well i think i did something real bad tonight...

i was messing with a buddy of mine on the way home from chilis. I downshift to 2nd gear at like 40 mph, and then brake boost. I go to slam it into third, and all it does is grind, kind of like i didnt have the clutch all the way down. grinds reaaally bad. anyways i get it into 3rd. I didnt wanna mess around anymore after that, plus my turn was coming up. So i go to downshift into 2nd again to slow down for the turn, absolutely will NOT go into 2nd. So i get home, at idle it wont go into 2nd, and even when the car is off it wont go into 2nd. 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and reverse are fine.

What could have happened here?!?! help!

 

bump

I've been doing some research. I've narrowed it down to 2 options.

1. Shift fork busted. This sounds plausible because I cannot shift into second at all, whether the car is running or not, clutch in or out.

2. syncro is shot. I'm not really sure it could be this because even if a syncro is bad, the trans would still shift right?

any info you guys might have let me know!

 

Yeah, I was gonna say, it sounds like the shift fork is trashed. Very possible that the 2nd's sychros are shot too, since our cars are notorious for that. But yes, you usually can still shift into a gear with a bad synchro.

 

yeah i cant shift at all, its like theres just a wall there. ive tried easing it in, trying to pull it in, leaning with it, everything. ok if it is the shift fork, heres the million dollar question...

can that be replaced without having to rebuild the transmission?

 

Well, technically, yes, you don't have to do a full rebuild (assuming the other parts are operable/working). But if you (or someone else) is taking the time to replace the fork, you may as well consider rebuilding it, especially if the car is higher mileage. One other thing too, that I would reccomend, is to get it replaced ASAP. The longer you try to drive with a broken shift fork (if that is the problem), you'll have a higher chance of ruining other parts and being forced to do a rebuild or swap. I'd just pray that if the shift fork broke, it broke cleanly and didn't shatter chunks/fragments/flakes all over the place.

Yes, our trannies suck ass. Hence the reason why I try to baby my car, even when getting on it. Good news is, the forks are relatively inexpensive, even from Satan. Try to get your hands on something other than the aluminum ones though. The EVO forks are pretty popular and hold up well.

My opinion, if you like to drive your vehicle hard frequently, you may want to opt for a rebuild and double up on the 2nd synchro while you're at it. Jerry will probably do a rebuild for a decent price though. If you have a nice chunk of cash laying around, then you can send it to TRE. If you can't afford it though, then that's understandable. Anywho, just remember to take care when ragging on your vehicle.

 

i take care of my car, about 85-90% of the driving i do is careful driving, rarely boosting, taking turns easy, and slow careful shifting. Thats the thing im pissed to hell about. What the hell good is upgrading parts on a car or modifying a car, so that the 4th or 5th time you beat on it it breaks? When I say I drive carefully, I absolutely mean it. Even when I do beat on it, I'm still careful, I hardly ever floor it, I rarely go full boost, and Ive only actually shifted through more than 2 gears on 1 or 2 occasions. And those were the 1 or 2 races ive raced.

What kind of pricing sounds reasonable for a transmission to be rebuilt with a stronger 2nd syncro?

 

You've only shifted through more than two gears once or twice? And, you did this while racing? WTF? So, you're telling me that you rev-match and slam it into third, fourth, and fifth with the clutch engaged? Likely story.

Did you try shifting into gear at the transaxle; that is, popping the hood and moving the two levers through 1st-Reverse? I probably won't work, but I figured I'd give you something to do while you determine how, where, and when you're going to get the tranny repaired.

 

i didnt quite understand what you meant in your first paragraph, but let me explain better.

what i mean is, if i race from a roll, id just hit it in 2nd(if im in 2nd gear range), shift to 3rd, and then maybe MAYBE go to 4th. usually i shut down after a few seconds. ill maybe only go from 40mph to 70mph. from a dig, of course ill start in 1st, and then shift to 2nd, then shift to 3rd, (all this while using the clutch) and usually shut down around 60 or so. ive never raced through all 5 gears with this car, and ive never raced it past 88. the one time i got to 88 was my best time in the 1/8 at sunshine. i said that

does that clarify things?

and i checked out the shift cables today, and tried shifting it, and also had my friend sit in there and move it around to see if it binds on anything. also took the shifter boot off and checked in there. everything outside of the transmission looks fine though.

edit: and ive been past 88 before, but that was on bayside bridge, and i took the car to 110, the fastest ive ever taken it. I didnt race up to that speed though, I pretty much just took my time getting there.

 

i really don't think it matters how much you baby it or not...its an old car and an old tranny... weather or not you think you get on it alot or not at all...you still do... you wouldnt be on this site if you didnt "race" your car. not to mention our tranny's are garbage. you tried to figure it out on your own but couldnt. Why don't you just go and take it to a professional now?

i mean if you got money to mod your car, you gotta have money to fix it when things break...right?

(btw i'm not trying to come off as an asshole...im just being blunt)

 

well it was just rebuilt 2500 miles ago, so i dont understand why it would break.. anyways I'm not really upset that parts break, because I know they do, and I'm not saying that only occasional racing is going to make the car bulletprood. The main point of this thread was to see if anyone had any ideas as to what the problem would be in the transmission. Then I started emo-ing out about how parts break even though i do baby the car.

oh well, im not real broken up about it, the main problem was that there are a few reasons this is very inconveinient. first, a buddy of mine is coming down this friday from michigan, and he has never seen the car, so i want to take him for a ride in it and beat on it a little. second, i was just about to buy cams, and have those and my timing belt service done, as well as get the gm-maf setup. when i really stop to think about it, my friend will be down for two weeks, so i might be able to have it fixed by then, and the "timing belt project" can wait until late august, when i'll have more money. It's not a really big loss, and Its not like i dont expect things to break, its just kinda inconvienient.

im taking the car to darkside sometime this week, and drew is going to take a look at it, and hopefully i can safely get away with replacing a shift fork or so. im sorry if i came off as a pussy for whining about my car, i didnt mean to. just sucks cuz now i have to drive my dad's kia. Now do you see why im upset??? lol