My transmission has become increasingly difficult to shift lately, even with the car turned off it is difficult to go through most of the gears (2nd - 5th). I had read alot on this forum about the subject and felt somewhat confident that my problem had to do with worn syncros, but now I'm not so sure after watching the video. I'm now thinking that some gears may also need replacing. Is there any way of diagnosing the problem without ripping anything apart? There isn't any unusual noise when I drive the car in gear, everything seems fine. It's just the engaging of the gear that gives me the problems.

Basically I am worried that my transmission could be beyond an economical rebuild. I have been looking around and it doesn't seem very easy to find a world class t5 for a v6.

What is a reasonable price for a rebuilt t5 or a low miles original, from what I have seen on this board it seems to be about $300. If this is so I would be willing to just buy a different tranni and throw it in.

Thanks for any help

 

Hard shifting in mulitple gears is ALMOST NEVER a transmission problem. The transmission is the victim, i.e. where the symptoms appear; NOT the cause.

The real cause of the symptoms is virtually always a clutch problem.

Try a new clutch, a good one from one of the name brand mfrs such as Ram, Centerforce, Spec, Hays, McLeod, etc.; NOT an Auto Zone special such as Cumberland, or a GM OEM. Make sure you put in a new pilot bearing and a good throwout, and assemble the throwout to the fork correctly.

It's very easy to find 2nd design 6-cyl transmissions, because nobody wants them. Try finding a V8 one sometime if you think a 6-cyl one is hard to find.

But you don't need to worry about the trans, it doesn't sound like. So none of that matters. You need a clutch.

 

Yes I do agree that my clutch probably needs replacing; I have been looking at the centerforce 1 clutch kit for my car.

But when the car is off isn't the clutch completely eliminated from the system and shouldn't I be able to freely shift through the gears without the clutch depressed?

The transmission is difficult to engage in gears even when the car is completely off. Wouldn't this indicate the transmission?

If I am wrong please correct me. Thanks

 

Let me turn that question around backwards on you:

If the engine is off and the car is sitting still, and nothing is spinning, then how can the transmission (or more specifically, the synchronizers) have any effect on shifting?

The answer is, it can't.

The reason it's hard to shift even with the engine off, is because the gear teeth never (or only very rarely, anyway) quite exactly line up with it just sitting there; and if the clutch doesn't disengage fully, then it's difficult for them to rotate the slight amount necessary to allow them to line up even with the engine off, because you're having to turn stuff inside there that little bit, against however much friction the clutch still has.

If the transmission whines, or makes rattling noises, or crashes one gear only, or doesn't push the car in one gear, or leaks, or something like that, then you might need trans work. Doesn't sound to me like you have any of that. You simply need a clutch.

 

I agree with you except for the fact that his rail may be binding, which is the same problem I had with my t-56 being a little jerky.

 

My bad, after watching the Hanlon video it seemed like it should shift through the gears easily, but this must have been because he lined everything up during the installation. As you can tell I am pretty new to repairing cars and I am learning as I go. The reason that I was suspecting the transmission is that I have had the same troubles in just second gear previously and everyone was saying that the 1st to 2nd syncro could be shot.

I figured that my clutch was going to need replacing down the road as well so I was thinking since I'm gonna have the transmission out during the clutch install I could rebuild the transmission while I was at it, if it was worthwhile to do so.

 

I'd leave the trans alone and swap the clutch, and go from there.

A trans R&R in one of these cars is about a 1½-2 hr job. So you're not really losing anything by just putting it back after you replace the clutch, and see what you've got.

Like I said, you don't have the symptoms of a bad trans, you have a bad clutch. I'd strongly recommend not fooling with the trans and wasting a couple of hundred dollars and taking the chance on screwing something up that there's nothing wrong with, based on the "customer complaint". Do the clutch, and then if it turns out that the trans really does have a problem, deal with it. I'm betting it won't.

 

Thanks a lot RB83L69, I appreciate the quick and informative responses that you gave me.
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