Yea so.... I was driving and realized that I needed to take the left that was very quickly approaching at 40mph. So I hit the brakes, put the clutch it and downshifted to 2nd to help me engine brake...... let the clutch out and BAM! Real bad grind. So I thought, "ok, maybe the clutch did not fully disengage that time." So i tried it again... I got giong about 30mph and put the clutch down to the floor and once again could not get it into second gear.

This leads me to believe that the syncro is messed up for second gear. But heres the thing, accelerating 1-2-3 etc, whether it be shifting at 2000rpm or at 4500rpm, it goes into second gear fine. It is only downshifting to second when I am going over 25-30 or so.

This tranny came out of a wrecked 94 Z28... I think I know why the car was wrecked now.

What am I asking? How long is this tranny gonna last? how much will this cost to fix? Even worse.... can I be driving one day and doing a WOT run, shift to 2nd at WOT and have the syncro not grab and blow the whole tranny into dust? Or worse, be at the track and power shift an dhave that happen???

Any information, insight, opinion, thoughts, ideas, comments are welcome and grealty appreciated.

 

I had a T5 that use to do that. Im guessing the syncho is shot. If your not mechanically handy then have a FEW transmission shops take a ride with you. See what they say. If you put the tranny in yourself then you can take it back out yourself and have it fixed. Save yourself some money in labor by doing that and then bringing the tranny to them.

 

Try double clutching when you down shift into second. May solve the problem so you won't have to get the tranny rebuilt right away.

 

Assuming it does need a rebuild... what does a GOOD T56 rebuilt kit go for?

Should probably beef it up a little while its opened up... right? What things are good to upgrade in a stock 94 T56?

 

I just got through this in my 89...I bought a used t56 out of a 97 wrecked camaro off ebay, and 4th gear never seemed to be quite right in it. It would engage just fine, but acted like the gears were grabbing the shifter and holding it into 4th...it just wouldn't come out of 4th very easy. Eventually I came to a stop in 4th gear one day and all went downhill from there...I couldn't get the shifter out of 4th, and had to start off in it...I got it out after I got rolling, but then the shift gate was all screwed up. This led to no use at all of 4th gear, and now having problems with 3rd and 5th gears...So I took the trans out of the car and dissasembled it...come to find out that the syncros are fine, but 3rd, 4th, and 5th, the countershaft, the countershaft extension were all missing teeth. The countershaft alone is a $600 part that is discontinued. So my option was to go with a rebuilt one from D&D Performance(www.ddperformance.com). This costs me $1799 for a 94-97 t56 with all upgraded parts in it, you also have to pay a $500 core until you get them yours. They also had some brand new t56's that they were selling for $200 more. I am supposed to get it in tommorrow, so after I get it installed I will post some feedback about it. Sorry about your bad luck, I am having to go through the same ordeal, and I just did the t56 swap about 5 months ago...2 1/2 months later, it is shot.
-Mark

 

i bought a used t56 off ebay also that had a problem from the start. When I got it in I checked to make sure it went into all 6 gears and low and behold, it didnt. I had no 4th 5th and 6th along with reverse. The shifter wouldnt even move over to the right from the N postion. I had to bring it too a shop and they said the shift rail was broke. Something about a pin or something. Said it was rare to see that part break. Anyways cost $1100 for tranny and $600 to fix. I wasnt to happy and the buyer never emailed me back about it

 

Well after reading this I think theres somthing to be said about spending a little extra $$$ and getting a new T-56 or rebuilt T-56 instead of a used stock one from a 4th gen. sure its cheaper but in the long run

 

My sentiment exactly. I was shopping around for used T56 and the thought hit me, what if the thing goes on me all of a sudden. The trannies I looked at, ALL the sellers told me that it was about 80K on them. Suspicious! I guess when you selling a pricey used part, 80K sounds “comfortable” to the buyer. Who knows how many miles on the thing and what kind of mileage.
I just went and bought a new tremec 5 speed for $2K. It’s new and it’s cheaper and stronger than a used T56, any way you slice it. I think even paying 3K for an aftermarket T56 sounds good all things considered. I can live without the sixth gear, though.

 

my T-56 came with 50k miles on it. the ONLY problem i have ran into is that when its cold it sometimes bites back while shifting into 3rd. but its nothing too serious. u can just feel it on the shifter. and it usualy only does it for the first 5-10 min of driving until its warm. other then that it was a pretty good deal for $1800 for all the parts needed for the swap.

 

If you know the car it came from and can be sure of the milage, it's fine. I, on the other hand, dealt with junk yard characters in Brooklyn and Long Island. I'll trust those crutons as far as I can spit 'em. What got me is the casual responce; "about 80 thou, I'm pretty sure. You can always bring it back, do you want it?"

 

So, why not buy the Richmond R.O.D. 6 speed from summit? They go for $2900, a little more than a used T56 but for the peace of mind that it is under warrenty and all parts are still avialable, it might be worth it.

 

Because that doesn't come with pedals, flywheel, bellhousing, etc.... all the things necessary for an auto-->manual swap.

 

fly wheel should be replaced with new anyway. The other stuff can be had from a salvageyard for pretty cheap.

 

Well, L98IROCZ89 forgot to mention that we don't like the idea of having to shorten the driveshaft and the torque arm.

 

Bah! Excuses, excuses.

