Man. Trans. Downshifting problems...

[blackedout_taco_stidham]

ok so something really weird happened this evening...

I was downshifting, like i always do, but for some reason () i went from 5th to 3rd at ~50mph...truck slid a lil sideways, no biggie right, or so i thought. I get to the stop light and the transmission will not go into second or first for that matter, so i miraculously take off in third....lookin like a dumby...i continue to putt on home, shifting through fourth and fifth just fine, i get to the last light before my neighborhood and try to downshift every gear precisely to see if i can duplicate the problem. Sure enough im trying to go into second and it just wont go, no matter how hard i try, so since there was no traffic i stopped completely and tried to go into first...no bueno. I then go into reverse for just a second and then it goes into first just fine, and into second and then third (from here i cruise in third because my neighborhood speed limit is 15 mph, military installation). I get all the way home, do my normal pull in the next street past my house and turn around so im facing the other way and pull up to the curb in front of my house and stop. I turned the engine off and cycled through the gears as if i was driving, all the way up to fifth and downshifting back to first and it was all gravy...WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON? no leaks from tranny, stick feels solid still. Clutch feels the same as it's been feeling.

2000 2RZ, 5-speed, Competition Clutch Stage 5 sprung hub 4 puck, URD Short Shifter. (spacer plate with extension on the shifter end)


and the wierdest thing of all was that after the first initial problem, the gears were smoother shifting upwards (3rd-to-4th-to-5th) than normal, OR it was my mind playing tricks on me...who knows?

[blackedout_taco_stidham]

if this thing is on its way out...which it might be...then after i get back from this deployment (leaving in just a few short weeks) the trans is getting swapped to HOPEFULLY the supra 5 speed...if'n i can find one that is, lol

[Enola Gaia]

Any chance the transmission itself (the whole unit) got slightly misaligned into a bind during that last skidding stop, and somehow backing up made it pop back into the right orientation (with the rest of the driveline)?

[blackedout_taco_stidham]

Originally Posted by Enola Gaia

Any chance the transmission itself (the whole unit) got slightly misaligned into a bind during that last skidding stop, and somehow backing up made it pop back into the right orientation (with the rest of the driveline)?

Everything is possible I guess, we will see tomorrow if everything is indeed ok...is there any way to check said alignment?

[Enola Gaia]

I don't know - except maybe to look underneath and see if there are any signs of the transmission unit shifting or turning in its mounts.

The more serious possibility is that you've got one or more synchronizers about to fail ...

[671taco]

Originally Posted by Enola Gaia

I don't know - except maybe to look underneath and see if there are any signs of the transmission unit shifting or turning in its mounts.

The more serious possibility is that you've got one or more synchronizers about to fail ...

x2 ^ Just hope it isn't synchro's....that would suck!

[blackedout_taco_stidham]

ok so ive got more to add to the puzzle...

1) i can get it into first and second as long as i am at a stand still and go to reverse first.
2) SOMETIMES i can get it into second with out stopping, but maybe 1 in 10 attempts, and i have to be traveling really slowly
3) i noticed today that when in first gear at a dead stop the clutch seems "shorter"...i know before i said that the clutch seemed fine, but now it does not.
4) if i am rolling slowly in first gear and clutch to the floor (stop and go traffic on base) the truck will roll to a stop and rock back and forth about twice before actually stopping. i thought i was in some sort of a dip at first, but it did this at least three times, and i could duplicate it on demand.
5) after experiencing the above which i thought was really weird, i went to neutral and let the clutch out and the truck slow creeped forward, not enough to rearend someone, but enough to notice it.
6) shifting from first to second sometimes is really clunky and the gears grind slightly.
7) if i am cruising in third, slow speeds ~15mph, and push the clutch in to pull it out of 3rd gear it acts like it doesnt want to come out, but with enough force it will.



with everything i have described above, it seems like a combo of things, maybe clutch AND synchros...this very well could be the case



the plan right now is to, while i am gone, try and find a tranny out of a supra. Hey 671, what year did yours come out of? didnt the bellhousing just swap right over? different clutch required or anything? i hope my clutch hasnt crapped out, i just put that thing in and it was ~400 dollars...

[Enola Gaia]

Hmmmm .... The additional factoids seem to point more to the clutch than to the tranny itself.

[671taco]

Originally Posted by blackedout_taco_stidham

ok so ive got more to add to the puzzle...

1) i can get it into first and second as long as i am at a stand still and go to reverse first.
2) SOMETIMES i can get it into second with out stopping, but maybe 1 in 10 attempts, and i have to be traveling really slowly
3) i noticed today that when in first gear at a dead stop the clutch seems "shorter"...i know before i said that the clutch seemed fine, but now it does not.
4) if i am rolling slowly in first gear and clutch to the floor (stop and go traffic on base) the truck will roll to a stop and rock back and forth about twice before actually stopping. i thought i was in some sort of a dip at first, but it did this at least three times, and i could duplicate it on demand.
5) after experiencing the above which i thought was really weird, i went to neutral and let the clutch out and the truck slow creeped forward, not enough to rearend someone, but enough to notice it.
6) shifting from first to second sometimes is really clunky and the gears grind slightly.
7) if i am cruising in third, slow speeds ~15mph, and push the clutch in to pull it out of 3rd gear it acts like it doesnt want to come out, but with enough force it will.



with everything i have described above, it seems like a combo of things, maybe clutch AND synchros...this very well could be the case



the plan right now is to, while i am gone, try and find a tranny out of a supra. Hey 671, what year did yours come out of? didnt the bellhousing just swap right over? different clutch required or anything? i hope my clutch hasnt crapped out, i just put that thing in and it was ~400 dollars...

Sounds like your synchro's is going out.

Just swap bellhousing and shifter locater. Shifter locater is what I call it but it's what connects the shifter to the trans itself.

The shifter locater is needed so that shifter is kept in the stock location.

No worries clutch and flywheel can be used on this trans. Hope this helps!

[blackedout_taco_stidham]

Originally Posted by Enola Gaia

Hmmmm .... The additional factoids seem to point more to the clutch than to the tranny itself.

Care to ellaborate?