Picked up a t5

[jagdiver]

I am currently running an AOD and gathering parts to do a t5 swap (been wanting to do this for six years) I picked up a used WC t5 locally for cheap, the previous owner said it had about 120 k on it, he though it may have been rebuilt b/c it has a steal bearing retainer. It came out of a parts car, I was told that it ran and shifted just fine.

My question is there anyway to tell if there is problems with the trans before putting it in the car? I heard something about the input shift should not have any play in it if you grab on it....is this true? Would it be worth it to get the rebuild video to tear into it, or have someone else check it out? I am not a big fan of do a job twice if i put it in and there are problems...

Thanks

 

[NIKwoaC]

A full rebuild is time consuming, and I'd sooner throw it in the car and see if it works than I would rebuild it by the guess that something might be wrong. At the most, I'd tear the top off and see if there seems to be any damage to the gears or metal chips/grit in the fluid. Of course, I'd change the fluid too, and see if it has a metallic look as the old comes out (I doubt there is too much fluid left in the trans, as it will pour out of the tail shaft housing with no driveshaft in it).

You can also look at the dog teeth on the sliders when you have the top off, but its hard to tell if they are damaged just by looking at them, unless they are literally chunked out. Rounded off dog teeth can lead to poor shift quality, but in my experience, its hard to tell looking at it unless you have a new one side by side.