I am almost done with my t5 swap and i dont want any loose ends. Is the reverse lock out on a WC T5 a mechanical setup within the tranny? or are there wires i need to route somewhere?

 

The reverse lockout is an owner installed option. It's biological, and is usually mounted between the driver's seat and the steering wheel.

 

gosh... i just asked an honest question... I dont want to try to shift into 6th gear and discover Its really reverse. (i can be a putz somtimes) All you had to say was the tranny is built to prevent itself from shifting into reverse while moving forward.

 

I thought the way RB said it was funnier.....

 

Well that's just it; it's not It relies on the driver for that.

 

Think he meant T56? cuz he said "6th gear" and "reverse lockout". I've never driven a T56 car, but I've driven a million 6 spd vettes. Which have reverse lockout.

Do the T56's ?

-- Joe

 

Either that, or he will be very disapointed when he tries to hit 6th gear with his WC-T5

 

i was refering to the 6th gear because i am a putz and for some reason at times i think there is a 6th gear in the 5 speed on my truck. I just am glad it wont let me shift into reverse easily so i dont die. And when I say "mechanical mechanism" i mean.... is the trans built in a way so it will prevent me from easily shifting into reverse while i am cruising like how it prevents someone from shifting into 1st easily while cruising at higher speed. I am asume that it is. If it were entirely up to the driver to not shift into reverse, we would have alot of moments of stupidity around here.

 

How can I put this delicately without being offensive, for the 3rd time....

There is NO SUCH MECHANISM. No manual transmission had any such thing, until quite recently. The T-56 is the first one I ever ran across in all my days.

ALL manual transmissions for the last 100 years have lacked any such mechanism for protecting themselves from driver error.

Furthermore, there is NO SUCH THING as the transmission "preventing" you from shifting it into 1st gear at cruising speed. If you hold the synchro together for long enough, eventually it WILL speed the clutch disc up to 8000 RPM or whatever it would take, if the disc doesn't explode first and cut your feet off; and then it would go into gear.

Now granted, I've only been driving stick shift cars for .... well, since long before the T-5 was even thought of, let alone the T-56; so lack of that ultra-modern convenience feature doesn't bother me. In fact, I now have a T-56 in my car, and since the car has no provision for all of that, it's removed from the transmission.

So, let me assure you, it IS in fact entirely up to the driver not to shift into reverse, or 1st, or any other inappropriate gear, while travelling at speed; and it always has been, in every transmission model, in every brand of car from every mfr, until the last 10 or 15 years. And yes, there have been lots of moments of stupidity around here (and elsewhere) involving that.

 

Ugg... I never said it TOTALLY locked out down shifting. I just ment due to the way it was designed it makes it HARD to shift into a gear that you shouldnt shift into. The only thing I was scared of was shifting into reverse at cruise speed beeing as easy as the 1-2 shift. I am sorry, I dont have the emense knowledge that you posess about this stuff. Thats why I am here.... to learn

That being said... I got the answer I needed. thank you

 

If you have a T56, you don't have to worry about shifting into reverse on accident since it takes a lot of force to push the shifter over enough to get it to reverse.

probably the easiest way to wire up the lockout solenoid is to use a push botton somewhere on the dash, or just wire it up to the brake switch.

 

I think you're wanting something to exist, that simply doesn't. Judging by where your question started out, about reverse lockout on a T-5 (which doesn't exist), through all of this "what I mean is" and "I never said" stuff, you are somehow under the impression that there's something in the transmission that you can "wire" to "lockout" reverse. I'm trying to tell you, there isn't. I'm not trying to be a jerkor anything, just telling it like it is.

There's not even anything about a manual transmission that makes it "hard to shift" into a wrong gear, except normal bearing friction, and inertia. Nothing whatsoever. I don't know how I can say this any more clearly. No attempt was made in the design to prevent that, or even make it more difficult. In fact the designers have gone to a great deal of trouble over the years to make it EASIER to put the transmission into any gear at any time, should the driver so desire. That's why we call it a MANUAL transmission. It's totally driver-controlled.

I don't know how I can make this any clearer. The gears and other parts are just kind of there, and they go into whatever one you put the shifter into. The only thing that makes it "hard" to put it into some ridiculously wrong gear, is that you have to get everything in front of the mainshaft (which consists of whatever gear you're trying to put it into, the countergear, the clutch gear, and THE CLUTCH DISC) up to whatever RPM the engine would be at in the ridiculously wrong gear. That means, if you're driving down the road at some kind of highway speed, and you try to put the trans into (let's say) 1st, you might have to get the clutch disc (a big, heavy, large-diameter thing with all kinds of inertia) up to 8000 or 9000 RPM. It takes ALOT of energy to do that. You have to force that much energy into all those parts to get them spinning at that rate, by using the shifter to hold the synchro up against the gear surface, until the speed equalizes at whatever enormous speed things would have to be going at (assuming the clutch disc doesn't explode first). That's the only thing that makes it "hard to shift" into a wrong gear.

And in a T-5 (or any other manual trans before the 90s, for that matter), there's not even a synchro on reverse AT ALL. Which means, if you're driving down the highway and you try to shift it into reverse, the edges of the teeth are going to just grind themselves to powder against each other. There's nothing to stop that from happening. They make the shifters for most transmissions from about 4-speed age (1960 or so) on up, to have some sort of a detent to warn the driver, and to keep him/her from accidentally doing that; but there's nothing that "makes it hard" to screw up that way, beyond that.

Incidentally, I've exploded a clutch disc from excessive RPMs before, in a 4-speed car, back in the mid 70s. I was extremely stupid and over-revved a motor I had back then, thinking it was cool or something. Well fortunately, the shrapnel from the disc coming to shreds, all went DOWNWARDS, instead of through the floorboards; although one piece did hit the trans tunnel, and put quite a can-opener-looking crease in the floor right behind the gas pedal. It missed my foot by probably less than 1/16", all told. Needless to say, the bell housing was COMPLETELY destroyed. Luckily however I still have my feet .... some people aren't so fortunate. Someone must have been looking out for me.

 

The initial question was asking about a an reverse lockout and a T-5. I didnt know when i post the question that there was none. I FIGURED OUT THERE IS NOT ONE AFTER YOUR 1ST POST.
question answered

Maybe I am getting a little confused because I am comparing to the 5 speed in my 2000 sonoma. I know how it feels when I acidently try to downshift into 1st instead of 3rd. It doesnt want to go, but If i force it it will go. (done it by mistake b4) same thing with 2nd instead of 4th. Just tell me that this dificulty to get into gear has nothing to do with any mechanism whatsoever and that will be a major piece of mind.

I am in no way trying to tell you there is anything within my WC T5 to limit shifting, I am just trying to get an idea on how it will act compaired to the 5 speed in my truck.

 

Yup, no mechanism. Just the inherent nature of a manual trans.

AFAIK your S truck has a T-5 too. I could be wrong about that though, but I think that's what it still is. So your Camaro should act pretty much about the same.

 

There might not be none for a 5-speed but on our 67 Chevelle SS with a Muncie 4-speed and Muncie shifter there is a little handle on the shifter handle that you have to pull up to move the shifter into reverse. They had those for about 5 years or so and discontinued them.

 

Same deal on my buddies C4. Gotta pull up on a thing.

That is a heavy tranny though.

-- Joe