I was driving along the highway at about 120km/h and out of the blue, It was as if the car was thrown into neutral. I tried to put the car back into 5th gear, only to find the shifter was already in the 5th gear position. My first thought was the clutch was shot, but as I soon found, the car functions flawlessly in every other gear with no slipping whatsoever. Has anyone ever seen this before? Any input on this would be most appreciated.
I would check the shift coupler, although, usually when that fails you can't shift into 1st and 2nd, only 3-5 are usable. If the coupler is bad, its easy to wrap a couple of zip ties around it as a fix.
Otherwise, I don't know, but hey, 4 gears isn't bad!
Where exactly is the coupler? Is it the "knuckle" just before the linkage enters the gearbox?
PS: 4 gears are okay I suppose, but the only problem I have right now is that I have to drive about 120 kms each way to work and it 99% highway. ... Do you know how hard it is to keep the speed under 120 Km/h even though you're still in 4th gear? Especially when the guy in the "rice rocket" pulls up beside you and tries to show you how loud his muffler is. (That's when I wind it up to about 5000 rpm, or about 190 Km/h and smoke 'em).
5th gear is easily accessible. It, and it's shift fork are right under the end cover of the transmission. If everything else in the gearbox is O.K., and the linkage checks out, take the cover off and look.
I was driving along the highway at about 120km/h and out of the blue, It was as if the car was thrown into neutral. I tried to put the car back into 5th gear, only to find the shifter was already in the 5th gear position.
Pinion shaft splines and/or 5th gear splines are gone. You need a new transmission as the pinion shaft is finished anyway.
This is very typical for GM-type transmissions. Usually the fifth gear end nut comes loose and after that 5th gear moves on the shaft and finally the splines give up.
Where exactly is the coupler? Is it the "knuckle" just before the linkage enters the gearbox?
PS: 4 gears are okay I suppose, but the only problem I have right now is that I have to drive about 120 kms each way to work and it 99% highway. ... Do you know how hard it is to keep the speed under 120 Km/h even though you're still in 4th gear? Especially when the guy in the "rice rocket" pulls up beside you and tries to show you how loud his muffler is. (That's when I wind it up to about 5000 rpm, or about 190 Km/h and smoke 'em).
My 5th is 'notchy' and tight to pull out - and I heard a rumour I could replace the syncro with the gearbox in the car.
Is this true? (I see this post was drifting that way)
I would not recommend that, the fifth gear hub is very tight on it's splines and you would need to knock it back in after changing the synchro. It's better to support the other end of the clutch shaft while hammering the hub in.
Yes it's true. But a synchro ring can't cause the symptom you describe.
I don't recommend hammering it back together, there's a special tool for pressing it back together.
This happened to me about 5 years ago. It was shortly after I refilled the original tranmission with Redline synthetic, which I and many in the community now know is a no-no for these transmissions -- they are designed for dino oil or Saab's synthetic. Apparently the Redline is too slippery...or that's what some have concluded. Ended up replacing the trans with a rebuilt.
The most common cause of losing 5th gear is the nut holding it on loosens up. The most common cause of the nut loosening up is worn pinion bearings.
Use any kind of motor oil you want in your transmission; the same kind you're putting in the engine.
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