my buddy was running his 88 5.0 lx this weekend and broke the tranny. not sure what happened but 3rd and 4th are gone. any suggestions? can it be fixed or just buy a new tranny ?
sure it can be rebuilt for couple hundred+the time and labor to do it all summit and tons of other places sell t-5 re-build kits. Since t-5's drop dead like flies but since you got to do it any way i say spend some extra cash (if available) and do a g-force rebuild or a tremec TKO because it will more than likely happen again due to there weak internals (i have seen kids break them on a BONE!!!! stock 5.0)
does it pop out of gear or what?, I know somtimes the shifter forks just get bent or the plastic gaurds on the forks fall off and makes the gears not so precise so it will pop out of gear or grind, might not be as bad as you think, worse case senario is the gears have actually lost teeth or exploded or syncronizers are shot, in that case you could just get those replaced and have upgraded internals put in but they can be kinda pricey, so just get a t-56 an be able to hold about 500hp and have six speeds
I don't know how you feel about the DYI thing when it comes to gears, some people don't like the idea of working on transmissions. If the DYI transmission fix idea isn't something that you would rather leave to someone else, here are some resources:
A T5 rebuild kit with syncros, bearings and other small parts costs about $160. It does not include any gears or shafts.
Hanlon also has a video on how to rebuild your T5 or Tremec. If they are out of stock see http://cartapes.com. It costs less than $20, and is worth every penny of it.
I did a Tremec 3550 rebuild, and it wasn't that difficult. The video was an immense help, and I would recommend viewing it. At $20, it will give you an opportunity to look and decide for yourself if you think that it is something you want to try to do.
The tricky part is that you will need some shims to adjust the endplay in the two shafts. The new bearings will change the clearance, and there is no way of telling what it will be until you get to the point that it is time to measure and check the clearances. Halon has the individual shims if you can wait for them, but if you can't afford the wait, the auto parts store can sell you some shim stock and you can make your own, or have a machine shop make them for you. The shim stock comes in brass (easy to cut) and steel, in varying thicknesses.
Getting the car jacked up high enough to get the trans jack in and out from under the car was somewhat challenging. Since I didn't have a helper, getting the trans out of the car and back it was one of the more difficult things about the job. I built a trans jack out of 2x6's, some angle iron and a $25 floor jack. If I hadn't done that, I would have needed a helper or to rent a commercial trans jack. At 100+ pounds the Tremec 3550 was far too heavy for me to lift by myself.
i never had luck with T5s both mine broke. i went with a tremec 3550 and a c-4 in the other stang. no problems so far with either. i never did abuse the T5s and they still broke. Ive launched the tremec at 6000rpm on drag radials and broke the rear suspension mount. went with a SPEC clutch im very impressed with it also.
I haven't checked it my self but he says the engine runs free like in neutral. He didn't mention any grinding. I'll have to ask. Thanks for all the help !!
sounds like what mine did when my input shaft was chewed up. it also messed up the countershaft gear. i managed to jam it into 3rd gear and pull it up on the car trailer (because it had a 3.73 gear).