Thread: 5th gear issues...

This is regarding my daily driven 92 SE-R. Now to get you guys up to speed...

About a year and a half ago:

The nuts inside the frame holding the front of the crossmember broke loose so I used a tall jack stand and just welded the crossmember in. I made it 160 thousand miles on my stock transmission before it succumbed to 5th gear pop out.

I didn't swap the transmission right away and drove it for a while (5-6 months) with only 4 gears. It would sometimes go into 5th gear and other times it would just grind and not engage. If I forced it seemed to go in more frequently. Now this is where it gets interesting I was tagging the limiter in 4th one night and blew my motor.

I pulled the old transmission out and examined everything, what I found was both the T/O bearing and clutch disk had marks on them as they had been ground down. I didn't take pictures but both parts were damaged and not worth saving.

I installed the transmission from my white SE-R as well as the clutch and throwout bearing but replaced the clips. I also replaced the clutch cable at the same time.

I have gone about 45k on the current transmission from my white car. It felt like the clutch was slipping on the highway the other night in the rain. I thought nothing of it until the ride home. It started popping out now and again but by the time I got home it popped out everytime I hit the gas in fifth.

Now I am going to replace the Clutch/Flywheel/Throwout bearing and the transmission in the future. The rear mount is good and I was very good about getting the front crossmember lined up before welding it up.

Now what do you guys think about it only going 45k and developing popout again.

1) Bad luck and 5th went out without outside issues - true mileage is unknown on the transmission

2) Shift linkage got bent by me forcing it into 5th and this (possibly) caused the issue again

3) Crossmember is at the wrong angle and causing this issue

I am thinking of getting a spare transmission and getting it rebuilt and a Phantom Grip added. However if I spend the money on getting it rebuilt and a new LSD installed and it goes again by issue 2 or 3 I am going to be angry.

Thanks,
Jimmi

You just never know with B13/B14 trannies
Even if everything is right and installed properly...It is inevitably gonna take a dump at some point
Always try to keep a spare around if possible

Not just B1X guys, P11 ones are also lucky

Two trannies gone here, one with 100k miles and 2nd with just around 50k.

Next time I will buy the Nissan Repair Kit or the Gspec one...

This.

No way. The only thing that you can bend by "forcing it into 5th" is the 5th gear shift fork and that went into the trash with your original transmission.

Nope. Not gunna do it either.

How is your rear engine mount though? Good?


I wouldn't worry about it failing. I would use your original transmission for the rebuild if you still have it. Or use your current one. Personally a rebuilt transmission is a bit overboard if you ask me. Just get one with the new 5th gear in there and factory VLSD and add the phantom grip to it and call it a day.

This is not true. That's a bold statement. You can bend your shift linkage by having a bad mount.

I've clarified that with an edit. If taken in context with the quoted material, I hope it makes complete sense.

You know what I meant

My car stays in 5th most of the time, but will pop out of gear if I hit a good bump on the freeway. I just throw it back in and keep going. As far as I know it's the original transmission, 208k and counting.

Thanks, that is true.



I am looking at getting that kit and rebuilding either a spare trans or the one currently installed in my car.




I know it was a long post.

Ben I appreciate you input on the problem. I sold my old transmission to the scrap guy a few months ago. I have gotten transmission swaps pretty much down to a science and with my wire tuck and everything else think I could drop the trans in under 2 hours.

Now the wonderful thing about working for a shop is I have 12 lifts at my disposal. The bad thing I can't start working on my own car until 3pm on Saturday. That would leave me all day Sunday to swap the 5th gear parts out and reinstall the transmission before work on Monday.

Now for a first timer if I use the write up do you think I can have that done?

Also just to clarify I wasn't suggesting rebuilding the entire box just the 5th gear parts and then the LSD.

Yah you can get it done between 3 pm. and late into Saturday evening, or split it up into a two day thing if you want. It's not hard, it just takes some time and preparation (have all the parts/fluids/tools you need on hand). Be careful and meticulous and you'll be fine. The first time I did a 5th gear replacement it didn't take any more or less time than the 3rd one I did. They all took a good solid 8-12 hours of work. But as many of my fellow wrenching friends will surly tell you, I work quite slowly. I'm sure plenty of people could do it quicker. I just always like to take my time.