Buddy of mine no longer has 3rd gear in his 97 C5 (m6 obviously) after trying to slam it in third while playing in the rain last night. He spun thru first and second and going for third...he shifted (he says pretty hard) and now third feels the same as neutral--no engagement at all. All other gears work completely fine.

I don't know a hell of a lot about diagnosing transmissions but I figure it'll be obvious when we get it apart--but I'd rather order parts before hand so we can put it right back together. Anyways, 3/4 shift fork is a common problem.

Start flaming for whatever f'ed up reason you can come up with. Thanks.

1/18/2006 1:37:40 PM

I was fixing to say...sounds like either a broken shift fork or a sheared roll pin (or do they hold the shift fork to the shaft with a bolt?). What gets me is that 4th works fine. That shouldn't be the case, I'm thinking. I may be wrong. I've never been into a T56 before, and don't know how they differ from the T5 internally.

1/18/2006 1:52:55 PM

Everything I've read says they use roll pins..no bolts. Yeah, general consensus is more than just 3rd should be broke. Ah well, any more ideas?

1/18/2006 1:55:14 PM

my friend went to see a transam that had the very same problem. third didnt work just like neutral all the other gears were fine.

1/18/2006 2:21:23 PM

la de do da... pullin it out friday morning, any guesses?

1/18/2006 4:31:48 PM

it is possible for 3rd to break loose on the main shaft and spin, assuming he didn't shear all the teeth off (unlikely). 4th isn't on the mainshaft iirc?? been a while since i've been in a t56...

1/18/2006 6:07:41 PM

not a clue... i'm a transmission moron. we're gonna pull it out friday morning and pull it apart enough to see what's wrong--if it's something obvious i'll work on it and if not i guess he can take it somewhere. you wanna work on it if i can't zxappeal?

1/18/2006 6:44:24 PM

Sure. I don't have a press yet though. And I'll need one to do any tranny work.

1/18/2006 7:01:34 PM

the "how-to" i found doesnt mention one...only one huge f'ing gear puller..

http://www.ls2.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1877

1/18/2006 7:03:01 PM

You can do 'em like that, but if you have access to a hydraulic press, it's so much easier to fuck with.

You damn near need three hands using a puller like that...to keep everything lined up and in place while you tighten.

1/18/2006 7:05:43 PM

yeah it looked pretty nasty

anyways, i'll let ya know how it ends up lookin

1/18/2006 7:07:33 PM

Actually, looking at that picture, pulling off the 5/6 gear assembly is really easy using a puller like that or a bearing puller/crossbar assembly. In fact, I can't really see any other convenient way to do it.

Yeah, let me know. I'm in the middle of this 390 FE buildup for mellocj but I hope to have the bottom end together tonite. I haven't had as much free time as I would like.

1/18/2006 7:15:49 PM