Al Cody

I'm having a strange glitch with first to second shifts. I very occasionally get a grinder when the car is cold, first mile or so. Only first up to second. Yesterday, for the first time, it happened after the gearbox was well warmed up. Departing a light quickly it seemed to miss the syncros while shifting up to second. Hasn't happened since. I use a pretty light hand shifting, generally with a pause feeling it into the next gear. I have absolutely no problem downshifting into second.
I may have shifted too quick.
Are my syncros going? did I hit a worn out spot in the ring? If the shift linkage is worn or out of alignment can it cause the gears to grind?
I sometimes think the shift lever comes back a bit more in the center.
Has anybody taken their gearbox apart and done the syncro rings?
Thanks.

Al Cody

okay, no syncro experts in the audiance.
Any ideas on how much a rebuilt trans is likly to run?
I once saw an ad for a trans rebuild shop in Seattle. Does anyone have their name and address?
Thanks. <img src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" border="0" alt="[cheers]" />

rfuerst

I think you are jumping to conclusions asking about a rebuilt trans.How many miles are on the car?Has the tranny had any work before?When was the last time the fluid was replaced?This will help with knowing what to do next. <img src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" border="0" alt="[cheers]" />

Tabor

Bad linkage can make worn synchros worse.

ERAU-944

Have an 83 944 with 26,000 on it... had same symptoms around 20,000 a year or two back... changed to SWEPCO and now its SMOOOOOOOTH <img src="graemlins/burnout.gif" border="0" alt="[burnout]" /> give that a try first, its alot cheaper than trans rebuild, and it probably needs to be done. also, get a gas mask, changing the gear oil in my 84 with 73K on the car... the old oil smelled like NASTY ROTTEN EGGS... so make sure you have protection. good luck!

Michael Stephenson

Check the play at the peddle. There is supposed to be about 8mm. My car starts off with about 1/2" play and after a few gear changes it has almost no play (I guess there is still some air in the lines).

You adjust it inside the car with a 10mm wrench and another wrench close to that size. You have to get upside down to get to the adjuster and you will need a flash-light as well.

Anyway, I found that getting out as much play as possible really helped my grinding problem.

Dave in Chicago

Clutch adjustment suggestion is the first stop as noted above.

Beyond that... Shift lever can be a bad actor here too. The lever pin that attaches to the shift rod (black rod goint back to trans) wears. That and the little plastic pivot underneath it (mine was in pieces) will change the lever angles. These two things caused my e-ring to pop out (kinda disturbing when you're driving and the shifter disengages altogether).

Mine still balks a bit into 2nd when cold, so I double clutch until warm in the winter. I figure I can live with that quirk in a car that has 136k miles.

I too just replaced fluid with the Swepco 201. Seems to work pretty good. If you go in there and take the shift lever out, do yourself a favor and find one of similar size at a hardware store and toss it in the glovebox. If they fall off, it's a .30 part keeping you from getting back home (really frustrating).

Keep the shiny side up,

Al Cody

Thanks guys. Good ideas. The gearlube is fresh. Quakerstate for Limited slip. I've tried a few and most cause the LSD to grab at low speeds. I'll have to find some Swepco, not common in my area. The transmission was chaged out for a used unit by the p/o. I don't know the milage. It shifts great when warm (with the above exception) but, (seems to be normal) stiff when cold. Synthetic helped, but didn't work for the LSD.
I changed out the master and slave a few months back along with a complete change and bleed of the brake fluid. The clutch works as it should and the pedel play is about 8mm as the manual calls for. I think I can rule out a clutch problem.
The shifter is a mystery. That is probably what I should go after next. I will also try the Swepco. I'm thinking the syncros may need a bit more friction to function well.
Is the up shift syncro different than the downshift syncro for 2nd gear? It down shifts great, never have a problem.
I'm not in a big hurry to rebuild the transmission. This one works. Guess I'll have to give up racing Camaros out of lights. It would be nice to have a slick shifting tansmission.
<img src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" border="0" alt="[cheers]" />
Thanks again for the suggestions.

Dave in Chicago

Good thinking. These cars are really bad stop-light racers. You can flog them mercilessly all day at a race track, drive them harder than you've ever driven a car in your life, and pack your cooler up, put on the AC, pop in a CD and set the cruise for home.

That said, if you try to drop-clutch drag race these things, they will spit expensive trans and clutch jobs back at you. It's tough to resist the temptation, but very wise.

Now, if they wanna take a run at you when you're driving a 951 in 3rd gear... that's a different story...

Keep the shiny side up,

sm

If I adjust ALL the play out of the clutch pedal, would that be OK or would it be bad for the clutch?

By doing this, am I ensuring that the clutch is being *released* as much as possible? I want to do whatever is possible to prolong the life of my throwout bearing and clutch. It's starting to make funny grinding noises, and if adjusting out the play helps, I'm doing it...