Yup. Just cruisin the other day and went to put it in 3rd and it grinded on me then went in. Went to donshift into third, grinded then went in. This is the second time this has happened. I know what I'm getting dad now for his B-day. A Hurst. And the thing that bothers me, is I have driven it once (that night) since we got it back and I didn't even go above 3000 rpms. Go figure though, right as I take the top of the airbox off for a little more power (which it does do), the thing goes back in the shop. I never did get time to replace the lid, yall think Chevy will complain about that?

 

Forget Chevy.....I think your daddy is gonna complain about that, with good reason!! Does he know and approve of you abusing his car?

 

Umm, let me see. I've told him abotu every race I've ever done in his car. He wants to put an airbox on (getting Donaldson for Christmas), so yeah, I think he approves. I may have cause the tranny to go out the first time, but the second time I had nothing to do with it. Like I said, it was the first time I had driven it since we had gotten it back and I didn't take it over 3000. If you call that abusing his car, then poopie, I'll go out and buy a Cobra and rag that thing out to 6500. Hell, my friends V6 stang gets ragged on to 5500 all day, every day, gets powershifted all the time, and hasn't had a single problem with his tranny or engine. He's got cold air, duals, 4.10's, cam, and P&P upper and lower intake manifolds. My dad knows everything I have done with that car. Except for the airbox. But I doubt he'll really care about that. So to answer your question, yes my dad knows what I do and yes he approves. Although he does state that he doesn't want me all over the throttle all the time. But an occasional blast ain't bad.

 

Well, then, my apologies for picking on you. It's between you and your dad anyway....no concern of mine, for sure. But you didn't tell him about taking that airbox cover off!! :nono:

Now, as for that 3rd gear problem...sounds like it didn't get fixed correctly from when you broke it originally. You DID say you wounded the tranny the first time, right?

 

I probably didn't help the first one let's put it that way. I was very hard on it. Always banging gears. Never powershifted though. The stock shifter from day one was real mushy and crappy. After we got it back from the first time, the shiftre was crisper and much nicer. They said it was operated beyond it's design parameters. :bs If that tranny can't hold up to being ragged out about twice a week with stock power, then I want a better tranny. Besides, how often do you wear the 2 and 3 gear cones smooth, break all the teeth off of em, and them blow out all the synchros within 5300 or so miles? Sounds like crappy parts got put in and Chevy doesn't want to admit it. Oh well. That's what a warranty is for. Protecting customers from crappy parts.

 

Once you zing a synchro during "robust" driving/shifting, it's likely that things will only get worse. That's the nature of the tranny.

I put 21,000 hard, powershifted miles on my 2000, and 2100 pretty hard miles on my 03 with no problems. And, there are many, many guys here who are really racing their cars, with no problems. So, don't be so quick to blame the tranny. It's not junk, but it's not a bulldozer tranny, either. It has to be treated "fairly", with excellent shifter/clutch action. It has nothing to do with the amount of power. Power is transmitted by the gears, which have NOTHING to do with shifting, which is accomplished by the synchro assemblies. No gears move when you move the shifter (except reverse or a reverse idler gear in some cars). It's the synchro assemblies that move and direct torque to the output shaft. If you didn't acutally destroy a gear, it isn't the power that's hurting things in there.

The inside of a synchromesh manual transmission is a lot more complex than most people think it is.

If you've hurt it again, don't keep driving it. It won't "heal itself". Time to beg Chevy to fix it...again.


[Modified by tracy, 2:16 AM 10/23/2002]

 

Yeah. I told my dad to have Chevy swap in the M12 tranny while it was there. Along with the engine that goes along with that tranny. ;)

 

Have your dad replace the tranny with the M12. You will win more races with that transmission anyway. ;)

vetterdstr :cheers:

 

Sorry to hear about the tranny troubles...don't get an M12 though. They tweak a lot easier than an MN6 because of the poorly designed 3rd-4th gear blocker rings.

Good luck with the dealer :cheers:

 

Are the new M12's fixed? or do they still have that problem?

vetterdstr :cheers:

 

Not completely sure...but they are still getting tweaked synchro systems very easily. Just ask Snowman :( ...his is a very recent build and has malfunctioned twice in a very short time frame. It was rebuilt with the latest parts as well. Until I hear of one lasting for a decent time I consider them suspect.

The M12 is best used without hard shifting. They just can't take it. I definitely wouldn't replace an MN6 with one...better to install some 3.90s or 3.73s.

 

Tracy, you're being a little tuff on the guy.

Syncro's go for lot of reasons. Sometimes, it just a lemon of a transmission.

I'm having a problem with 4th and it is beginning to happen in 3rd gear now. My theory on this has to do with the clutch. My trans only grinds on high rpm shifts. As heat builds running through the gears, the clutch works less and less well. By the time you get to 3rd it is not working well enough to properly disengage.

Curiously, the Mustang has the same t-56 trans.

Tracy, did I ever tell you about this Vette owner I know who likes to cut donuts in empty parking lots?!?!?!?

:lol: :lol:

:flag

 

thanks for the info! :)

vetterdstr :cheers:

 

Steve--Yes, you did. But did I ever tell you about the Vette owner who has ruined the trannies/clutches in two C5s? ;)

The difference is that these two guys who we know, who indeed tend to abuse their cars.....are the owners, and who must pay the price for their abuse.

