Hello,

A few months ago I converted my '96 to 5 speed MT using parts from a '98 donor car. The car did fine, tranny seemed fine for months, almost 15000 miles later, now it's jumping out of 5th gear if any decent amount of torque is applied to 5th gear. It stays in 5th gear fine till torque is applied such as climbing hills, accelerating, etc. Also, it seems to stay in 5th gear on light acceleration... for a while, however, after a few changes in speed over a period of time, it pops out of 5th gear. Another thing I should probably note here is if I shower down on the accelerator pedal quickly in 5th, it immediately pops out. At first I thought it was a bent linkage or fork due to allowing a noob in the world of MTs to practice on it (he tends to push the shifter really hard in fear he might miss and go in the wrong gear), but I am starting to question if that is really the case now. I have read somewhere that the input shaft bearing can have something to do with that, however, the input shaft bearing is not making typical worn bearing noise, and barely gets warm at idle while parked.

Additionally, when I got this transmission, the 5th gear detent ball/spring had fallen out, causing the tranny to not stay in 5th gear at all, 5th gear had one minor chip, and 4th gear was scrapped, I replaced 4th gear, but left the old 5th gear after someone with longterm experience said 5th gear should be salvageable from the looks of it, and replaced the synchronizer assembly for 5th gear, as well as the detent ball/springs.

Does anybody know any reason my tranny would be popping out of 5th now?

Thanks,
Tyler Guy

 

Some trannys have common issues for whatever reasons. For example, 04-05 neon srt models are notorious for having gear pop outs and grind going into 3rd. usually it's a synchro, or TOB.

But I don't recall our trannys having any problems besides normal wear and tear. This kinda confuses me as well. It could be that chip. Or it could be the new synchro he put it. I'm not sure

 

Well, I've smoked over the pictures I took while I had the tranny apart replacing the synchro and 4th gear. I think I have determined that the only possibility is a bent 5th fork due to my friend shoving it in gear too hard, because if it was wear and tear on the input shaft bearing, it would almost be guaranteed it'd pop out of 3rd as well, however, no matter how much torque I put into 3rd, it does not pop out of 3rd. Also I have noticed the fork for 5th gear is quite long, and quite thin at that, seems it would be fairly easy to bend it. I am considering taking it to a transmission shop this week and having them give me their opinion of whether it could be fixed with a simple linkage adjustment or if it needs a tranny rebuild or replacement. I'd do the job myself as I did last time, but I am currently residing about 1000 miles away from my garage and tools, and am living in a trailer park which doesnt really have a sufficient work environment for replacing/rebuilding a tranny (not even gonna think about crawling under the front of my car while it's jacked up for hours on bare dirt, in southern Louisiana where it could rain at any point in time and make the ground turn to mush causing the jack stands to slide out from under it).

Anyway, if anybody has any opinions on my theory, let me know.

-Tyler

 

Tyler ....

Sounds like a bent shift rod to me. That's the most likely cause anyway. With the detent ball / spring missing, as long as you replaced them, that shouldn't be an issue. It is probably not popping out of 3rd because it's a smaller gear and thus can handle a tad more torque. Not to mention also that 5th is chipped ....

Any noise when it pops out of gear? It is deff something internal causing this though. Sucks that you can't pull it and rip it open, but given your situation ... don't blame ya. G'luck !!!!

 

there are about a million different issues that could cause this, taken alone or in combination. post the pics of 5th gear.

 

No noise other than the expected when it pops out of 5th, just a "clunk". However, I have noticed that when pressing and releasing the accelerator pedal slightly allowing slight coast/accel pattern, the shifter moves slightly, and at that not in the manner that would be expected with a broken engine/transmission mount, also it does not do this in any other gear, when accelerating, the shifter moves forward, then after that moves back again, then continues to slide towards neutral until it pops out. I'm considering just ordering a transmission online from a reputable dealer, then having a shop install it for me, asking the shop to give me the old unit to bring home so I can further inspect the old one to find out exactly what happened.

--Tyler

 

You could have a broken denent spring in there causing it to pop out by not allowing it to 'lock' into position. The denent springs and ***** fit into little nooks on the shift rods. If the spring is weak or broken, it may not be applying enough pressure to the check ball. A bit of shifter play is normal with our 4g's .... remember, rod linkage shift set up, so any movement of the engine / trans will be seen in the shifter.

Wanna part with this trans if ya get another one? Dibs ....