First time going into a T56 yesterday. I was trying to accomplish 2 things- 1 check the condition of my 3rd gear synchro (grinds when cold and during quick shifts) and stop the sweaty transmission syndrome. Pretty interesting in there, now I know exactly how the skip shift mechanism works.

Anyway I found that indeed my 3rd and 2nd gear synchronizers are a little worn so I'm going to replace those. Next I gotta replace all the other non-reusable items such as the snap rings and seals, put it back together and seal it up. I'm also going to try out Royal Purple's SynchroMax to see how well that does.

The other good news is that none of the bearings or gears showed abnormal wear and the cleaner magnets had minimal "metal dust". The last car I had the differential carrier bearings were destroyed.

Another thing is the service manual for the T56 states that you need a gear puller for some of the gears, so I spent $15 and rented a huge gear puller to find out that you dont even need it.

 

Did you have to buy any of the special Kent-Moore tools? I'd like to do this in the future as well, so if you did, please post the part #'s. Where are you getting internal parts from?

 

Post pics

 

Man,,, if you could post some pic's of the tear down you would be a forum HERO!!! I have always wondered how difficult the tear down is! On a scale of 1-10, 10 being "kids dont try this at home" how technical was the tear down???

If pic's cant be provided, can you do a quick write up summary of your expierence and provide a little first hand insight on how to go about the tear down and provide some DO's and DONT's?

Thanks

Bill Curlee

 

Tear down is the easy part expecially when the 5-6 bottle gear just pulls off. Going back together is the tricky part. The first few times is a PITA but it can be done. If you get into a pinch shoot me an E-mail or give me a ring for some free advice.

 

Rodney, thanks alot for the offering, I may need your help in one thing, I pulled off the synchronizer ring of the 5/6 gear and cant get it back on. It "hangs" on the blockers of the synchronizer. The manual states to press it back on but before I go applying hundreds of pounds of force I want to make sure thats how I get it back on.

You're right I thought the tear down was going to be harder then it was, especially since the manual called for the gear pullers. I just undid the snap ring of the shift fork of the 5-6 and pulled out that assembly along with the shift fork (aka the countershaft extension).

I do have another question for you, the tech manual states to replace the snap rings after taking them off. Is this really necessary?

Also, I plan to use either Permatax Ultra Gray or Ultra Copper to seal the case. I used Gray in my last car, but it was an import and it seemed to work out pretty good. Any advice on sealant?

For everybody else- if you've never worked on a transmission before it isnt incredibly difficult, but depending on what you do, it requires precision and alot of patience, if you have to replace gears/bearings you'll need to use dial and feeler gauges and order appropriately sized shims... Although if you never start somewhere you'll never learn...

 

I will second the "Please post pics" if you have em. I am waiting on some bad weather here in Ok to start my transmission job. thanks for keeping everyone up to date on your progress. I hope mine goes as smoth.

DJ

 

My projects been on hold for a few days. I made a weekend trip to stand trial yesterday (monday) for burning out as described in this thiread http://forums.corvetteforum.com/showthread.php?t=969002

My butt still hurts from stepping and slipping in the transmission fluid so its very hard to get under the car.

I havent really taken too many pictures of the tear down, it sux having greasy hands trying to operate a digicam. If I have the patience Ill try to take a step by step photo of the reassembly but use those pics to write a dissassembly procedure.

Right now my project is on hold again because the gear puller I have is too large to yank the 3rd gear synchro parts out. But, I'm to the point now I know exactly what parts I need. My 3rd gear synchro is definately worn. The ring itself when removed from the assembly is rough at the edges, no wonder my 3rd gear shifts tended to grind. Now I need to order- input shaft seal, output shaft seal, shifter rod seal, large O ring that connects to the transmission, new snap rings and the 3rd gear synchro. I'll probably get them from www.rsgear.com when they open tomorow. Last time I called they needed some numbers on the tranny case, so I'll be sure to look for them then place the order. Hopefully they have everything, if not I have to bend over for the GM dealer.

The T56 manual I downloaded is a little inaccurate. Many of the procedures say that huge gear pullers are needed when in fact the gears just pull apart by hand. Relatively speaking I was surprised how easy it was to pull the gears apart. It was just a few snap rings holding the parts together.

If you plan to do this job (open the tranny, that is), you need various sized punches, a small gear puller, pliers, snap ring pliers, T40 torx drive, 15 and 13 mm wrenches, torque wrench. Lots of rags and parts cleaner. Digital camera and lots of patience and a large area for working helps.

Thanks for listening, this forums serves as a journal/mental note pad for me as well.

 

Good deal on that ticket! Thanks for getting back on this thread. I'm surprised you didn't need any other special tools like calipers or something. I hope you'll have the patience to take pics when you put it back together, but I'll totally understand if you just want to get it over with and put it back together as quickly as possible. Videocamera would be ideal cuz you could start it and forget it, but then you'd have to deal with file conversions and huge download sizes, if you even had a videocamera to work with. Well, good luck with your project!

Eugene

 

I havent put it back together yet, so there may be some tools needed, such a hydraulic press, although I was able to get by with my last car without one. We'll see.

 

Eric,

Where did you get the T56 download. Is it different than the work shop manual from chevy on the T56?

 

http://www.ttcautomotive.com/English...ice_Manual.pdf

I am not sure if it is different then the chevy manual.

 

I think the T56 is chimp simple inside, the only problem is when you put the shift rails back in. The first couple times its like a jigsaw puzzle.

You can build any of the specialty tools required if you're creative.

 

Wish I had found your post and this one sooner. http://www.ls2.com/forums/showthread...uild-with-pics!