question for the stick shift gurus....My car just started that its hard as hell to get it into 1st gear..Brought it to a tranny shop and they said i need new synchros...how much should a job like that cost me and is that the real problem....thanks for the heads up.

 

Hard to get into first while moving or standing still? Engine off or on? Clutch in or out?

Could by synchros, could be something else.

Won't really know how much it'll cost you; price changes shop by shop, and when they get it apart who knows what else they'll either find or "find".

 

I haven't seen synchros simply go bad like that without some kind of destructive event. I've rebuilt about 15 of these trannys and have yet to see a synchro worn to the point of not functioning properly.

Check the gear oil in the tranny, in fact just drain/refill it with Redline MT-90. See if anything funny drains out, and if shifting gets better. Normally I recommend not using the position switch to drain the oil, but do it (very, very carefully - it's quite brittle, or just buy a new one for $25 anyway) and look in that area for stuff laying in there. You can see the shifter gates, and if there is any debris inside the tranny it will settle there and block shifting to one/some/all gears.

Dave

 

If your car is standing still and you are having a hard time getting into first, it's not synchros causing it, it's your clutch dragging. It could be just the master or slave cylinder or it could be the clutch itself. Is reverse hard to get into as well, does reverse grind every time you try to get into it? Those are sure signs of a dragging clutch.

 

yea reverse is a pain in the ***** to get into sometimes also.This is all happening while stoped not moven.All other gears work fine and i have no prob getting into them,just 1st gear and reverse...tranny shops goin to let me know monday whats up with it so i will be sure to get back to you guys and let you know whats up.Thanks for the help so far.

 

to fix the problem of getting into gear do you have to release the clutch pedal then push it back down? if so you could probably fix it by replacing your tranny oil with redline mt-90. i used to have that problem and that was because i had gl-5 oil in the tranny instead of gl-4. gl-5 causes the synchros to not line up properly.

 

Will it go into gear while the car isnt running ok?
Sounds more like a slave/clutch problem to me.

 

So you can shift into all other gears while you're stopped, but first and reverse are a pain? If not then try shifting into other gears while you're stopped. If they are all impossible to get into then your clutch isn't fully disengaging. If it is only first and reverse then your first gear synchro is worn to crap (reverse is not synchronized).

 

well i will know tomm what the outcome is and get back to you guys and let you know.