Odd T-5 Tranny Problem

[fivespeedstang]

I have a wierd problem , my car shifts smooth into every gear but when i get to 5th gear and run then down to 4th it wont let it go into any gear till i bump the shifter towards reverse (before it grinds) then it goes into any gear fine. Also if i shift into first while the car is rolling it wants to lock up the tranny untill i shift to reverse. this is wierd and i know of one other person that has the same problem. my clutch has 20,000 miles and is adjusted properly and i have a zoom clutch quadrant and firewall adjuster with an adjustable cable . anybody else heard of this problem. oh btw i even changed the fluid which was less than a year old and the tranny hasnt been in the car a year. i put mobile 1 mercon dexron III in it

 

[85 Coupe 5.0]

Let me get this straight.

You say the tranny locks up when you shift in from 5th to 4th and when you try and put it into 1st while the car is still rolling, and the only way to unlock it is to almost go into reverse?

and it doesn't do it when you downshift from 4th to 3rd, 3rd to 2nd?

Hit me up with some more info and we'll try and fix this.

 

[fivespeedstang]

the shifter gets really sticky after i come out of 5th and if i go to 1st after , like at a red light the shifter locks up and is really stiff and if i shift in to first while rolling the tranny locks up , to fix that i have to shift to reverse and back to 1st then i can go again, let me know if you need more info than that.

 

[85 Coupe 5.0]

It sounds to me like their might be something jamming up in the interlock portion of the tranny. The interlock is a series of metal gates that are located in the top portion of the tranny, more specifically the top cover lid of the the tranny on those T-5's.

But this problem is really hard to pin down, an inspection of the tranny internally might yield some more useful information at this point.

 

[five_o_stang]

I had a similar problem...and I figured out how to alleviate it on my car...maybe this will give you some ideas....

I have to press my clutch ALL the way to the floor for it to disengage to begin with..even just a little more carpet besides my mat and it won't fully disengage...

Sometimes...when I press it down...it won't go into first (no grind)...and I'll have to let off the clutch and press it again...it pretty much always works the second time and I make sure I get it all the way to the floor...intermittently that will happen in random gears...and when it does it feels like the shifter is "spongy"....

also..and perhaps this is a fluke....but it happens...but sometimes I think the synchros don't line up if the rpms are "too high" for the gear I want to downshift too...like a safety measure for the tranny....i've never heard of that being the case but with all the tranny problems I've had (three)...i like to wish..hehe...

anyway...hope ya get it figure out...nothing better to fix than tranny issues....eh..right..

 

[fivespeedstang]

could an occasional over filling cause this ????

 

[strtracer442]

Im with 85Coupe on this one, you've got a problem with the shifting mechanism in the top cover, or your 5th gear shift fork is damaged. Take the trans apart,they're not hard to do, and you can download a free service manual from Tremec's web site.

 

[fivespeedstang]

so where or what is the 5th gear shift fork???? i only see 2 inder the cover plate, the 1-2 and 3-4 forks??? so i can understand this better ,

 

[87'GTstang]

Sounds like a bent shift fork to me as well. Usually you will have difficulty in engaging gears and certain ones due to misalignement of the "natural" shift pattern, the shift forks can't move into gear very easily and sometimes will "slide" into gear and/or grind. But it's still a tricky sounding problem, don't get me wrong.

 

[fivespeedstang]

the gears shift smoothly till i get into 5th gear