I went to the track a couple weeks ago trying to sort out my launches with the 2 step and Et drags, and on the second run, i went down the track just fine, but when i went to downshift and make the turn on the return road, i couldn't get the tranny out of 4th gear. i physically had to pound on the shifter to get it out of gear. Then i couldn't get it to go into any gear. Finally after coming to stop i managed to muscle it into 1st gear, and then muscle it through the rest of the gears. After doing this a couple times, the tranny feels perfectly normal again. It shifts perfectly into every gear.

some more info,
the time before this at the track the car absolutely refused to go into 3rd gear on power shift. The only way it would go is if i granny shifted it.

I've also been hearing some strange noises coming from the tranny/clutch area when i slow down and then shift into neutral. it sounds like something is still spinning when my foot is on the clutch. Pumping the pedal usally solves this problem (i assume this is the throwout bearing sticking to shaft sleeve, i forgot to grease it last time i assembled everything, i suppose it could be the pilot bearing as well)

the problem seems to have gotten worse since i changed the fluid, it had valvoline synthetic atf in it, and i switched to mobil 1 synthetic atf.

Any thoughts or ideas on whats goin on here? Id rather not rebuild the tranny if i don't have to, are there any fixes to this? I'm gonna take the clutch assembly apart and replace both the pilot and throwout bearings, and possibly that slider sleeve the t/o bearing slides on, i know they splinter easy on ford t-5's, not sure if it's a problem with t56's as well...

Eric

 

your tranny is shot

 

it doesn't feel very shot. I've been driving it the last week and besides the clutch problems, it feels alright.

Eric

 

stuck in gear usually means bad synchros

or in this case since it is 4th gear i guess a bad pilot bearing can cause this also

 

can you explain that for me? why is 4th gear significant? a bad pilot bearing would make my life so much easier...

Eric

 

a bad pilot bearing will not let the input shaft run true
(like a bad wheel bearing, or any bearing for that matter)

the input shaft not running true causes eratic clutch problems because it can not fully disenage

4th gear is direct drive, 1:1 ratio

ehhhhhhh where is RB? he can explain this a little better

 

lol....i figured it was something to do with the 1:1 ratio....

i'm sure rb will chime in in the morning...thanks for the help

Eric

 

Yeah I can do that...

Sounds to me like a clutch problem, not a trans problem.

Check the pilot bushing / bearing. Sounds like it's seized to the trans clutch gear.

 

thanx RB, i thought you would be able to shed some light on this

 

and thanks again.

this is a suggestion i got from another board:

Well, I am glad someone else had the same problem I did. My sticking in 4th occurred on a hard shift from 3rd to 4th. Anyway, what I did was take my tranny out (had to do my clutch anyway) and took the front and back case covers off. Pretty simple to do and exposes everything except internal synchros.

What I found was a tremendous amount of aluminum shavings. I also found that a Yahoo that replaced my input shaft bearings let an old roller get caught on my magnet. Now, might this contamination have caused this? I have no idea. All bearings and teeth had normal wear.

Now since, I have had no problems and my tranny shifts better than before (wouldn't you if you were clean). I too run Mobile 1 and there is a difference from standard AFT as far as I can concerned.

My suggestion: drain your fluid and if you find aluminum shavings, take the tranny out and clean it.

possible?

Eric