 

The tech article on thirdgen.org says that it is fairly important to get all of the parts needed out of the SAME donor car. Speed Automotive provides this for you.... everything you need for an auto-->manual swap for $1500. However, to your credit, I did replace the flywheel and clutch. But for $1500, all parts included from the same car, even though it is a used tranny, it was a risk worth taking to me.

Unfortunatly, I was unlucky...

 

my 2nd gear went out also....dunno if it was cuz i was shifting crappy (stock shifter) and let out before i was all the way through the shift sequence.....used to my t5/hurst............but i am gonna have it yanked out soon and redone..

my flywheel had to be special ordered from centerforce at $413 cuz i have a 2 piece rear main seal....its a very nice flywheel and weighs 35lbs...the guy that did my motor about **** when he saw the damn thing...lol...its about 1 7/8 thick billet steel

 

<b>at $413 cuz i have a 2 piece rear main seal</b>

So wait, I have a 2piece rear seal engine, I need a special flywheel to use a T-56 ?????

uh oh.

<b>Speed Automotive provides this for you</b>

Who and where are they? more info please?

 

here is the part # 700107....it actually cost $357 but shipping jacked it up to $413....its a nice piece and i needed it to do the damn swap or else i would have went cheaper

 

"granny shiftin not double clutchin like you should"
recognize the quote. hey guys, first one to explain to me why double clutching would be an advantage in a standard tranny w/ synchros gets a prize...hehe

 

Well for those of you that have money growing on the trees in your yards that is a nice option . For those of us unlucky ba$tards without said trees, we need to keep costs down. I did my ENTIRE T56 swap and came in under $1800.... And that is with lots of new parts......

Flywheel not being one of them. No need to REPLACE the flywheel every time you are into a clutch job.... Just check it out and resurface it if possible (usually is).

Now consider what I got out of selling off my used TH700R4 parts (stall, Transgo kit, etc.) and I came out smellin REALLY nice . I was also one of those people that knew what car it came out of and bought it locally and didn't have to do the shipping thing as well.

Do your research and take your time looking for parts and you can probably even do the swap cheaper than I did.

For those that have shifting problems you may want to look into rebuilding the gearbox yourself. There isn't a whole heck of a lot going on in a gearbox and there is a downloadable service manual for the T56 that will show you how to troubleshoot and rebuild it (search this site or CZ28.com for links or I can Email it to you but it is 1.65MB, .pdf file.....). If shifting is the only issue a fresh set of synchros and fork pads will do wonders. Take it a step further and upgrade the shift fork to an iron one and it will be pretty much bulletproof for all but the nastiest engines. If you have bearing noise as well, a hydraulic press will be a good idea since the bearings will need to be pressed on and off, but it all can still be done by even a novice, IMO, if you do some research on it and read before you wrench.

 

Because double clutching on a downshift matches the shaft/gear speeds faster and easier then letting the syncro do all the work.

RBob.

 

Is that so? I know nothin about this kind of tranny stuff.

 

Why would you do that when you can bring the revs up by useing the throttle, ( just like you do on a motorcycle )

Also ... by the time I " double shift " the revs have already dropped out of the power range ( let alone the same speed as the other part you are trying to match the speed to ). I see no advantage to this double clutching action . .... or maybe its just in road raceing .
NAwwwww .... it takes too much time ( thats what synchrps are for
)

 

Hey, sorry i don't have the answer to your problem but maybe you have the answer to mine. I put a t56 in my 91RS used to be a T5, and I'm having a problem with my clutch line. Its too short for the slave cylinder to reach the tranny. I've been looking for an aftermarket line that can hook right up to the slave and master but have yet to find anything. How did you solve this problem? Please any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Double clutching is useless. It's called heel-toe folks .

 

Sounds like you are trying to reuse your T5 hydralics instead of using the appropriate T56 hydralics. You can by the T56 hydralics new from GM for around $130.

 

I just picked up a Centerforce Dual Friction Clutch/Pressure plate for a 93-97 T-56 Tranny. supposedly they sell for like $500 new. I Dont even have the tranny, but does anyone have any idea what one of these would cost?

 

I think I'll go with SPOHN for the T56. Theirs cost little more but they have everything you need for the swap even the shorter driveshaft. A Buddy just did his for about $2600.00 I believe. It bolted right up without ANY problems. Just MO...

 

Spohn sells T-56's? are they rebuilt or stock replacment with miles?

 

A GM aftermarket replacement T-56 six speed transmission designed to replace the T-5 five speed in the 1982-1992 F-Body. Check out www.spohn.net for the rest of the details and other MODs. It sells for $2295.00. I plan to sell my T-5 when I purchase the T-56. My T-5 shifts perfect. It'll just be ripped to shredds behind the ZZ4 I'll be installing...

 

is that tremec better than the stock T-56? or is it the same thing, except rebuilt as opposed to with miles.

 

I understand it to be and upgraded version of a stock T-56.

 

Different gear ratios and modded to work with a T5 clutch - yes. Upgraded in relation to a 4th gen T56 - no.

 

It's a known fact the the stock t-56 hydraulics have a restriction in line to keep the chatter down. However it causes a problem when tryig to shift quickly. GMHTP did an article where they found the obstruction and drilled it out and it worked perfectly. Or you could go with a hydraulic throw out bearing and ditch the fork entirely..................