I need some help with my 5 speed

[siteunseen]

Do I get a "never mind"?

[Dave WM]

Just now, siteunseen said:

Do I get a "never mind"?

me too

[EuroDat]

Shifter can still be a problem. If the mechanic tightened things up, it could move the stroke of the selector and now cause problems.

You don't know for sure until you check and cross it of the list. Once the console is out, it's easy to remove the selector and check for contact marks.

Edited April 16, 2018 by EuroDat

[Zed Head]

Just remembered another one - the rubber boot around the lever.  Very common for the boot to be too thick or stiff for the mechanism to overcome.  Very.

Edit - I see that EuroDat mentioned removing it, but not as a cause.  I had one that used to squeak when I put the lever in to 5th.  When I took it apart later, there was a pile of rubber dust inside the boot.

Edited April 16, 2018 by Zed Head

[David F]

When I converted from auto to manual, I used the shifter that came with my 79 ZX trans.  The shifter did not have the correct bend so it would not work at all. I heated it up and put about 1" rearward curve/bend in it.  It sort of worked, but would pop out of 3rd and 5th often.  I sourced the correct shift lever and all issue were resolved.  So, your shift lever should have a pronounced rearward bend.  Does it?

[EuroDat]

7 hours ago, Zed Head said:

Edit - I see that EuroDat mentioned removing it, but not as a cause.  I had one that used to squeak when I put the lever in to 5th.  When I took it apart later, there was a pile of rubber dust inside the boot.

I was thinking that too. My idea was remove all the items that can influence the shifter. if it doesn't jump out of 5th, replace one piece at a time until it start jumping out again.

The rubber on these cars is getting old and hard. If could be as simple as an old rubber boot causinb yhe problem now the transmission has been tightened up.

[ksechler]

All:

Thanks for your replies.  I feel like I've got a much better handle on where to go next.  To try to answer a couple of questions...  

Zed Head:  I have the older transmission with two hangers.  

Eurodat:  It jumps out with force.  If I try to hold it in gear it grinds.

I moved the lever around last night with the motor off and there is definitely a different feel between 1-4 and 5.  Gears 1-4 go in positively and I can feel the teeth meshing.  5th goes in and the lever stays in place but without the feeling of the gears meshing.  I hope that makes sense.

[EuroDat]

Yes it makes sense. It sounds a lot like to detents are reversed or a lot of free play on the rear hub or maybe a loose retainer plate on the adapter plate. 

Al (Cal Dat llc) has a bit of a reputation for hit and miss rebuilds. He gets quite a bit of attention from his customers on the forums.

Did your second mechanic strip it down completely or just open the casing and found a couple of issues, fixed them and put it back together?

In  your last post you mention "feeling the gears meshing", but most of what you are feeling is the selector ball checks clicking into place and the inserts in the synchronizer hub clicking into the coupling sleeve. Could he have forgotten the springs behind the inserts? 

If you are not feeling that, I would remove the the two side ball check caps and check if the lower spring has colapsed or something like that. All the springs are the same length, but the top cap for 1st & 2nd is longer. You can get to these fairly easy by climbing under the car.

[Dave WM]

here is a short video describing how the shift insert should look and how the 5th should go in and out of gear.