uh oh. 5 speed issues!

[Farmer Joe]

well the 5 speed in the kingcab has been giving me a few issues here lately. from the get go with this trans ive always had to hold it in reverse, and sometimes it feels like its gonna pop out of fifth (never does tho. phew lol). as of the last couple day though, when trying to use reverse, if i dont hold it in reverse really hard with the shifter, itll just pop out of reverse and grind it really bad.

 

so, heres where it gets worse. today i was trying to back out a spot that had a little bit of an incline against the truck and it just would not stay in reverse for the life of me. i wasnt trying to gring up reverse, but the weight of the truck and the torque applied kept pushing it out of gear. after one time that it ground, i then couldnt get it out of reverse. had to turn off the engine and work it out of reverse. i was able to get it out, but now when i try to go into 5th and reverse that part of the shift pattern is really stiff and is now difficult to get into gear.

 

so my question is, what happend inside the tranny? seems to me like i prolly bent the 5th and reverse shift fork. is that a possibility? would maybe refreshing the gear oil with some additives help calm the issue?

 

thanks

[Guest kamakazi620]

Sounds like REBUILD TIME!!!!!! Gears is TOAST!!!!!!

[datzenmike]

Oil won't fix this I'm afraid. If it's just the 5th/rev fork it can be replaced with a new one by just removing the tail shaft from the tranny.

 

Farmer Joe, nothing to loose trying this:

 

This isn't your tranny it's just for an example. In the picture below note that there are two parts, the front and the rear tail stock with through bolts sandwiching a 1 inch thick adapter plate between them. It's kind of rusty.

 

 

If you follow it down from the top there is a bolt just above the wires. That's the 1st/2nd shift rod interlock. Below it you will see two more closer together. The very bottom one is the 5th/Rev rod interlock. Below each bolt is a spring with a ball bearing below it. The spring pushes strongly against the steel ball and holds it tightly against the shift rod. Each of the shift rods has three small 'dimples' on it that the ball can drop into preventing the shift rod from easily moving forward or back. This prevents the shift fork from wandering out of the middle neutral position when any other shift rod is being used and rubbing the synchros.

 

You could remove the very bottom interlock, (5th/Rev) and see if the spring or ball is broken damaged or jammed. This might cause stiff shifting. If it's jammed, it might not allow rev to fully engage the two gears and it may pop out. With the interlock out see if the shift is not as stiff. I DO NOT ADVISE driving like this. Just try shifting with the engine off.

 

This is easy to do and check with the tranny in place. If the fork is bent and you have to take the tranny out, this interlock has to come off the shift rod anyway to retrieve the fork.

[Farmer Joe]

well poop...

 

ill check out that interlock, but the thing is, i still feel the click that it has when it goes into gear. there just alot of resistance while trying to get it in gear.

 

damn, i think its time for a z car trans.

 

what year and model had the really steep overdrvive?

[datzenmike]

Non turbo

 

'80 - 0.773

'80-'83 - 0.745

[Farmer Joe]

Non turbo

 

'80 - 0.773

'80-'83 - 0.745

 

 

are these transmissions going to be 31.5in long possibly? or are they going to be a longer variant?

 

lol maybe i should find a dogleg. id like the funky shift pattern.

[datzenmike]

The 280zx trannys are 31.5" and will 'drop in' your '77. A dogleg won't fit without a longer drive shaft and is a weaker tranny.

[Farmer Joe]

The 280zx trannys are 31.5" and will 'drop in' your '77. A dogleg won't fit without a longer drive shaft and is a weaker tranny.

 

ahh, well good info to know!

 

thanks a bunch mike!