Oops..

Long story short, took my c5 to get the a/c recharged. The mechanic who brought my car out said my transmission might be low on oil, getting into gear/reverse is hard, compared to his c5 which was parked near by.

Went home, put the car on jackstands leveled, took out fill plug, fluid started dripping out, okay so its at the correct level. Checked my clutch lines, everything held correctly. So then I decided hmm maybe a shifter adjustment, last time I did it was when I installed my transmission/clutch last year but I just bolted it in, with the pin aligned but never torqued it, just tightened. Took it apart and checked, alignment pin went right in, So I unbolted and just did it over anyways, torqued the side two bolts to 22ft/lbs then went to tighten the clamp bolt and it broke. I'm not sure what happened. I did have a couple beers and it was 100 degrees but I don't think that affected me. I checked my cdi wrench with my digital torque gauge and it measured 21.4ft/lbs at 22.

So I'm a bit stumped.

What does everyone torque these down to?

Manual says 22ft/lbs.

 

You ARE correct, the manual says 22 ft/lbs. That's what I've torqued that bolt to...........

 

I had an issue with that bolt getting loose enough to let the shaft in the shifter box slide freely inside the shift rod and would make the shifter feel sloppy, probably just how yours was... what I did was replace that bolt with a header bolt, they are 10.9 grade and the same thread pitch... I also used some blue loctite and tightened it pretty good (probably more than 22ft/lbs) to make sure it won't come loose again but I haven't seen one break like that... if you can get a hold of another shift rod you might see if there is a way to just replace that end otherwise you're gonna have to pull the drivetrain from the trans back to get that rod out

 

I got it off, when I first broke it I was cussin and hollerin fearing that I would have to take out my drivetrain again. Broken clamp looks like its made out of cast iron but im not sure. I ordered a used rod from vettenuts, Now I just wait for it to come in, hopefully I don't break this one.

 

Dang ..... what a nightmare! I just replaced my shifter and removed the shifter box to replace the worn grommets. I didn't want to over torque the bolt, thinking it'd possibly strip the threads; never considered it might break instead. Hope the fix goes well.

 

Don't feel bad i did the same thing.

 

So My second shift rod came in(thank you vettenuts)

So I took off the clamp of the second shift rod and examined it, the threads on my original were chewed to crap. Thinking back I think I damaged the clamp when I reattached it to my transmission when I got it back from the rebuilt. Since I left the bolt in place, and when I originally got it back I only bolted it back up and probably crossed threaded it and the torque applied was probably greater then spec'd. Also thanks neutron, will see if I can get some 10.9/arp header bolts to replace the three for the shifter. Those are far more confident inspiring to have then the oems.

Normal and broken





I torqued everything down to near spec like listed with my cdi wrench at 21.5 ft/lbs.

Thx to ever posted this online.



Also this is my method of checking for proper torque from my torque wrench for a given fastener. Their tends to be mutiple different digital ones, It can't beat an actual calibrater, but for every other day it works great just to be extra sure. Using a bench vise is preferable just make sure you don't check for anything over 90 ft/lbs...

 

Your welcome Jimmy!

 

Saved alot compared to GM and ebay and was quicker to recieve and packaged very well. Thank you Marc

 

Jimmy can the clamp be removed from the donor and installed on the original rod?

 

Yes it can, thats how I did mine. But your clamp isnt broken is it? I would remove the old one and inspect it. Just becareful removing the original clamp the tunnel is really sharp. I managed to cut my finger on it. Some thick gloves should be used.