well, a guy is going to sell me his high mileage T5 from his V6, S15 truck which his son recently smashed. i'm going to put it in my 62 Chevy truck. gotta pick it up tomorrow. for $100 it's worth taking a chance. he said that it was working fine before the crash and i believe him. don't know though how badly his son abuse the trans after dad gave him the truck. anyway, i'm brainstorming to see if there is a way to turn the output shaft with a drill or something and see if it shifts well into all the gears before i install it. is there a simple way to accomplish this? when i take the cover off what should i look for as far as worn synchros bearings, shaft play et.. ?
There is no 'cover' to take off - you have to remove the shifter internals, then the tailhousing to get the top cover off. Shifting it w/o any power going through it won't tell you much unless it's badly broken.
thanks, ernie: i went to look at one trans that was questionable. the owner (a mechanic) and i thought that we could pop that cover off and look inside but that was not to be. we then looked under the shifter and noticed a pin on a rectangular steel piece that holds the shifter rod. under that is a ball bearing. well the ball bearing fell out of place and we were baffled trying to get it back in and could NOT figure out how to get that cover off.... removing the tailhousing is easy but i still have to get that shifter arm free from the shifter. what's the trick? what parts are going to fall out on me? is there a tutorial somewhere? i've never done this before.
Drive the roll pin straight down Unbolt the tailhousing Hold your hand over the shifter box and catch the steel block, spring, and ball as you slide the tailhousing off Unbolt the top cover & lift it up and to the side to get it off Reassembly is reverse, and kinda tricky to compress the spring on the ball in the steel block while sliding it all on AND getting the countershaft aligned with it's respective machined pocket in the tailhousing...
i got the trans home and noticed that there are some hairline cracks in the tailshaft. i doesn't look like it was leaking though. is this common on T5's? rq375: thanks for that link. i downloaded the info and i'm printing it now.
Ernie: thanks for that tutorial. i'm going to take that sumbitch apart and poke around inside later. i was told though that the 1" 14 spline input shafts are not desirable because they only accept the astrovan clutch disk. is this going to be a problem? here's my quandary: i'm moving soon and have to drive this truck from texas to florida. i'd really like to have a 5sp for the trip plus this orig 3sp keeps hanging up on me. i have a mechanic who will do the entire job including shortening my driveshaft and cutting the floor pan et... he will do the job a heck of a lot cheaper than i could get it done in florida after i move. so i'm considering having him install this T5 even though i'll have no speedo (i'll put markings on a tach as my speedometer) and then when i get to florida, i will be able to search for the correct T5 at my leisure and it will be a relatively simple switch since the bullwork will have already been done. the only thing i might have to do is change out the clutch. but one more question; are all the output shaft splines the same on T5's? if not that could interfere with my "simple" trans swap.
OK! i got the top cover off. thanks again to ernie with that simple tutorial. here are some pics. everything looks good except for one gear 1st? which has some minor chipping but no big deal. it's hard to see and don't know if you can tell from the pics. the ONLY thing that i can't tell is if the synchros are good. oh, there are lots of metal fragments on the magnet. nothing huge. is that normal? can those synchros be easily changed? is there something specific that i should check?
picture 4 all the way to the left is the reverse gear. The little bit of damage is from grinding going into gear. NOT a problem, everything else looks good to me. Make sure the input shaft don't wobble. It has a tapered roller bearing up there and if it's loose, and the bearing is still good you can remove some of the shim pack to give it a slight preload and no wobble. You gonna love the T-5. Both the T-5's I got and run have unknown high miles and are fine. The only one I every seen damage to was a 5.0 Mustang one that broke while dragracing with an aminal for a driver. We threw most of that one away. You might not have to do anything with the floor except cut a hole for the shifter. I have a 70 C-30, with the flat floor and it fit nice. Just a shifter hole. I used the 11" astro van disc in that one. it's fine. Had to heat and bend the shifter stub to aim more towards the driver. I used the S-10 handle.
gas pumper: THANKS!!! the input shaft does wobble a little. you mean take off that input shaft housing and i can move the bearing more toward the trans to tighten that up by removing shims? is it obvious once i get that housing off? also, i was told that the 14 spline input shaft is going to be a problem but if the astrovan clutch disk will work, no problem right? this trans is from an 89 S15 # 1352-192. it takes dextron II right? is there a simple way to convert it to a cable speedo or do i need a cable tailshaft?
