Newbie Question (transmission)

[jzmq]

Well after lurking around in the corners for several months, I finally have a question to which I cant seem to find an answer to through the search engine.

I have a 1986 HJ60 with a HJ55 transmission. Today while I was parked and waiting for my wife, I put the car in first gear to pull ahead for the person behind me and as soon as I let go of the gear shifter, it just flopped over. The car was in gear still and so I put it in 4WD neutral so I could take a look at it. When I opened the 4 dust cover bolts I literally pulled the entire lever out, without having to release the retaining clip. When I looked at the retaining clip, it had broken on both sides so that it was no longer able to put pressure on the spring which holds the gear lever to the coupling below.

I have already found a new lever from an old transmission, but I'm worried about where the broken bits of metal from the retaing clip went. I am not very mechanical at all, and from looking at the Manual I have, I can't see if they were able to fall into the gears or if the gears are sealed below the point where the gear shift lever and coupling are (the little plastic ball)?

I know this isn't a very good explanation, but it was getting late and I don't have a digital camera.

Any ideas?

JZMQ

[crushers]

the retainer clips that borke off will be sitting int he bottom of the tranny, probably stuck to the magnetic drain plug. if the pieces did get caught in the gears the torque would just mush them up between the gears.
i do not think it will be a problem, but then that is just me...
cheers

[roscoFJ73]

I dropped some screws into a freshly built g/box once and was able to fish them out with a telescopic magnetic probe. They are only $15 or so from parts stores.

I havent had the cover off for a while and I am not sure if its possible to lose stuff down there.
If there is something in there I wouldnt drive it.
I would drain the oil out and put the telescopic or flexi mag probe in the fill and drain holes.
I might even do a couple of oil changes in quick succession noting any particles that come out and repeat the probe

[Eric Winkworth]

I wouldn't worry about it either! Wonder how they broke? Is your motor/tranny mounts pretty new nor does your shifter bruise your leg sometimes?

[jzmq]

Decided to do some work on the transmission anyways, so pulled it yesterday with the help of my mechanic. Found one of the pieces of metal when I drained the oil, but not the other. Ever since I bought the car four years ago, first gear has randomly jumped out of gear, so I decided we might as well look at that while we searched for the other piece. Well I found the other piece stuck to the wall of the transmission, but from just looking at the gears cant seem to find any problems with first gear. I've been told before that it's the synchro gear, but everything looks fine and moves smoothly.

Does anybody have an idea of what it could be? Before it happens, I always have a bit of trouble getting it into first gear, it feels like it goes halfway in, then stops. I haven't ever noticed that it happens in any particular circumstance (like going up or down hill) and I've never had it happen to me while in 4WD, although that could very well be luck as I don't use it nearly as often.

Thanks

[crushers]

bearing slop?

[Diescipel]

Can't the whole shifter lever bushing combination cause difficulty in getting into gear? I didn't have the popping out of gear problem, but it was difficult to get my H55 tranny into 1st and 2nd when I first had it 9 mos. ago. People here recommended I replace the little bushing at the nipple of the shift lever so I ended up doing all the parts in there and it's much better now. Is it possible that the wear in this system doesn't allow full engagement of gears sometimes, thus the popping out of gear? So the fix would simply be to replace all the small parts associated with the shift lever, which are probably all in really bad shape considering what happened to the retaining clip.

On a side note about trannies--what kind of oil do you have in yours? I've found after owning 3 "classics" that synthetic oil is not the best for a tranny with lots of miles--the stuff maybe is too slippery, making the (worn) syncros ineffective. The only synthetic I've found to work is Redline because it has specific additives/properties to help the syncros syncronize. Am I blowing hot air?

B

[crushers]

delo preimium 80/90

the plastic seat that the shifter rests on in the tower can also cause stupid problems...

[Cruiserdrew]

Originally Posted by crushers

delo preimium 80/90

...

Is that the same as Delo gear ESI 80w90? That's what I use in everything that requires gear oil.

[Greg_B]

Originally Posted by NorCalCruzr

On a side note about trannies--what kind of oil do you have in yours? I've found after owning 3 "classics" that synthetic oil is not the best for a tranny with lots of miles--the stuff maybe is too slippery, making the (worn) syncros ineffective. The only synthetic I've found to work is Redline because it has specific additives/properties to help the syncros syncronize. Am I blowing hot air?B

No hot air. I have tried various additives, and most seem to take away some the resistance that is needed, so the syncros are not as effective. I have also noticed this with synthetic gear oil in the H55F, on some transmissions.

Regular GL-5 seems to work ok, however if you are noticing notchy shifting, switching to GL-4 is supposed to help. I've heard a number of mini-truck guys say it has cleaned up shifting noticably. I've not tried GL-4 personally. I've also heard as you, that Redline gearlube is supposed to help...

Straight GL-4 is supposed to be harder to find.

hth's

gb