Hello All,
Need your thoughts on a transmission issue. I have a 2003 Z06 That I bought a couple of years ago with a little over 32,800 miles. Car now has about 37,200 miles. Car is stock other than drilled and slotted rotors, tint and trunk partition.
Did not have any real issues other than reverse seemed a little hard to get once in a while. Reading here it seemed that was not unusual that I should go into first then second before reverse would help. It seemed to help.
Fast forward many months and "spirited driving occasionally" and I stop at a store and park in first gear. When I come out the trans seems stuck in gear. I get it popped out and everything is good for a couple of months before it happens again. Same story repeat all is good for a while.
Then one day I start the car and get ready to back out of the garage and it is stuck again, only this time now it feels like it is hung between gears and I cannot get into gear. "Not sure if it matters but I seem to rapidly move the shifter side to side before going into a gear".
Anyway as time goes by I managed to find gears "although still very tight shifting", Every couple of weeks I will pull the car out and let it run a while.
So this afternoon I start it up and go for reverse "which has been hard to get" and find reverse with no problem. I check the other gears and it is like when I bought the car!
The car has sat for a year due to circumstances $$$$ and I was JUST getting ready to pull the trans for a rebuild thinking it was a bent shift fork or shift keys. I had saw the subject of the reverse lockout solenoid but did not think that was the issue.
I run the car up and down the driveway thru reverse, first and second with no issues today many times.
So what are your thoughts?
Thanks
Doug

 

You may need to replace your shift forks. My understanding is that C5 shift forks are made of a crappy composite plastic and are prone to bending or warping over time. I had the same issue with my 01' ZO6, so I had a shop replace all of my shift forks with the steel forks found in the ACR Viper. Haven't had any problems since then!

Good luck!

-Kenny

 

Our shift forks are ALUMINUM. If you bend a shift fork,,,, you must be standing on the shifter with your FEET! The forks are very durable and dont bend under normal use. I beat my ZO6 pretty hard and never had any issues with the plastic pads for 60,000 miles

HOWEVER, the small shift fork PADS on the ends of the fork are a type of plastic and they can wear and get damaged over time. Yes, you can replace the plastic bads with BRONZE pads during a rebuild.

RPM makes a STEEL fork for first/second gear.

 

Here is a T-56 opened up for inspection:

- C5 ragtopws6, T-56 Build (whats in my tranny?) : http://forums.corvetteforum.com/nort...-smoother.html

 

Clutch issue? Did it only give you trouble when the engine was running?

 

Sorry for the delay in replying. Had almost a 100 views and no replys so I have not checked lately as I am working a new job.
Now for a bit of update; even when the Trans was VERY hard to shift the clutch seemed fine. Since last weekend when Trans seemed to have a miracilous recovery I have taken the car for a couple of test drives in the 5 to 10 mile range and all seems well.
I will give it a few more test drives but my biggest fear is getting stranded. At this point I hesitate to rebuild the Trans.
I am open to suggestions but being a pretty mechanical guy I am stumped.

 

its possible your shifter screws could be loose. I'd take the console out and make sure all the screws are tight and realign the shifter.

 

When was the last time the transmission fluid and/or clutch fluid was changed? Maybe it's due.

 

Have you tried to bleed the clutch slave?

I had similar issues happening with another car, caused by air in the clutch slave line.
The slave couldn't build enough pressure to disengage the clutch, so I couldn't get it out of gear. I also had trouble going into 1st and reverse with the engine running.

If I let the car sit for a week or so, it seemed to get better, especially on hot days. I theorize that on those days, or after sitting a while, the air bubbles would move from the piston of the salve and collect towards the top of the slave assembly, near the bleeder and offer a few miles of better operation due to higher pressure and successful clutch disengagement.

New slave cylinder and system bleed took care of my problem.

Good luck with your issue. Post resolution when you figure it out.

 

Thanks for all the reply's, Just to confirm. I do not think the clutch is a issue. The clutch seems to engage fine. It seems more like a mechanical issue almost like maybe the reverse lockout solenoid hung up or something along those lines.
The original problem was that it seemed "stuck" between gears, I managed to find gears with major effort which was obviously not right. Since the seemed recovery there is ZERO issues in my two brief test drives.
As far as fluids, YES they need to be changed as I have not changed since I bought the car and that will be the next thing that I do.