aatrain

This thing has eaten my lunch on several days- iguess the one thing that I'm taking from this is to slow down and think more analytically about how the parts move, as opposed to just how they fit... The other good news is there were no pieces left over...

Answered my own question- will leave it up so that anyone else who might need it can get it. (shifter lever installed on bellhousing) Pull up on th uppermost fork til it goes into gear and stays up. (first gear?) As you prepare to lower the housing over the shifters, hold the shifter back and left. Lower the housing until you're able to get that shifter between the (engaged) fork. Make sure the end of the shifter rod goes in that little hole where it goes. Shift into neutral and it seats where it should. That's how I did it. I'm no mechanic....

(78 zcar 5 speed that im putting in my maxima)I'm putting my tranny back together after a long battle. What's the trick to putting the rear bellhousing back on so that the shifter goes between the forks properly... Or is it a wiggle it and try again? Is there a way the forks need to be (other than neutral) to get this done? Seemed like a pretty straight forward deal, and I've done it before- but I'm having some (more) trouble with this one...

Ended up being the output shaft seal. Huh? Yeah, the output shaft seal. It had failed and leaked enough oil to let it get hot enough to shellac the 5th/reverse gears enough to keep it from going into reverse. I fought with it for 4 or 5 hours before soaking it in wd40 and desiel out of desperation. I just couldn't see anything wrong and didn't want to break the shafts down. But it finally loosened up after a good cleaning and some ball peen persuasion. I was just about to say to hell with it.

Thanks for all the input. It's still under investigation- I'm going to pull it again after I get my buddy to have a look. I'll post the autopsy report when we finish up...

The tranny stayed on the floor on the jack for the most part. It tilted a bit fore and aft and was rocked side to side- but nothing extreme, no jarring , etc. I was trying to do it without draining the oil-

Yeah- forgot to mention the tranny wasn't stock. That's wierd. Reverse was working fine before. Super frustrating. I really don't want to have to find, retrieve, and install another one. I really like this car deep down- despite the trouble it gives me.

Ok- test drive- it all works properly, except reverse. AND it is kicking it it out of fifth gear at speed when I apply clutch. Is that too indicative of the check sleeve?

I took a look from beneath this morning. Wasn't able to see or feel the reverse check, I just couldn't find it. But that has to be it- it feels like there is something in there blocking me from shifting into reverse. But I don't know how I could have damaged it. One more piece to the puzzle- this transmission is from a 78 z car. Don't know if that's worth a mention or not as far as this problem is concerned.

Even after going into first- it still won't budge into reverse. And I've learned that the "dont force it, get a bigger hammer " rule can cause some problems here. I'm going to check that sleeve, although I can't see how I could have bunged it up on this installation. I didn't mess with it, and don't remember hitting it when I brought it out or put it back. But I do remember it binding on the drivers side against the exhaust when I was raising it with the jack... Didn't really think anything of it at the time.

82 Maxima again. Put a new clutch kit, master and slave in; now I have no reverse. Can't even put it in reverse with the engine off. Other than that, everything works/shifts fine. What did I knock out of whack? That little doodad on the side of the tranny when I lowered it out? (And Mike- I put the maxima kit in rather than the other, and it looked a little puny compared to the springs of even the old plate that came out of it. Probably end up putting a new one in in a year.)

I'm selling my 82 auto 210 with everything to do a 5 speed mpg swap. I listed it on craigslist kind of high, but I'd like tO trade it for some work on my maxima, also an 82. Here's the link- http://killeen.craigslist.org/cto/2523385401.html Anybody in central Texas that might be interested, give me a hollar. I'll separate the car and the tranny swap, btw. Make me an offer...

Car washes hate me too. Been caught a few times degreasing transmissions and mc engines. They see me coming. Dry ice...great idea. Same principle- drive off any oxygen, can't have an explosion. My Neanderthal brain can get that, but yeah, it's still stinking scary. I might be a little more comfortable on the next one. We'll see.

Welded up a hole in my maxima gas tank today. This was kind of a scary process considering all the horror stories I've heard about welders blowing themselves up doing the exact job... FYI- So here's what I did and had no problems. In order to drive off all the oxygen and prevent an explosion, we used argon from the mig and torch welded the hole. First - emptied the tank and plugged up all of the openings and hoses with stoppers of all sorts: bolts, corks and sticks- whatever made a decent seal. Plugged everything tight except one hose that fit snug over the brass nipPle on the end of the argon hose. Started up the argon and let it run for a while til the the gas smell coming out of the hole died a little. Then unplugged one of the hoses on the bottom to vent exces argon that direction so it wouldn't blow holes in my weld- then braised up the hole. Kept argon running during the weld and afterwards until the metal cooled a bit. It worked. No explosion. Hole plugged, and no water in the fuel. That was not a job that I enjoyed, just because of the potential for Explosion kept me from relaxing at any point. I know there are other ways to do this, and I'm hoping we can get some more posted up and some more qualified people than I posting some of the dos and don'ts of welding up fuel tanks for future reference.

Well I went to Burleson to get a 5 speed from a 78 z. 2 hour drive each way, got home at 2 am. Had a long day swapping out transmission and fixing a hole in my gas tank. Another topic on that... It was really freaking hot, and I did the swap without a lift, in true redneck fashion and my kiddos wanted to go swimping with all the hipsters at Barton Springs, so we quit and went swimming... Anyhow- add gear oil and gas in the morning and see how I did. Thanks for all the info on compatibility, etc...