They used the 14 spline T5 in S10's, Astro vans, and Camaros. Astro vans were the only ones to use an 11" clutch, not the only ones to use 14 splines. 9 1/8, 9 5/8, 10 1/2 (aftermarket), and 11" are the sizes available for the 14 spline disc. You would add shims to tighten up the input, not take them out. Any Dextron II or better can be used. A synthetic ATF compatable with Dextron is what many use instead. Another place to look for wear is the tip of the mainshaft and the inside of the backend of the input shaft. This would require removing the input shaft. You will need 2 types or snap ring pliers, a bearing remover, and a press to properly rebuild a T5, and that means to replace the synchros too... Get a manual for this thing before you get yourself into trouble... You will need to trim the input collar and the tip of the input shaft and run a 1/2" drill bit through the bolt holes. Unless you used one of those spacer plates, then you just need to drill out the holes. You could try these guys for an adapter to convert electric signal to cable drive. Haven't used one. In your case, At $150 its better than trying to find another transmission or cobble something together. http://www.dragonaero.com/SpeedChangerMechanicalPage.htm
snarl: i feel like i've hit the jackpot. that info will save me a lot of time. i'm checking out that link now. also, what do you recommend to use as a shim for that input bearing? a thin washer? i don't want to overdo it. i'm going to shim that bearing this morning, put this thing back together, take it to the car wash and get the gunk off of it, get some synthetic dextron II oil, fill er up, get an 11" astrovan clutch and take it up to the shop. that is what i need right, the 11" astrovan clutch? i will be so happy to get rid of that crappy saginaw 3sp and i'm also happy that this trans looks good on the inside. when i saw some hairline cracks in the tailshaft housing, i thought i was sunk but another guy said, "that's not unusual for aluminum housings". there is no evidence of leakage on those cracks so i'm not going to worry. i'll just smear some WD Weld over them after i clean this thing up. gas pumper: there is a little bit of grinding evidence on another, beveled gear besides reverse. it's the second gear on the counter-shaft from the front of the trans. pic included. i doubt that it's going to be a problem though. THANKS!
What size is the clutch in the truck now???? Dextron II is an out of date designation. Anything that says its compatable with Dextron will work fine. Just read the label... Shimming the front bearing is done with proper shims for that purpose. Not something you get at the hardware store. You may need to order them from someplace that deals in T5 parts, or you could try a Chevy dealership or a local transmission shop. Do you know the proper procedure for shimming? Do you know what the distance is supposed to be? Do you have a feeeler gauge? Do you have a dial caliper?
Do you know the proper procedure for shimming? Do you know what the distance is supposed to be? Do you have a feeeler gauge? Do you have a dial caliper? #1. no #2. no #3. no #4. no i'll tell my friend at his shop to look at it and shim as necessary prior to installation. he has a complete machine shop and all the skills. but how much input shaft play is acceptable? how is that measured?
Yeah, these kids hammer that 2-3 shift and 3 breaks. but us seasoned guys don't have that problem. I had one that had a loose input bearing. ran it for a while. no ill effect it seemed. I took the transs out to change the tail to a mechanical speedo and though I'd look at it then. I found no shim. So someone had been in the trans and left it out. I could move the input shaft .030 front to rear. I made a shim out of .032 material cause I had some, and thought a little preload would be nice. It was a soda can or bean can, I don't remember. Anyways cut it out with hand shears and put it in there. Perfect. tight no play and very slight preload. It's been running about 2 years like that. I use Red line MTL Synthetic. But the ATF works, too and probly about anything will lube it fine. Just look how nice the insides look, they all look that nice. I think they are a quality transmission. I think they are a very efficient design. I can drive for hours and when you reach under and see how hot it is, it is warm, not hot. you won't burn your hand on the trans. So not much heat from internal drag and friction. I know, not very scientific, but still
No play at all. Thats why you shim it. There are online sources for rebuild manuals, or find an S10 shop manual. Make sure its for a '92 or older, as the parts and procedure for a NWC is different than a WC. With the trans all put together (collar bolts loose), stand it on end with the input pointing straight up. I usually clamp the "fin" on the bottom of the tailhousing in my bench vise. You don't want to support the tailshaft itself because you want all the internals to set as far back as they will go. With the collar loose, run a feeler gauge between the case and collar. Adjust shims until you get .003" of daylight. Then silicone and bolt down the collar and you're done. The caliper is needed to check the thickness of the shims so you can figure out the right combination of shims to get you to the magic .003" mark. Make sense?
i got the top cover on and i THINK that i have the forks lined up correctly. i can't get the tailshaft housing on though! it slips on and then hangs up on something. i think that it's the shaft in the pic. when i first put that top cover back on it wasn't right and i shifted it and things went "loose" and that shaft in the pic was also loose. now it looks like it's not centered. what is this shaft? i'm going to open up that top cover AGAIN and see if i can get it centered.... i'm running out of black silicone... also there is a small bearing also picture. should i secure this with a touch of grease into the tailshaft housing before i try again to put it on? is that plastic piece supposed to look like it has a cut out of it?