I'll bet that these two wonderful guys that we're talking about caught hell when their fathers found that air cleaner lid "flipped" when they looked under the hood on Saturday morning. ;) ;) ;)

And the guy who does those donuts? He REALLY caught hell when he limped he and his father's *shared* 68 340 Dart home with a broken syncho fork at 2 in the morning. However, this guy was able to quickly FIX that problem on a Monday afternoon with an $11.49 replacement fork from Mopar's "Direct Connection" that a local dealer fortunately had in stock.

My point in being tough on the lad Big Blue is that it appears that he's abusing the car and then having daddy take the fight to the dealer. Why doesn't HE take it to the dealer........is it because they think a 17 year old just might be "operating beyond it's design parameters" [abusing] the car and don't want to put up with that?

So, Steve.....do you hand over the keys to your car-crazy son and say "Hey, boy, why don't you take the airbox lid off for more power and take 'er for a spin?" :D :D :D :D In fact, let your son drive Skyline this weekend!!! :eek: :eek:

 

This does not sound like a transmission problem--it sounds like a driver problem.

"Just cruisin the other day and went to put it in 3rd and it grinded on me then went in. "

What does went to put it into 3rd mean? Up or down? throttle in or out? clutch in or out? how long was the clutch in?

what amount of time elapsed between leaving 2nd (or 4th) and arriving at 3rd? 50 milliseconds, 1 second, 2 seconds?

How long before/after pushing the clutch in did you leave 2nd (or 4th) gear: 1 second before leaving? 1 second after leaving?

You sound like my brother 35 years ago when he was learning a manual. That car went through 3 clutches and 2 trannies in 4,000 miles. He just didn't "get it" where "get it" means understanding the complex relationship between throttle, shifter, clutch, and ordering of venets.

 

I must take up for the poor guy. I have been driving "sticks" for 33 years. I admit to liking to powershift, but the point is, I've always done it. I've had about 15 cars with sticks. My 2001 C5 is the first that I ever had either clutch or transmission problems with - at 6000 miles I had the thrid gear synchro go on me also. Never had it happen on my Z28, two RX-7's (including one with 55,000 miles and an aftermarket turbo) or any of the other sticks I've owned.

And I've seen way to many posts on the forum of others who have had synchros go out at low miles. I agree that it is a weak transmission. My new Vert is getting treated much better :blueangel:

 

Let me clarify something. I was upshifting from 2 to 3. Clutch was all the way in, took about .5-1 sec. to put it in. Like I said, I was cruising so I was driving very easy. That's when it ground. I don't abuse the car. I do occasionally rag it out (about twice a week). If the car can't handle a couple of blasts up to 100 or so, I'll tell my dad to sell it and get an 03 Cobra. The 03 Cobra's only have the T-56 in it. The gearing is a little different though. I told my dad the other day and he doesn't really care that I took off the top of the airbox. Apparently neither did the dealer cause it is all under warranty. I was just wondering why these things keep blowing out. My dad drives it daily and puts about 250-300 miles a week on it. A lot of that time is spent in mild to moderate traffic. I think that it is just a lemon trans and Chevy doen't want to admit it. I dont abuse my dad's $60,000 plastic toy. That's what I have my truck for. And I rag the crap out of my truck. I respect my dad's car. He trusts me and has every right to. I am a very responsible kid. And I don't mind having to take a fight to the dealer. Been there done that with my truck. Here's what the dealer tried to do to me cause I was a teenager. http://www.dieseltruckresource.com/y...;threadid=5725

Tracy, you may think I abuse the car and drive it like I stole it, and that I'm just feeding yall a line of bull cause I don't want to look like the bad guy. But I am telling the truth. I do rag it out, twice a week. Dad DOES know that I rag it. He now knows about the airbox lid. He knows I have raced it before also. I was just curious as to why the things keep going out.

 

Hopefully the transmission will be fixed and you will have no more problems with it. :yesnod:

vetterdstr :cheers:

 

I have been driving a Hurst 5 speed since I was 17. I know how to shift. However, my Z06 has been in the shop 4 times with synchros going out. The B&M ripper only validates the fact that I didn't miss a gear. 5th went first at 1500 miles. Then 3 and 4 at 15,000 miles, then 3 and 4 one week later, then one week later again...:mad

Now 5th grinds on the first easy shift of the day, 2000 rpm...I do not like these trannys. I'm getting an extended warranty... :mad

 

Got it back. The bolts that hold the shifter itself in place were bent and that caused the alignment to go out and caused the gears to get messed up. They said they wouldn't fix it under warranty anymore. I went a bought a Kirban yest. for him. Let me explain why. I tried the Hurst, B&M, and the Kirban in the car. The Hurst was to stiff, I didn't like the B&M, and the Kirban felt more like a Pro 5.0. I went to MTI here in Houston for it. They said that it is not uncommon for the trannies to keep going out in these cars cause of the way it was designed. You can't speed shift it the guy said. The tranny just can't physically shift it quick enough. Since the shifter is located in front of the tranny and it shifts it through the torque tube(?). It just can't be done. He's had one guy break the tube. 3.8, you are lucky the dealer has fixed yours so many times. This is our second time and they said next time it won't be under warranty. They also said I was power shifting it. Guess what? I can't powershift it. Don't want to try. So those of yall who have had them replace it many times, feel lucky. I figure now that since the tranny is no longer under warranty, a new set of gears perhaps? 4.10's? :crazy: :lol: