manchesterbeast

Most of the time my t5 shifts pretty smoothly, but every now and then the shifter action gets stiff...

I experienced this pretty bad today in a parking lot. I backed up for a bit and then when I went to put it into first the shifter was stiff and didnt want to move. It was even stiff in neutral- tho I could let out the clutch. I couldnt even get it into first and had to take off in second gear.

After I got it moving the shifter lost its stiffness and went back to normal. Then later that day it happened again, in another parking lot! Damn.


Also I notice sometimes the shifter gets a bit stiff when Im shifting from second to third.


My questions are: What causes this? Is there any oil additive I can add to the fluid that might help? Or maybe a special shifting technique that could help?

Angelis83LT

well. you could put ATF into it. that is what GM puts in them now. As for the symptoms. could be a few things.. how old is the clutch? could be it is not disengaging fully all the time. could be a few other things which i am sure someone will chime in with. If it was just like 4-5 i would say it is a syncro.. but with it acting odd in everyinthing i would lean torwards a clutch disengagement issue.

manchesterbeast

AAAGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay that was sunday, now monday. Im driving to work as usual. shifters working good, most shifts are like butter, all is well..

then about 3/4 of the way to work, Im at a hill, traffic slows for the light, I put it into first, and as i let out the clutch and give a little gas- It goes THUNK!

My trannys blown!
I can put it in any gear but when I let out the clutch the engine still idyles. nothing happens. no power to the wheels. Giving it gas spins the trannys internals, i can hear them spinning in there, but no gears work. not even reverse!!!

I had to take the morning off work and get it towed home.

Im thinking its the trans, it's finally done. But when I take it apart I guess I'll look at the clutch too...

DAMN THIS IS AWFUL!!! JUST WHEN I GET THE ENGINE RUNNING GOOD THE TRANS HAS TO GO!!!!! AAAGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SO HURTING!!!

Angelis83LT

oh wow.. yea.. if the clutch engages and things spin inside that i not good.. At least it is cheaper to rebuild than a 700r4 lol.. well most times lol. And a bit easier to do.

JAYDUBB

Does the speedometer show anything when you let the clutch out while its in gear? Do you hear any funny noises when you let the clutch out while its in gear? If you do see the speedometer move... It MAY be the rear diff!

manchesterbeast

Okay I got home from work.

First thing I do is take the top filler plug off. (the one you fill the tranny with)
right away a bit of fluid came out so I know there was still some there. I sort of half thought maybe it all leaked out or something but that is not the case.

Also Ive noticed that some gears still work. When I ease the clutch out in 3rd 4th or 5th I can feel it try to move. But all the other gears are gone. I can especially hear the tranny internals spinning when its in reverse.

Im gonna be taking it out and getting it rebuilt. I wanted to start now but my friend borrowed my tools. dammit!

Angelis83LT

yea you can get them completely rebilt with better gears and shafts and shift forks and such.. really beef it up to add to the longevity of it. I get to take the tail shouing off mine to fix a speedo problem (need to replace the speedo gear on the output shaft as it is severaly work i guess as the speedo bounces like a madman on crack. (I have a digital guage and i knoew that is not the problem. it is definitely in the trans as i have replaced the speedo side gear in a brand new sending unit.) Hope that will not be hard.. going to try to do it with the trans in the car.

manchesterbeast

Well im commited to getting the transmish out at this point.

What do you think is easier? Taking the trans out by itself, from underneath? Or using a cherry picker and just taking the whole engine out with the tranny?

Im kinda leaning more toward taking the whole thing out. It would be a good time to change the header bolts, for ones that wont rust. and maybe paint the engine.

91rangerturbo

I would say the easiest would be to pull the tranny out by itself from underneath with the car on jack stands.

But if i was you and did not need the car asap. then i would pull the motor and clean up some wiring and do some painting on the engine and engine bay.

Angelis83LT

ye. taking the tranny out is only about a 30 - 40 minute job if pulled by iteself.... but also like the previous person said if you do not ned the car right away pulling it all and painting it, replaceing bolts, and cleaning up the engine bay may be worth the extra hassle

manchesterbeast

Well I got the transmission out from underneath.....

The engine is still in there at the moment. I might still take it out, as said before it would be nice to change out those header bolts.

While the TA's off the road Im driving my girl friend's pontiac firefly to work. It's so gutless compared to the TA, (still better than walking tho) but you can see, it'd be nice to get the TA back on the road ASAP...

92rs85berlintta

iTrader: (1)

Sounds like the roll pin inside your shifter housing is backing out on you. Take the shifter out and check for anything that looks out of place.

manchesterbeast

I had to take the shifter off to get the transmission out. I didnt notice anything unusual.

Tell me more about this roll pin...

Ive focused alot on the engine, and havnt spent much time or effort on the tranny. (other than fluid changes) So i've got some stuff to learn here.

92rs85berlintta

iTrader: (1)

Let me see if i can find you an exploded view somwere. Its hard to explain but Its a pin that holds the square shaped metal object to the shaft that goes into the tranny.

manchesterbeast

i found an exploded view here: T5tech1

the roll pin looks like probably the smallest part there. Im gonna go back to my trans and take another look.

manchesterbeast

So i went back and checked for the roll pin. its not exactly a pin. more like a little metal tube with a seam, but it seems to be in there.

I was playing with the shifter and the mechanism underneath it and managed to get the tranny into 2nd and reverse. its weird because sometimes reverse will work and other times not. still couldnt get it into 1st tho.

92rs85berlintta

iTrader: (1)

how does 12 and 15 look? are they worn out at all? you should be able to see whats causeing it by moving it and watching close. If everything is normal i think your troubles are much bigger.

manchesterbeast

yea they look good. 15 is a flimsy piece of plastic, but its in working order. Im thinking I need to get this baby rebuilt. I'll be getting stronger gears put in , I wanna beef it up as much as possible.

92rs85berlintta

iTrader: (1)

ditch the t5 if your upgrading. 2000$ for a t5 kit with no warantee is stupid plus you can get a t56 6 speed for cheap enough and slap it to your t5 clutch parts all for under a grand. better milage and of course strength not to mention the WOW factor. LOL

redbird8628

iTrader: (1)

check your shifter forks, they move the snycros and can break easily if shifted too hard, this happened to me..one broke and was crooked on the synro and the shaft(23) they're connected to. just over 20.00 to fix if thats the problem.

manchesterbeast

$2000 for a T5 is stupid. I agree 100%. I was quoted $280Labour + parT$ to rebuild mine. I had a set aside a $500 budget for tires, but now it looks like Im gonna have to spend it on the tranny. A T56 would be sweet, but it's out of my price range at the moment.

92rs85berlintta

iTrader: (1)

is your t5 a nwc or wc? im sellin my old wc t5 if your interested. it works but could use a freshen up. check out the classifieds if your interested.

manchesterbeast

i think its non world class, but I just assumed that because its an 85. whats a good way to tell them apart?

92rs85berlintta

iTrader: (1)

yea if its original its a nwc. you can find the date stamped into them on them somewere. It will be the year 85 if its original meaning its the nwc.