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Need help with a 90' Transmission in a 94'

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TalonJohn94

TalonJohn94

20+ Year Contributor
590
4
Jan 30, 2003
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
This is a '90 ShepRacing transmission. I was told it has EVERYTHING that Jon offered like 5 years ago. [2x Synchros, 4-spider CD..etc,]. It doesn't seem that impressive when driven. The 1-2 shift is OK - doesn't grind. It seems to be a little notchy going into 3rd. 4th and 5th are fine. My 2 major concerns are:

1. It comes OUT OF 3rd and 4th gear SOO effortlessly - it seems like I almost don't need the clutch. I could tell something seemed strange before I installed transmission - when I could move the gear shift arms VERY easily.

2. It just DOESN'T shift "silky smooth" like most of the reviews of Shep's transmissions that I read. It doesn't grind ever - but shifts relatively slowly.

Could there be something loose/missing internally in the transmission - around the gearshift mechanism [should I take a closer PIC of that area] ?

Are Jon's RACING transmissions less smooth, but stronger than his regular rebuilds?

Any information would be greatly appreciated, especially before I buttton this all back together :thumb:

Sorry about the :notgood: PICS but I had re-sizing issues.
 

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uh um..look at the 3rd picture..in the lower right corner.. are those chunks of metal????
 
Yea, looks like the catch pan under a NC machine after a days cuttings.

The "notchy" not smooth shifting could be from the shifter mechanism....shifter, cables, loose brackets and the like. I've never been "behind the wheel" of a Shep tranny, but I can say on mine a B&M, shifter plate bushings and the cable end bushings made one hell of a difference.
 
Raph said:
uh um..look at the 3rd picture..in the lower right corner.. are those chunks of metal????
Click to expand...

THANKS for the quick response.

:p Don't worry, that's my DRIVEWAY. The picture is looking down at the gear set!

Also, the transmission was supposed to only have about 6 months of use before I installed it.

Does anyone know about the effortless release of 3rd and 4th gear -- as well as some pretty noticeable play in the shifter assembly while in gear?
 
When does the clutch engage off the floor?? Check your master and slave cylinder for leaks. The slave leaks under the boot. I had the same problem with my trany when I got it from shep but turned out the slave was leaking not disengauging the clutch. Third gear will be most noticable if you have a clutch relase problem.
Also get a SS clutch line to replace the stock rubber one if not already done so.
As for the the play in the shifter the shifter assembly bushings are wore out causing the play. Only real way to repair that is rebuild the shifter with all new bushings and the symbrski shift bushing kit. Also the shifter cable ends inside the car will be sloppy as well.
You will find alot of your problem in the clutch system so really look good there.
As far as sheps tranys shifting any difftent well they are all set up the same im sure.
90% of trany shifting problems are clutch release related not the trany itself.
My 3/4 is efortless as well and is like that since the gearing ratio is so close to one another and its a straight shot back to shift i unlike second to third.
Good to hear thats your driveway I saw that too!!
 
Look on the front of the tranny and you will see 3 bolts all in a line and close together. behind these bolts are spings and balls. The springs hold tension on the balls which engage into notches on the shifter rails when each gear is engaged. If any of the springs or balls are missing, the shift is effortless and feels as if the next gear doesnt engage through the shifter. My suggestion is to remove the bolts and make sure the springs and balls are installed. I have seen a situation where one of the bolts came out and the owner just installed another bolt without the spring and ball and had the same shift feeling as you are experiencing. If the rain slows up, I will go outside a take a couple of pics of my parts tranny to show what I am talking about.
 
Are you using 94 shifter with the 90 tranny? According to Jon at TRE, it should work but might have something to do with that.
 
Black95TSIawd said:
You bought the transmission used. Why are you blaming shep racing?
Click to expand...

Agreed!

5 years! If all trannies lasted that long. I would look at the detent springs and make sure they are inplace (ball and spring). I have used the billet aluminum shift forks before and wore them out right away. If they have held up in that trans, then something was done right.

Have you asked the guy you bought it from if it felt loose to him? A thread titled such as this one is, could be damaging to a very good name. John Shepherd have done very well for me and thousands of others over the last several years.

