I have a T5 in my 85 z28 (84k mi), and just recently, it has started to make some weird sounds. I'll be sitting at a stoplight in 1st gear waiting and then all of a sudden it starts to vibrate and make a loud noise (almost like a loud hard drive spinning up). I then take it out of 1st, wait a sec and put it back in, then it does the same thing again in a few seconds, or sometimes not at all. Then today when I was in a parking lot getting ready to leave, I couldn't shift it into 1st or 2nd without it making that noise, so I shut it off and restarted it and it didn't do it until a few seconds later as I was leaving the parking lot. When it does that, it can go into all the other gears though. Also, when I shift into 1st from a stop it's pretty hard and second is the same except not as hard but kind of "pops" into gear after you pull back on it kinda hard. All the other gears shift nice and easy though. I'm not sure what this is. Do I need to rebuild or what? As for rebuilding, do I need any special tools? Thanks,

-Kyle

 

1. Throwout bearing (cheap)
2. Pilot Bearing (cheap)
3. Input shaft being 'carved' by old pilot bearing
4. Tranny is low on fluid.

 

Would that also cause it to be hard to go into 1st or 2nd? Also, what weight of gear oil do I use? I heard that what it says in the haynes manual is not correct.

 

Not sure about the 85 but I thought all T5's used automatic dextron iii fluid. It should have a sticker on the side of it.."USE ATF ONLY".
I would check the fluid first and foremost.
Mine started whinning in 5th quite a bit. It only drained about 1.5L when it should be around 4L.

 

It did again today, except this time it did it on all the gears, not just 1st and 2nd. Is this the throwout bearing or the pilot bearing? Do I need any special tools, or are there any tips on changing these? Can I get these parts at an auto parts store, or will they have to be ordered? I'm probably gonna do it on saturday since I gotta drop the tranny. Thanks, Kyle

 

i had a VERY similar problem

the cause: the two lower tranny-to-bellhousing bolts worked their way free

HOW??

i have no idea, because when i put my centerforce clutch in we impacted EVERYTHING back together.........

 

Cool, that'll be a quick fix. I thought I was gonna have to pull the tranny and replace the throwout and pilot bearing. Thanks.