If you were considering buying a used 5 spd what would you look for when inspecting?

Edited May 20, 20195 yr by 7tooZ
typo

Eurodat and Dave WM have both been deep in to the 5 speeds.  Seems to me that most of the parts are available so as long as the adapter plate bearings haven't blown up, which they do sometimes, and the gear cones, for the brass synchro to ride on, aren't rusted or worn out, it should be rebuildable.  Another common wear area is the nose of the input shaft, if somebody let the pilot bushing go bad.  The tail shaft housings tend to get chipped from dropping also.  The "snout" of the front cover, that the throwout bearing rides on, can get pretty worn.  They've been known to break off if very worn.

The output shaft bushing, in the back case, can get very worn also.  Some of the guys have found a fix for that problem.

I bought a mystery 5 speed that turned out to be destroyed inside.  It went in to each gear when I was looking at it but once it got spinning on the end of a motor it started crunching.  I thought it might have problems though so I tested it in the garage.  I only paid $50 for it and used the front case for a 71C swap.  That story probably doesn't make you more confident.

The drain plug magnet will tell a story. If it's been freshly cleaned, that's a concern.

@EuroDat  @Dave WM

Without opening it up, there is not much you could tell other than is shifts into all gears. Perhaps you could feel a problem by spinning it but I don't know that, just a guess.

If you open it up you can examine the gears and check over the bearings. I think the area that would be the most important would be the actual teeth (don't know the correct term) that are on the hubs that actually lock the gears to the shaft. Its this that would most likely be damaged by abuse. Remember the gears are in constant mesh, its the hubs that lock them to the output shaft.

If you look a new or undamaged hub and locking ring you could see the wear. the brass parts (anti balk rings IIRC) are easy to get, lots of rebuild kits for those parts. I had a heck of a time finding some of the needle bearing inner races (5th on mine) prob did not need it but was one of those while you are in there things.

The tail shaft brass bush was badly worn, and can be sourced, you just need to the long one, most suppliers are a short version, think one company makes the long one and its very nice.

the oil for the bush comes from a oil trough feed by a oil catcher that is easy to break off during disassembly, you must come straight up when separating from the adapter plate (the big think steel part in the middle).

Rebuilding is not hard, easy really after you have done it once, but it helps a LOT if you have a hyd press. The FSM has lots of talk about fixtures, most of which you can improvise with various steel pipes from a hardware store.

Most fiddly bits is the sync assy, the hub/springs/dogs/lock rings and come apart and need to go back the right way. This is compounded by some bad illustrations in some of the FSM's.

Keeping all the gears and part in order helps if you decide to go that route, check my videos out at Dave WM.

there is also a guy that goes by village land on you tube that shows a complete disassembly with NO press used.

As ZH mentioned the biggest tell will be what is stuck to the magnet, if its just some fine metal, no big deal, of you have big chunks then its prob been abused. One of mine had that oil catcher completely intact stuck to the magnet. The output bush was trashed, presume from lack of oil.

One last thing, sourcing the large output shaft nut can be a problem, again IIRC early 5 speeds had a conventional nut on the output shaft (CW tight CCW loose), later 5 speeds used a nut that is CCW tight CW to loose. You want to know what you have before trying to remove that, and you want the correct replacement as you should not reuse it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 20, 20195 yr by Dave WM

@Dave WM @zedhead

thanks for the input. Heading out to look at it. 

I've had good luck looking through the fill and drain plugs at the synchro and coupler sleeve teeth.  I think it's third gear.  They should be sharp and symmetrical.  Rounded teeth is a sign of abuse.

Like Dave and Zed head have already said. If you can crack it open and visually inspect the synchro teeth, that will give you a vry good indication of its condition.

If you can not (not allowed) open the transmission case, it will always be a gamble. A shot transmission can feel very good when turning it by hand

I have a list of all the normal wear parts and the rear extension house bush part number and manufacture. Most of the parts are still available through Nissan or aftrrmarket.