Personally I would not have call him into play other than to prove that it was a professional build 5 YEARS AGO!
 
topstreet said:
A thread titled such as this one is, could be damaging to a very good name. John Shepherd have done very well for me and thousands of others over the last several years.
Click to expand...
Agreed, thanks for reminding me. :thumb:
 
topstreet said:
Have you asked the guy you bought it from if it felt loose to him? A thread titled such as this one is, could be damaging to a very good name. John Shepherd have done very well for me and thousands of others over the last several years.

Personally I would not have call him into play other than to prove that it was a professional build 5 YEARS AGO!
Click to expand...

NO, NO, NO ... that wasn't my intent at all. John has done (other) work for me too and I've only had GREAT product/communication experiences with him. I only mentioned that is was a ShepRacing transmission because I wanted to know if the 3rd and 4th gear release issue/concern had anything to do with the way his RACE transmissions are assembled/modified. Sorry for the inadvertant implication.

topstreet said:
Agreed!

5 years! If all trannies lasted that long. I would look at the detent springs and make sure they are inplace (ball and spring). I have used the billet aluminum shift forks before and wore them out right away. If they have held up in that trans, then something was done right.
Click to expand...

I have checked the detent springs and ball bearing, and they are all intact and look fine - as long as they don't have different spring rates because of being mismatched.

Lastly, the transmission was actually built 3 years ago now that I look harder. ALSO - it was used for less than a year by original owner - and then because of many other problems with MY DSM - I've just now been able to use it in the last 6 months. But I DO understand that everything wears over time.

Has anyone had to replace worn ball bearing or fatigued detent springs?
 
Its all good Gold!

I have never seen one of the detent springs go bad but I guess its possible. If the thing flew in and out of gear on the ground then it sounds like a spring on bracketry (inside trans) might have broken or loosed up.

I say call the one who knows these things and see what he has to say.

Good luck to you man!
 
TOPSTREET/Jake: Thanks for the encouragement, and as soon as I know how to precisely phrase my question to John - I'll try and give him a call, I know he's really busy.

I think I am going to leave this transmission 1/2 disassembled (on car, in driveway :coy: ) for a little while so I can figure out if its possible to fix this gearset seal - and see if I can pound it all the way in. And I want to know if this 3rd/4th gear release can be fixed/adjusted while the transmission is split open. I tried to search for this and there was ONE other thread, I PM'd the guy and he said that he never resolved the issue. If I knew that the transmission doesn't have to be open to fix it - I would defer that repair and keep going.

All I want is "acceptable" shifting, and no transmission leaks and I would be content. I'm starting to lose ambition w/this car in general - but thats just me ranting.:sosad:

So if anyone has any information about the gearshift rebuild/seal/adjustment -- PLEASE post/PM.
 
BTW, OLDMAN: Thanks for changing the thread title -- I just now understand why the title seems inflamatory. It's like I'm saying: "Look at this ShepRacing mistake" or something. Although, now it seems like I can't get a '90 transmission to work in my '94 - which was the case about a year and a half ago.;)

Anyway, back to the matter at hand.

GearShift mechanism (internally), explained?
 
I was told that the 1990 tranny had is own unique shifter cables, base and shifter mechanism. I am having problems shifting too in my car with a stock tranny. The previous owner swapped one from another car with 80k on the tranny. thing is, i have a 1990 so good chance is that the tranny is from another car. Now i need to figure out what year the tranny is and so on. If it turns out to be the same year as your car, maybe we can swap shift linkage?
 
Oh, and yes I DO have a '90 transmission - but I also swapped the SHIFTER ARMS, CABLES, and ASSEMBLY/BASE when I installed this '90 transmission just to be sure I didn't have any shifting problems.
 
Well thats good. I also found out that i have a 90 tranny in my car. I wonder if maybe i have the shifter linkage and parts from a 91+ car, or maybe first and reverse syncro is bad.
 
my_precious said:
Well thats good. I also found out that i have a 90 tranny in my car. I wonder if maybe i have the shifter linkage and parts from a 91+ car, or maybe first and reverse syncro is bad.
Click to expand...
Like I said, there're only 3 types of shift bracket (the arm attached to the shifter rod) on the tranny (90', 91'-94' and 95'+), post a picture of it so we can tell you which one you have.
 
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