Yep, opened it up and i heard a bunch of little metal bits fall out
i look and i see i have what looks to be bits of a ring of some sort
i pull off the top cover and I felt so proud, never had i looked in a t5 before in my life but I was right about the shift fork being broken.. the edge that hangs down onto whatever it is it moves there in the tranny, which is like a ring all broke off clean
the 1/2 shift fork had two little green plastic tangs on there that were pretty dead too

ok, now what... there were metal bits in the tranny tailshaft, and its not all of themetal bits, i can only assume there are more in the bottom of the main case

also, im looking and i see alot of syncro lookin things and they all look fine i guess
nothing looks cracked or broken or worn down
what should i look for? what i see is a gear, and that thing the shift fork goes on and then two little rings with pointy teeth one bigger one smaller
the teeth arent pointy like a nail but look somewhat pointy allthough the tips of them are all flat
they all look the same, it looks like it was meant to look that way

am i looking at the mwrong?

how do i go about getting the rest of the metal bits out of the case, and can i just purchase those little plastic peices for the shift forks seperately?

just give me your thoughts T5 experts


Pablo

 

ooh i just played with it some

apparently that ring must be part of the syncro i moved it and it slides back and forth i guess thats what happens when you switch gears.. under it was another set of teeth
all the sets of teeth look good they actually have a machined finish on all the tops

 

One thing at at a time:

• The little green plastic things are what makes the shifter feel tight. Accumulate all the good ones you can, and put them into the trans you end up using. You can, or at least could at one time, get them from Chevrolet for a dollar or 2 apiece. There's a total of 9 in the trans.
• put some diesel fuel in the case (maybe a cup or so) and let it sit in there for a while; turn it upside down and let all that run out, hopefully most of the blitzed pieces will dump out too; then take some Gunk Engine Brite or the Auto Zone or other equivalent (diesel fuel in a spray can, all of them, smell them to make sure) and wash the inside of the case and the tail housing out real good. Wash the countergear bearings out as well as you can; feel free to pour more diesle in there, and work it into the front CG bearing especially, and flush it out with more of the spray-can stuff using the pressure to dislodge whatever you can.
• Turn the clutch gear and countergear by hand and feel for any roughness in the CG bearings. You can tell better by ear maybe. Knowing which direction the engine rotates, inspec that side of the clutch gear and the mating surface of the counter gear teeth for any signs of wear. Use a magnifier and a bright light. If you can't see the factory's grinding marks on the teeth all the way from top to bottom, the gear is suspect.
• Synchros rarely go bad. I wouldn't worry about them at this point.
• If there is any sign on the exterior of the case that the front CG bearing has been leaking, it won't last long no matter what you do. You can spend $1000 and replace every single gear, shaft and soft part in there, but if the bearing leaks, it will not last 5000 miles before it will be noisy again; and of course you'll be putting fluid in it every few hundred miles, and if it runs dry once even that won't keep it on the road.
• Bolt the ext housing back on; if the clutch gear and the mainshaft are tight against each other, that's a good sign.

Post again when you've got everything cleaned up and you're ready to reassemble it, and I'll walk you through that. THe biggest fun is getting the shift fork stuff and the rail and all that to go back together, and mate to the trans innards.

------------------
"So many Mustangs, so little time..."
ICON Motorsports

[This message has been edited by RB83L69 (edited February 24, 2001).]

 

RB you're the best man! Lemme study the diagram in chiltons to get acquainted with all the parts you speak of and then ill get back to you
Im assuming however, that i will not need to dissasemble anything further from this point on, and that i can just spray gunk into the case and basically clean out the case with all the innards still unmolested

This transmission was the one from the 84 which did not leak, and was full of fluid (actually had gear oil)

the one in my 89 is the one that leaks and is somewhat hard to shift
Id swap the tranny in the 84 to the 89 (the 89 is the fast car) if i can be sure it will be slicker shifting. I cant mix and match between the two because i need two working transmissions, id rather just go to the salvage yard and grab a used shift fork to put in this tranny to repair it
just wanted to clarify

 

