just replacing parts, it only takes a little more time, usually just a matter of assembling the tranny, then measuring endplay of the clutch, counter and main shaft then dissassembling it, and adding thrust washers or shims to bring it within correct tolerances, its not alot of effort but the gains are nice, in fact if you took a brand new car off a lot and did this, you'd notice a reduce in throw for the shifter a more positive feel and potentially a longer transmission life.

 

hey thanks man!!!