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1G Transmission rebuild time???

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AWD-Tony

Proven Member
6,801
3,733
Sep 11, 2017
Cincinnati, Ohio
I replaced my clutch, pp and flywheel. Now in the process of needing to shim the pivot. Upon draining the fluid, I see this. Fluid was clean when I drained it the first time. When I drove it after the initial install, there was a rumbling noise on decel in third gear. There is obviously something wrong.

I’ve never taken apart a transmission. This might be a dumb question, any thoughts on what it could be? Will it be obvious what’s wrong when I disassemble?

I have a local guy selling a stock tranny and mine is a shep stage 3. Can I swap parts?

Thanks
Tony


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What are the details on the unit hes selling?

Its nothing too crazy inside so go ahead and pull it apart..........if you need any help Id be happy to share what I can. I need to update my build thread......this stuff is all Ive been doing.

Sounds like a bad bearing

all you need to tear down and do a general inspection is some basic mechanics tools Im sure you already have, a 36mm socket, and a good pair of snap ring pliers. Dont hesitate.
 
It’s a stock tranny.

If it does turn out to be a bearing, can I just buy a set of bearings for it, or are they no longer available.

Thanks evl! I appreciate it and will probably will ask you a million questions.

I have these snap ring pliers but if I need a better one, that’s not an issue.

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Bearings are all available, shims can be tricky. Things go downhill fast when driven on after anything fails inside, especially something that is going to lead to the distribution of metal through the unit. I would want to change all bearings, and take the clusters apart and clean everything really good. But this is going to be your call when you get in there. You can send the clusters out if you dont want to deal with that part but its best for you in the end as the one who wants to learn to do it yourself....... you will need a press and a splitter for this.

I cant tell how big those pliers are in the image but I like the big ones.....like the ones you would want for a Honda wheel bearing
 
I definitely want to do it myself. I have a 12 ton press and think auto part stores rent the bearing splitters. The snap ring pliers aren’t big, just slightly bigger than standard. Almost done pulling the trans. I’ll probably pick up that trans in the next couple of days.
 
This guy has a pretty good series on taking one apart. I watched these a few times when I originally thought my trans blew up. Lmao

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Synchros are gold. Gears are silver.

You're going to get some gold glitter due to normal synchronizer wear no matter what. It looks to me you're a bit more glittery than normal, though. If your clutch isn't releasing properly, your synchros are being overworked, which could account for some of the extra material in the oil. I don't see any large chunks of metal, which would be indicative of a major part failure.

Regarding the 3rd gear decel noise, I'd look into other factors before chalking it up as a bad trans. If you've got broken parts inside, the symptoms will typically will be felt in more than one gear under more than one condition.

What gear oil are you running?
 
Synchros are gold. Gears are silver.

You're going to get some gold glitter due to normal synchronizer wear no matter what. It looks to me you're a bit more glittery than normal, though. If your clutch isn't releasing properly, your synchros are being overworked, which could account for some of the extra material in the oil. I don't see any large chunks of metal, which would be indicative of a major part failure.

Regarding the 3rd gear decel noise, I'd look into other factors before chalking it up as a bad trans. If you've got broken parts inside, the symptoms will typically will be felt in more than one gear under more than one condition.

What gear oil are you running?

Now that I think about it. The decel noise was always there. It’s definitely got louder after my disc came apart. I rebuild the driveshaft, swapped rear diff and it was still there. Almost certain it’s in the trans now especially after the disc failure episode. My tcase fluid and rear diff fluids looked good. The only other thing I can think of is the rear wheel bearings.
 
I got here but I’m going to take a break to watch the chiefs game. It’s not as terrifying as I thought.

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I don’t see anything out of the norm so far but not real experienced to know what to look for besides the obvious. The bearing and synchros that I took off look good.

What should I be looking for besides bearings, synchros and gears?
 
Found the shim. It was on the case.

So after looking everything over, I don’t see anything abnormal and I hate to admit this but I think the glitter is from when I painted the trans. Looking at it it’s silver.

Let me know if you see anything abnormal.

Sorry if I wasted any of your time.

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I dont see anything in the images that would cause the production of metal flakes. The fluid image looks bad up top but if its from the paint (thats crazy) then thats great news for you. You would see the same "glitter" all over everything inside if you had an issue.

Gotta pull speedo to remove front diff. Can take some effort to lift it out, or pick up the unit and gently tap it against the bench to put gravity on your side as to carefully help it fall out.

If you think the sound is coming from the trans, I would be looking for a rough bearing.
 
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You're a man of courage for taking that beast apart, that's for sure! While you're in there I'd suggest changing out the gear lever oil seal, even if it's not leaking yet. It's a $1 part. I'll be cheating and doing it with the trans on the car but you might as well since it's already apart. Good luck with putting it back together!
 
Following close Tony, as I have a trans I need to take apart for a 3rd gear grind (Jacks Stage2 Drag). I am a bit concerned with taking it apart like you, but I have done everything else so far. Thanks for taking so many pictures and documenting it! And thanks to all that are chiming in! :thumb:
 
This guy has a pretty good series on taking one apart. I watched these a few times when I originally thought my trans blew up. Lmao

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He did a great job on the video, but do not do the penny thing........

Rather, simply engage 1st gear and 5th gear at the same time to lock things up.

The penny thing will more than likely result in chipped gears.
 
I have a large pair of reversible snap ring pliers that work fine. Removes the VC ring leaving it reusable, takes about 5 seconds.

I used the snap ring pliers from the pic I posted to get the VC snap ring off. Worked fine and reusable
 
I might pull apart 3rd gear stack to inspect further.

Reverse was always 50/50 going in. It would get stuck halfway and I’d have to slow let off the clutch and goes in no problem when I do this. Is this the reason why?

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You're a man of courage for taking that beast apart, that's for sure! While you're in there I'd suggest changing out the gear lever oil seal, even if it's not leaking yet. It's a $1 part. I'll be cheating and doing it with the trans on the car but you might as well since it's already apart. Good luck with putting it back together!

Stefan, I don’t see a seal here. Does the collar act as a seal?

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Is that the reverse Idler? It has seen some grinds, maybe still rolling forward when trying to engage at some point. IDK if you can dress those gears and make it better or not but I would dress them at least, or find another idler.
 
Following close Tony, as I have a trans I need to take apart for a 3rd gear grind (Jacks Stage2 Drag). I am a bit concerned with taking it apart like you, but I have done everything else so far. Thanks for taking so many pictures and documenting it! And thanks to all that are chiming in! :thumb:

My mind doesn’t turn when I see gears. Instead it locks up. Lol

I was always intimidated looking at a transmission but really not bad after taking it apart. I’ll go over the hard to does when I’m done.
 
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