All right, so the other night I take the car out for spin after about a 2 week absence from driving it. Everything felt fine at first but after about 10 minutes things went downhill. I started to get an on and off whine while decelerating in 3rd, and I was having trouble shifting into 4th. At a stop if I put it into first using any type of force I would hear a whining/light grinding noise that would continue a few seconds after I pulled it out of first with the clutch disengaged. The fluid level is fine, and the trans has about 5k miles on a rebuild. I took it out before for a short spin and everything seemed ok. I know its not going to last that long behind my combo but is it really going now?

 

Sounds more like a clutch/throwout bearing problem. How new is that stuff?

Also, have you checked the rear end out? I would pull the cover and see what's going on inside. I'll bet that's where your problem lies. Often noises from the rear are transmitted through the torque arm to the trans and what you think is a trans noise is really a rearn end noise.

 

Clutch, t.o. bearing and everything with the tranny and engine have about 5K miles one them. Maybe 2-2 1/2 years of use. When I get a chance I'm going to check the t.o. bearing and clutch. Thanks.

 

Yeah, typically problems with 4th gear (direct drive) are related to things other than the trans. You could probably still grab 4th gear even if the synchros were totally ruined. The reason I said look at the t.o. bearing (and check the pilot bushing/bearing too) is that these things affect the ability of the sliding sleeve to couple the input shaft and the mainshaft (if there's any missalignment), since that's how you get direct drive.

Another thing that I just thought of is check the rear bearing retainer on the trans. It's cast iron on GM T5s, which is better than the aluminum ones Ford used, but still not as good as steel. Often I've found that these retainers are scored deeply, which can affect clutch action. They are $45 new, and easily replaced. The input shaft might also be worn on the pilot bushing end, which can create slop, so I'd check this too. New input shafts are $120 I think (I haven't bought one seperately in so long I can't remember, typically I get them with a set of super alloy gears for $450 as a package). The input is easily replaced too.

Let me know how you make out.