I have always noticed since i bought my car wayyyyyy back in 92'
(yea $14,999 brand new)when you go to put the car in reverse 98% of the time it always makes that grinding noise. I've made sure i've been to a complete stop,even set there for several seconds waiting and then, there's that grinding noise going into reverse. I have now finally figured out that if i come to a complete stop, put the car in fifth gear then go to reverse,presto...no more grinding noise. Anyone else ever have this problem also or was it just a curse?

 

I remember when I was little my dad had a 87 blazer, and it did that (bought it new too!). Sorry, I didn't contribute much, just though I would share.

 

I think it was common with alot of T-5 trannys or gm trannys in general to do that. Ive driven a few S-10's and camaros that putting it into 5th gear stopped it from grinding going into reverse. Its a syrnonizer thing .

 

i do that on all the cars i have, force of habit. i started doing it on a civic and noticed it was easier to get into reverse on other cars aswell. such as a porsche, and rx7

 

The reason the T5 in your car does that is because reverse has no syncros. So if you put it in any of the forward gears (which have syncros) then it will go into reverse without grinding.

 

Accually from honda transmission experence and having rebuilt one, before going into reverse, go N-1-2-1-R. Int the RX-7 I used to own, I found it easiest to got to 5th, then reverse.

 

My old 86 5-speed would ALWAYS grind in reverse. I would have to put it in first to bring down the rpms then push the clutch back in and quickly shift into reverse.

 

My 94 s-10 does the same thing... put it in any forward gear, no more grinding!!! I usually put it in 1-N-R.

 

The reason it grinds is because the main shaft is still turning when you depress the clutch and reverse has no synchro, so by putting the tranny in any gear, you stop the main shaft from turning and easily slide into reverse. Most of the time a roller pilot bearing solves this problem, which is why GM now uses them. A big mistake most people make when doing a clutch job is they use some sort of grease on the bronze pilot bushing, grease is not the correct lubricant, it causes severe heat and galling, usually makes the problem worse. Always remember to lube bronze pilots with motor oil.

 

Man did GM make some crappy Trannys. A lot of the T-5's would grind. Also they cant handle much over 300 lb ft of torque. I think my 700 only can handle something like 400 horsepower.

 

FWIW, GM didn't make the T-5. Borg/Warner (Now Tremec) did. Some of the Saginaw and Muncie transmissions (made by GM) were actually fairly stout, if not very smooth. AFAIK, GM is now only directly involved in the Getrag and New Process Gear units, plus all the automatics they make for everyone.

 

Well they definitly improved since then. The trannys in the LS1's are waaaay better.

 

Tremec.