OK rB, i cleaned it out and got many little bits of metal to come out, i doused the whole thing with degreaser, and sprayed directly into the countershaft bearing up front (small gap between the front gear and that bearing i cant even see the bearing just spraying into the gap)
I looked at the clutch gear (big gear in the middle on the top , right?)
looked for the factory machining marks.. and the gear is worn i can tell because the machining marks are faint, but they are there. they are just slightly lighter than the other side of the tooth (the side opposite of rotation) I havent inspected the gear all the way around though.

everything seems to turn smoothly. im gonna turn the clutchgear to spin just the countershaft now and see what happens
BTW should i rinse out the degreaser or just do what ive been doing which is been pouring it out to get whatever crap is still in there and just leave the degreaser alone.. i take it water in the case would be a bad thing?

its kinda hard to tell if this tranny has been leaking since the rear main on the motor it was bolted to leaked
however, the tranny was full of fluid that wasnt new so I assume it didnt leak


thanks alot

 

The clutch gear is the one that is attached to the clutch, i.e. the input shaft, it's the frontmost one of the top row. As long as it and the countergear teeth that it mates to are in good shape, then the rest of it is probably good too. The fact that it didn't leak is excellent.

You can clean the rest of the diesel out with some spray carb cleaner or lacquer thinner if you want to, and spray the gears down with WD-40 or something to keep stuff from rusting. Water int eh case is definitely not good with all the gears still in there, although I use the quarter car wash to clean cases after they're stripped out.

If it turns smooth, no roaring noise when you just spin it, then it's probably OK. All you need is the shift fork situation taken care of and you should be good to go. You can put a clutch disc on it to get some good spinning action.

Now would be the time to figure out about speedo gears.

------------------
"So many Mustangs, so little time..."
ICON Motorsports

 

ok RB, im gonna check that one now

i move it around and it seems to move smoothly but sometimes doesnt i think its because the mainshaft isnt really held down and the rear bearing can move around too much
other than that theres no obvious roughness

hey if you have icq , would you mind if i bugged you some more? my number is 11291690

this thing is mind bending i sat there for like 20 mins just trying to figure out how the hell it works.. i have a vague idea now but still doesnt seem right

btw the first gear in the front seemed to be in great shape, the gear i was looking at that didnt look so good, a little worn, was the third gear back

 

ok i inspected the first gear.. it doesnt look so great

its got an almost polished look to it i can just barely make out a machined finish on the ends but toward the bottom and middle of the tooth i dont really see a machined finish, the gear it mates to on the countershaft looks about the same
now what?

im guessing this tranny is better than the one in my car because it doesnt leak

 

Pablo, i have an extra trans top cover with the shift rod and forks in it. It has a crack in the cover but the parts are fine. If yo cant find one, let me know.
Also, if you decide to completely disassemble the trans, a great way to clean the parts is the dish washer (as long as the woman of the house is far away!). The heat, steam soap and pressure really do a job for a final cleaning. Just blow everything dry and oil the ferrous parts afterwards.
merf23@yahoo.com

 

hehe merf thats a good idea
thanks for letting me know about your spare parts.. i think i can find em here though easily (i know a place)

from my description, does this tranny sound like something i should swap into my car that has a tranny that currently has no fluid?
anything else i should be looking at?

 

This tranny certainly sounds better than the leaking one. If it were me, id pull the mainshaft and countershaft out of the main case and clean/inspect, just to be safe.
I had to drive from Boston to connecticut in my 3rd gen in a G--D--- blizzard 2 winters ago in 4th gear(broken countershaft)...someone elses rebuild before i bought the car. Its easier to do it right the first time and cheaper than a tow truck.

------------------
1984 L69, IROC look, tangerine orange
305 from 87 IROC, tossed peanut cam,
replaced with LT1 cam.
Uses gas as fast as i can pump it!

 

what kind of inspection are we talking about? measuring clearances and what not?
will i need any special tools?

my sticking point is tools
i can do anything with the right tools, ill tackle any job
but damn cars need more than a few tools and tools are expensive

 

Yeah, id make sure that there isnt a sliver of shift fork clogging a lubrication hole in a gear or something like that. Its unlikely, but since youve got the thing out of the car and apart, its not that much more work to inspect it.
The mainshaft is easy to remove. The countershaft is a little trickier. I use about a 1' piece of broom handle and tap the countershaft out the rear of the case...take your time and go easy. RB may have a better way(?)
Each gear on the mainshaft has an oil hole at the base which should be free of debris. There is also a magnet in the bottom which should be cleaned.