Found metal at the bottom of my 5-speed. What next?

[Zed Head]

The various transmissions out there have a variety of switches.  Reverse, top gear, neutral.

[Mark Maras]

 Just thought of this. Youtube "Datsun 5 speed transmission", lots of teardown videos. Better than pics. Grab a beer and watch others make the mistakes first.

[sweatybetty]

buy one off ebay, and then tear into the bad one. you will never learn if you dont give it a shot

[EuroDat]

Just read through this thread. The pieces you found are from a bearing cage. Its probably from the centre bearing on the main shaft. I have seen a couple go there.

If the transmission was running good, I would defenatly cosider rebuilding it. Buying one from ebay is a bit like buying a raffle ticket. You don't really know what you have until you put it in the car and drive it.

You could pull yours out and flog it on ebay and no one would know. Pulling the drain plug wouldn't tell them anything. Not saying you should do that, but people do. You have to except that risk on ebay unless its a reputable dealer and then it will cost more.

Rebuilding it is not all that hard. Like Mark said, you can find lots of info on you tube. I can post a list of all the parts you need to rebuild it. The bearings are easy to find and the seals and gaskets aee still available at Nissan. You will need a bearing puller set, a good set of circlip pliers and metric spanners. A bench vice is enough to hold the adapter plate.

You can also identify which version of the 5 spped you have by looking at the rear extension housing. The bolt holding the speedo adapter above is 280Z and under the adapter is 280ZX. The two "Ears" for 280Z and one "Ear" for the 280ZX at the end of the extension housing will also tell you enough to know if its a wide ratio or close ratio (ZX) transamission. See the pdf for details.

Im just back from holidays, so I will post the list later if you want.

Good luck

FS5W71B 280Z and 280ZX transmissions.pdf

[KDMatt]

Hey guys, quick question -- is there a trick to getting the tranny to come out? I've been at it for a couple of hours now and I can't get it to separate from the engine more than about half an inch. 

I removed the crossmember that holds it up, and 4 bolts that hold it to the engine, along with the switch wires, speedo cable, and clutch slave ... What am I missing??

I'm supporting the engine with a jackstand just in case, and the trans with two jacks... I've tried raising it up, lowering it down, trying to put it about even with where it was mounted up... whacking on it with a mallet, using a pry-bar... I'm pulling on it as hard as I can (on the ground nonetheless) and it just won't let go. What gives???

[Zed Head]

Did you remove the shift lever?  And the two little bolts on the bottom that attach to the dust cover?

There are two dowels that can get sticky.  And the nose of the of the mainshaft can be sticky in the pilot bushing. 

 

[Zed Head]

Forgot to say, the splines of the clutch disc and mainshaft can get gummed up with clutch dust.  Vigorous wiggling while pulling will probably make same progress.

The sticky and gummed up parts will cause problems during instillation also.

[KDMatt]

Got it! Thanks Zed Head. There was so much crud on the thing I missed the two 12mm nuts/bolts at the bottom. 

Now my only problem is that my ramps aren't high enough to let the bell housing slide out, so I need to jack it up a few more inches, d'oh!

[Mark Maras]

19 minutes ago, KDMatt said:

Got it! Thanks Zed Head. There was so much crud on the thing I missed the two 12mm nuts/bolts at the bottom. 

Now my only problem is that my ramps aren't high enough to let the bell housing slide out, so I need to jack it up a few more inches, d'oh!

 I discovered the lack of height to clear the bellhousing the first time too. I separated the bellhousing from the trans under the car  (early trans) and reassembled it under the car. It was easier than lifting the car higher at that time. That was also back in 75. Now my back is the reason I don't.

[KDMatt]

Ok, it's out and I cleaned it up. 

My trans looks a little different than "normal" 280z 5-speeds I'm seeing on ebay. I've got a second switch where the fill plug seems to be on other cars -- my fill plug is on the driver's side.

Thoughts?

Also, what comes next? FSM isn't too clear on removing the spring and the bearing up front. I want to pull the gearbox away from the bell-housing to see which one of these bearing cages got chewed up.

[Zed Head]

Not positive but I think that Maxima's or trucks had the fill plugs on the driver side. How long is it?  Truck boxes are shorter.  

Nobody's ever confirmed that the various numbers and letters have any meaning.  you have to measure and look; ratios, length, speedo bolt position, exhaust hangers, etc.  You have two hangers which would be Z, not ZX.  Not sure about Maxima or truck though.

[KDMatt]

I think it's the same length as a standard Z transmission -- that is to say, I've got a replacement driveshaft for my Z, and it's the same length as the one that just came out of it... at least it sure looked like it. I'll have to double check now. Maxima in the 70's and early 80's would have been the 810, right? 

I've started dis-assembly, and I've reached a bit of an impass with the front cover -- I got all the bolts off, but I can't get the cover itself to budge. 

I got the back cover off (I can see two of the bearings/cages and so far these ones look ok) -- and I can see some starbit/hex bolts ... do those need to come off to get the front cover off? I can take some pics tomorrow of where I'm struggling if need be. 

Thanks for all the help so far everyone. I never would have made it this far without you guys.

EDIT: 

I measured the transmission -- it's 31 inches... so... standard Z-length as far as I can tell.

The bell housing looks like the Maxima bell-housing, but with the early Z 5-speed rear-half... The two ears are the giveaway on that right?

Also, I think I found my busted bearing culprit... It's the one right in the middle down below (second pic) ... is that the countershaft?

Edited May 8, 2016 by KDMatt