3rd and 4th grind

spyder2455

Member
Nov 16, 2003
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Ok so my aod to T-5 swap is finally complete. I go to take her for a drive and as i go to slide it into 3rd gear it grinds and finally pops in with a little force; the same goes for fourth. Every other gear shifts smoothly which leads me to believe that it must be the synchronizer for third and fourth gear. Is there any possible way that my clutch cable might just need some adjusting? Another thought that i had about this situation is that possibly sense the clutch arm on a 4 cyl. pedal assembly is shorter, the clutch might not be disengaging all the way. But then again 1st, 2nd, and 5th gear all shift smoothly. Any ideas??? If someone does believe it is a bad synchronizer, how hard is that to replace? I've just completed this swap but i'm not afriad to pull the damn thing out again to get it running right. Any suggestions???
 
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sounds like bad syncro's.

about all you can do is have is rebuilt, either by yourself or a mechanic. i was quoted $700 for a rebuild. ALL i had wrong was a bad second gear syncro also and that was the quote from a respectable shop.

before you put too much money back into it, might be worth it to either buy a brand new transmission for 1000.

you checked the fluid level also? im assuming you just filled it though doing the swap.
 
yea the fluid is good... from what i've read 3rd and 4th gear share the same synchronizer so maybe it wouldnt be too expensive and not that much trouble to change it. Anyone with transmission rebuilding experience have any ideas??
 
im not sure what all is involved in a rebuild. i know its pretty technical if you don't know what your doing, and you need some special tools like a bearing compressor i believe. if you have a chilton manual, it covers rebuilding a transmission.

good luck with it :nice:
 
i guess the problem could be the clutch cable, but if it was, wouldn't the other gears grind as well? I hope the cab le just needs som adjusting, but i am afraid the synchro might be the true problem
 
I have had this exact same problem whenever I had my transmission rebuilt. I would have a grind whenever I put it into 4th gear unless I double clutched while going in and out of 4th gear. I took out the transmission and took it back to the original builder. He tore down it down and discovered that the 4th gear blocking ring was damaged. There is a little lip on this blocking ring that sometimes is either missing or maybe not cast correctly whenever they are made. This seems to be very rare occurance. This blocking ring is only about a 5 dollar part yet it is buried deep inside the tranny. It may be helpful to have the transmission went through and see if this blocking ring or maybe some other minor part is the problem before spending a lot of money on swapping trannies.
 
i understand a rebuild is most likely the answer to this problem however is it possible for only 3rd and 4th gear to grind because of an improperly adjusted clutch? keep in mind the rest of the gears shift fine and it is only with these two that i have to wait for the rpm's to reach the right point and then slide it into gear. what do ya'll think??
 
Sounds to me like the syncros...third in my T-5 has grinded ever since i've had the car and now that my clutch is going, i'm finally going to replace the whole deal. I thought about getting it rebuilt, but i decided that eventually i'm going to add more power, so any money i spend on fixing this trans is basically a waste as i'm going need it replaced eventually anyway.
 
damn 250 for a rebuild? that or anything near it is a steal i think.

just to give you an idea. you can get remanufactered t-5's with a 12k mile warranty for 600 dollars i believe. i paid 700 for a t5-z new with modified syncro's and overdrive.

there are pretty good deals out there, just have to be very careful who you buy from. i've been burned once.
 
I rebuilt my t5 a couple months ago but havnt put it in the car yet. I tore it all down and found all the pieces that were worn. the tape from hanlon motorsports is priceless. It helped soo much. The special tools you will need are a set off torx sockets, external and internal snap ring plyers, and access to a shop press. You WILL need this...i thought i would be able to get away without it but i def needed to go to my friends machince shop to use it 3 times. I put it all back together and everything shifts fine out of the car, no extra pieces, and too tell you the truth i actually enjoyed doing it...it was fun...nothing really got me stuck its just time consuming. I even got the cases powdercoated black while i had everything out of them. My advice is jump in and try and rebuild it with the video...im seventeen and have moderate experience and i did it without too many problems and without spending a ton. heres an idea of what i spent.
T5 - $80
rebuild kit - (national drivetrain) $150
2nd drive gear - $90
1-2 reverse slider - $36

Sorry for the long post and happy rebuilding :nice: