Amontgomery Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 I will soon be getting a 1997 SE with a 5 speed tranny. I am getting it at a VERY good price($500) and I know enough about the history (belonged to a family member) to be fairly sure that it will run well other than one issue. The transmission will try to "push" out of the gears 1-3-5 when the transmission has the load taken off of it (specifically when it is coasting down a hill). It only successfully pushed out of gear in 5th gear, but when you keep your hand on the shifter and do the same thing (let off the gas going downhill) you can feel the shifter push back into your hand. I know this is a problem on the inside of the transmission itself, and I know it would be labor intensive to pull the transmission myself and do the work, or replace the transmission myself. My question is twofold; 1) What would be the approximate cost (book hours) to swap a transmission? 2) What would be the approximate cost to pull and repair the transmission? Both cases would be a mechanic shop doing the work for me. I have the tools and the experience to do the work myself but not the place to do it or the lift/trans jack to do it with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 Are you sure it isn't the tranny (or maybe motor) mount?? That said, I've never pulled a R-50 tranny and having no idea what the cause is, I'm not going to guess. FYI, I have pulled a WD21 tranny in the privacy of a friends garage and rented the tranny jack. B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamzan Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 the r50 manual is the same as the wd21. I'm 90% sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 No T-bars so that's gotta be more than 10% difference. Regardless, it's easier than a WD21 but still big job. B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nunya Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 Gotta agree with B on the sounding like a mount thing... I've had bad mounts make the shifter "move" on previous HBs, one that would smack the shifter off the floor cauisign it to 'push' out of gear if I could play with the go pedal right... IIRC that was a bad trans mount that time... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MY1PATH Posted August 31, 2010 Share Posted August 31, 2010 any noise? the fill plug on the manual trannys was about an inch too low resulting in insufficient cover of the bearings (mostly 5th) symptoms of the related wear include poping out of gear (1, 3,5), whine in those same gears and sticking syncros... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amontgomery Posted August 31, 2010 Author Share Posted August 31, 2010 Not sure about the noise, I have only driven it a few times. Is the floor what is pushing out in the cases mentioning the motor mount? Would clearing a little of the metal from area in front of the shifter help the problem until I can get it to a shop and get the mounts replaced, if that is the case? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MY1PATH Posted August 31, 2010 Share Posted August 31, 2010 (edited) if it is the motor mounts cutting the floor is a bandaid yes but the mounts aren't that bad to change (as in I've seen worse) I'd actually recomend doing it yourslef. a jack, a few wrenches and a ~2ft long 2x4 will cost allot less then a shop that might try to pull the engine to change em so so they can get more $$$$ out of you.... shave slight curve into one end of the 2x4 an push it up against the acessory bracket for the alty(not the tensioner or alty itslef) put the jack under that and losten the motor mount jack a little more pop the torn mount out and the new one on. If needed, repeat the same on the Power steering bracket (not the tensoiner or pump itslef) to do the passenger other side. Tranny pad mount is even easier. Edited August 31, 2010 by MY1PATH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amontgomery Posted August 31, 2010 Author Share Posted August 31, 2010 if it is the motor mounts cutting the floor is a bandaid yes but the mounts aren't that bad to change (as in I've seen worse) I'd actually recomend doing it yourslef. a jack, a few wrenches and a ~2ft long 2x4 will cost allot less then a shop that might try to pull the engine to change em so so they can get more $$$$ out of you.... shave slight curve into one end of the 2x4 an push it up against the acessory bracket for the alty(not the tensioner or alty itslef) put the jack under that and losten the motor mount jack a little more pop the torn mount out and the new one on. If needed, repeat the same on the Power steering bracket (not the tensoiner or pump itslef) to do the passenger other side. Tranny pad mount is even easier. I could probably do that over a weekend without a lot of trouble, and I could rest assured that after 300,000 miles the mounts will have some wear and the act of changing them would only help the vehicle in the long run. My only worry is with such a "well used" vehicle, would I run the risk of breaking something else in the act of changing. In any case, I can try removing metal in front of my shifter and see if that improves the situation, if so, I can look into doing the motor mount swap. Thanks. If anyone else has any other ideas I welcome them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nunya Posted August 31, 2010 Share Posted August 31, 2010 thats basicly the options if thats the issue, replace the mounts, trim the floor, or bend the shifter (don't bend the shifter). personally like MY1PATH said, they ain't really challanging with the right stuff and a little patience, and the trans mount is almost a cakewalk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amontgomery Posted August 31, 2010 Author Share Posted August 31, 2010 any noise? the fill plug on the manual trannys was about an inch too low resulting in insufficient cover of the bearings (mostly 5th) symptoms of the related wear include poping out of gear (1, 3,5), whine in those same gears and sticking syncros... Repair in this case would require either swapping out the entire transmission, or breaking down the current one and replacing the syncros and the linkage for the shifter as well (maybe). Would this exhibit similar symptoms (coming out of gear when you let of the gas and the vehicle is going downhill)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MY1PATH Posted August 31, 2010 Share Posted August 31, 2010 when you step on the gass the engine shifts right if the mounts are busted and your acceleranting hard it may also shift back. In the same situation when you let off the gas the engine shifts left and foward.(possibly pushing the lever out of gear) a rebuild would include bearings too because its the heat from the ill lubricated bearing that caused the syncro to stick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amontgomery Posted August 31, 2010 Author Share Posted August 31, 2010 It would probably be easiest to find a low mileage pull-out and swap that in if that is the case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted August 31, 2010 Share Posted August 31, 2010 Check to see if your t-case shifter is moving in unison with your 5speed shifter. If so, then it's a mount or 2 that are shot. If not, then it's something worn out in the tranny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amontgomery Posted August 31, 2010 Author Share Posted August 31, 2010 Check to see if your t-case shifter is moving in unison with your 5speed shifter. If so, then it's a mount or 2 that are shot. If not, then it's something worn out in the tranny. I had not thought of doing that, but it makes sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amontgomery Posted September 7, 2010 Author Share Posted September 7, 2010 OK. I got extensive time behind the wheel with it this weekend (pulled a trailer 250 miles) and I can say for sure that it is not the motor mounts. There is a grinding popping sound when it happens, so I know it is internal. Since the vehicle has around 280-290k miles on it, a lot of things will begin to show wear so I will probably just do a complete drive-train swap when it quits working and use it as a toy/project vehicle. Maybe even do a SAS or some other extreme modification. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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