id prefer not to crack it open, but... if i have to. how much would a shop charge just to check one do you think?

 

If it came with oil, drain it and look at the condition of the fluid and any metal shavings that came out. Some small flakes are normal wear and tear, anything larger than "glitter" is bad news.

You can run it through the gears with a screwdriver or by installing a shifter. Turn the shaft by hand as you run it through the gears. If it's difficult to get into any of the gears, you may be looking at a syncro on its way out. If you can't get it into any of the gears, you would tear it apart before I installed it.

 

yep, just put oil in it and drain and dip ur finger in the oil and if u see a lot of metal shavings then its no good

 

Or just remove the 20 or so bolts on the bottom of the trans that keep the cover on, and you can see all the gears,synchros etc. right there.

 

Only if it's a turbo tranny.

 

ok. it goes into all gears fine, and spins in those gears. but when im turning the shaft i cant push it into gear as soon as i stop turning the shaft it falls right in though. thats normal right?

 

anyone?

 

I would believe that is normal since you can shift in to all gears with the car off and grinds if you try to put the trans in gear with out the clutch and engine running.

 

No, you can't.
There is no way you can spin the input shaft fast enough and hard enough to load the gears enough to show any sign of problems...contrary to what others have said.

Best advice is to pop the bottom cover off and look at everything while it's spinning.
ANY damage to any of the gear clusters is BAD.
You really can't tell if the synchros are worn down past spec though...

Checking for metal shavings is not a guarantee either, cause a crooked seller could flush the old fluid out and fill with new fluid, which would cover this problem.


-Ted

 

This applies to a turbo trans, but If you remove the cover and in there you can see the triangular "engagement" teeth on the synchro and the gear itself they, look at them and see if any of the tips/points of them are ground down,or not pointed. This is what is giving you grinding because those teeth are not lining up properly due to them being worn. I agree with RETed that you can not load the input shaft enough to check the shift quality. All Transmissions will have some metal shavings in them as this is normal wear.