zombiedeth

Hey all,
I dont own an f-body, but this is such a great site with so much info I just had to sign up for it. I am a regular poster over at montecarloss.com, and the guys over there send people over here for info all the time. anyway, here is my current situation. I have an 85 monte ss. I bought it with a worked 350 in it, although I have no idea how it was built. It has a very lopey cam, solid lifters and roller rockers, not too sure about the bottom end, but the motor has to be putting out well over 300 hp. I have a moser built 12 bolt rear, with 4.11s and 33 spline axles, c-clip eliminator etc. Between them I have a mechanical release clutch with an f-body crooked bellhousing, and a t5 with a direct fit double hump gobdy t5 crossmember. The tag is long gone so the only id #s I have are casting numbers, and I havent had the tranny out to be able to look at the front bearing to determine if its a WC or not. It was making alot of noise, so I decided to freshen the fluid. When I drained it the fluid was very milky like it had water in it, kinda looked like pepto bismol. I used 1 qt of gm synchromesh and 2 qts of mobil 1 synthetic atf. Afterwards the tranny shifted great for the first mile or so, until it stopped going into third or fourth. Once I tried to put it into third and it didnt go, it wouldnt go into any gears until I stopped the car and pressed the clutch in twice. Then Id hear a little knock and it would go back into first, second, but then no third. Repeat this process all the way home. I drain and refill again with regular old atf, cheapest I could find. Now the tranny goes into third and fourth most of the time, but sometimes it still gets stuck and I have to go through the afforementioned process to get it back into gear. It also grinds into third alot. I dont know how changing the fluid would affect the tranny so adversly, the only thing I can think of is maybe it ate the coating off the synchros?!? thats if it is even a WC. Keep in mind the tranny was making noise before the fluid change, so I already had some kind of problem and I somehow made it worse. It was making alot of whiney gear noise, and If you were in third or fourth, and you wanted to put it into second to decelerate, while the shifter was in the second gear position but the clutch was pressed in it made a crazy "woo-woo-woo" noise., which went away after releasing the clutch but was replaced by the loud gear noise. Also it was making a noise while idling and the tranny was in nuetral with the clutch out, like a throwout bearing. I read about the clutch fork\pivot ball greasing trick from here and I hasve yet to try it yet to see if that would fix that noise. The fluid change definately quieted the gears down during regular driving, but now I have a new set of problems and the second gear noise is still there. So, I am looking at g-force built t5s or an upgrade kit, because I dont want to change bellhousings or cut my driveshaft, and I would like to keep it cable driven over hydraulic for simplicities sake. But the car needs paint, weatherstripping, and some rust proofing, particularily the floor pans, so my wallet is kind of tapped for this winter. I want to put something in the car over the winter which will last me all of next spring and summer till I can afford to swap in a g-force next winter. My question is, what can I do for now for under 500 which will hold up to a decent amount of abuse (no power shifting, and I always clutch between shifts, but I do so enjoy smoking ricers and mustangs.) ? I have been looking around locally (long island ny) and all I have found for gm is a NWC. what are my options here, what do you think is even wrong? I guess what I am asking is what would you do if you were in my situation? I can give more info if needed. thanks in advance.

Pat Hall

iTrader: (31)

I can't guarantee this diagnosis 100%, but it sounds like you're having bearing issues inside the trans. This would account for all the strange noises you're hearing. When you have the clutch released with the trans in neutral, the motor is still rotating a lot of stuff inside the trans, hence the noises you'd hear with bad bearings. Also, when you stated the original fluid looked milky, it sounds like a lot of water or moisture managed to get inside the trans at some point in time. This further strengthens the theory that the bearings have suffered, possibly from rust, pitting, or just general corrosion. If I was in your situation, the first thing I'd determine is whether you have a WC or non-WC unit. Once you figure that out, pick up a general rebuild kit for it and go through it. Make sure whatever kit you buy comes with all the main bearings, synchros wouldn't hurt either. I'd also look real closely at the mainshaft surfaces where the gears and bearings ride to make sure they're still nice and smooth with no major scoring. Also take a close look at the inner hub of the input shaft where the pocket bearings ride for the same reason. Oh yeah, you should check for broken synchro hub keys too. This would make it hard to shift, and if the pieces have gone through the gears, this can cause bearing/gear damage too.If you can do the work yourself, it should cost roughly $150-$200 in parts to go through your trans by yourself. This should get you by until you can afford to upgrade to a G-force unit, TKO, or a T56. Hope this helps.

zombiedeth

thanks for the quick reply pat, while I do all the work on my vehichles, I helped a buddy of mine take apart a t5 out of a mustang and we ended up having to take it to the trannt shop to have them put it back together. I thought we did it right, but when we were done it wouldnt shift. I am a little wary about taking my own tranny apart. I am looking at some of the astro performance t5, and although there more around the range of 700-1000 I think it would be a better investment. If I can get one rated for 400 ft lbs I know I wouldnt break it, then I wouldnt need a tko or g-force for a while. The only thing is, the astro performance website shows only ford trannies, but I found them website through this very message board, from a user named astro performance. Ill have to call him and see what we can work out.

Pat Hall

iTrader: (31)

Yeah, I've emailed Astro Performance before, and they do have a Super T5 gearset available for thirdgen f-bodies now, and the price is more reasonable than what G-Force wants from what I remember. Also, do a search on the boards here about G-Force, and you'll probably reconsider ever buying anything from them anyways. From the posts I've read here, their customer service, or lack thereof, is a total joke, and they don't stand behind their products when something breaks. I've also heard of people waiting six months or even longer before they even get their gearset from them. Send an email to Astro Performance and they should be able to give you the info you need.

zombiedeth

will do pat, thanks for the heads up on g-force, I will have to read up on them some more. Ill send an email to astro, thanks again