Snarl: i will do as you say as soon as i get this %$#$! trans back together. thanks for that info! first things first though. i think i have to go back into it to center that shift rod that's not centered in the pic above.
I picked up the "How to Rebuild the Tremec T5 Transmission" video from Bad Shoe Productions (www.bacshoeproductions.com). Not being a tranny mechanic myself, I thought this two disc set was a good "how to". Cause there he is right in front of the camera takin the little darlin apart and puttin it all back togeather again right before your eyes!
i'm getting kinda hot.... i do not know how this trans works which is adding to my frustration but please bear with me. in pic #0046 that arm which is connected to the rod that is NOT lined up properly is supposed to move right? well it's not moving at all but before when i installed the shifter forks wrong it was loose. what the hell did i do? something seems misaligned. is this the reverse gear lever? in the last pic it shows the shift-forks. is there a certain way to align them before installing the top cover? i thought that this was going to be a breeze and it's not at all. there's something simple that i'm doing wrong but i'll be damned if i can figure it out.
Get the forks where they are swinging freely and move them to the passenger side of the top and slide the top cover on from the driver side toward the passenger side after allining the forks over the sliders.
It has been a while for me, but I believe that lever does work the reverse fork. Man, I wish I had one of these sittign in front of me to try and help!
part of the problem (besides this message board logging me out every 10 minutes) is that the reverse shifter lever seems locked. it won't budge so i can align that reverse shifter rod that goes into the tailshaft housing.
ok, i got the reverse shifter freed up but now i have to put this thing into 4th gear so that when i put the top cover on the bolt holes are aligned, right? as it stands when i put the top cover on the cover is shifted forward to the input shaft. also, how does the reverse lever interface with the shifter forks? when i look as i'm sliding that top cover on, it seems that the reverse lever goes OVER the flat metal pieces. how do you position those shifter forks and sundry metal gizmos when mounting that top cover? here's a pic of my cover? i can't figure this thing out!
If you need a rebuild kit call D and D performance 248-735-6220 they deal w/nothn except tremecs -t-5 rebuild kit is $259.99. these guys know there stuff .I picked up a rebuilt tremec 3650 from these for 999.99(they were hav`n a sale).This went in a mustang 34o hp and 396trq(nitrous car)never had a problem.They have great deal/sales you just got to keep check`n .Also do you self a faver get a pro 5.0 shifter it has springs that make it very hard to mis that 2nd to 3rd shift. And adjustable stops so you dont over shift and bend internals. I still a dont know why every one raves about t-5`s they are the weakest of all tremecs.You can pick up t-45 or a 3650 used for the same price (they will bolt rite in).you just got to know where to look.Mustang salvage.com And if you realy going to drive your car even a new t-5 will not last.Ask any guys w/ a fox body how long there t-5 lasted ,not long
currently rebuild kits are the least of my interest. how do i position all the levers and mechanical gizmos in the top cover so that i can reinstall the cover. i read the manual but it's written so poorly it doesn't not answer my simple question. that "interelock plate" has to be positioned exactly how with relation to the shifter fork arms?
Look on you tube-I just came a cross lots of clips on guys rebuilding t-5`s....hope this helps type in "how to rebuild the world class t-5 transmission" this should be no dif than what your work`n on,hang in there man you`ll get it
i'm out in the country on dialup. i'll search the vids and see if any show how to reinstall the cover and i'll download them over night. it's so frustrating though because i just need to know how to arrange all of the mechanism in the cover before i slide it on. i had it on once but then had to take it off to free up the reverse shifter shaft because it was canted and i couldn't get the tailshaft on. but can't do it again....
Try this www.carcraft.com Go to the search bar up top of there page and search t-5 rebuild.Should pull up a tech artical that fills in some of the not so clear parts in tremecs repair/rebuild manuel. I cant remember if you said you got the t-5 rebuild manuel of tremecs web site or not.Im trying man,I find something that will help ya.
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