H55F - 5th gear pops out on deacelleration. ??

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iggi

iggi

10 Year 15 Year
Joined
May 2, 2008
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13
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89
Location
Calgary
Hi,

I've got a BJ60 with an H55F.
It tends to pop out of 5th gear when I take my foot off the go-pedal. With a little pressure up on the shifter it will stay in gear.

Is this likely to be a problem with the tranny or with the shift arm/shifter?

I've been digging around for a couple hours but haven't found anything. Been looking through the H55F service manual but there's no diagnostic section in the copy I have.

Any help appreciated. :wrench:
 
A bad shifter seat can cause all sorts of problems. Replace that first since it's cheap and an 15 minute job to swap it.

Is your front driver motor mount OK?

Worn out shifter mechanism for 5th?
 
Check for a broken tranny mount (the cradle style)
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...or a broken engine mount which would allow for engine movement, pushing the shifter against the body - knocking it out of gear.
 
Thanks for the suggestions.
The mounts seem ok..

Pulled this from the TLC FAQ

TLC FAQ - 20.4 Transmission/Transfer

Transmissions/transfer cases popping out of gear are either the shifter binding against the boot, bad motor/tranny mounts or a desparate cry for a rebuild. If it's the latter and it's left for any length of time, severe gear/shift collar damage will result and rebuild costs will increase exponentially.

The 5th gear hub of H55F transmissions are more prone to this problem than the 4spd transmissions. Wear of the hub can start as a result of high loads on the transmission while in 5th gear (lugging up a hill, for example) or as a result of "rowing" back and forth between 5th and 4th while climging a hill to try to maintain speed. Wear of the needle bearings that the 5th counter-gear rides on can also allow the gear to rock slightly which wears its hub. The first sign of trouble is the transmission popping out of 5th gear when not under load.

Guess I'll start keeping an eye out for a backup transmission. :frown:
Any one have a rough idea what a H55F rebuild is going for in Western Canada or the NW USA?

Thanks,
 
Last edited:
iggi said:
Thanks for the suggestions.
The mounts seem ok..

Pulled this from the TLC FAQ

TLC FAQ - 20.4 Transmission/Transfer

Transmissions/transfer cases popping out of gear are either the shifter binding against the boot, bad motor/tranny mounts or a desparate cry for a rebuild. If it's the latter and it's left for any length of time, severe gear/shift collar damage will result and rebuild costs will increase exponentially.

The 5th gear hub of H55F transmissions are more prone to this problem than the 4spd transmissions. Wear of the hub can start as a result of high loads on the transmission while in 5th gear (lugging up a hill, for example) or as a result of "rowing" back and forth between 5th and 4th while climging a hill to try to maintain speed. Wear of the needle bearings that the 5th counter-gear rides on can also allow the gear to rock slightly which wears its hub. The first sign of trouble is the transmission popping out of 5th gear when not under load.

Guess I'll start keeping an eye out for a backup transmission. :frown:
Any one have a rough idea what a H55F rebuild is going for in Western Canada or the NW USA?

Thanks,
Click to expand...

Getting to the fith gear hardware is easy, you're just pulling the T-case basicly. Kurt at Cruiser Outfitters can get you parts for it once you know what you need.
 
I am looking to put the H55f in my 76 fj40, but the more I read the more I hear people are having problems with it. Can anyone comment on this or suggest a better 5 speed.

Thanks
Birddog 20
 
Birddog20 said:
I am looking to put the H55f in my 76 fj40, but the more I read the more I hear people are having problems with it. Can anyone comment on this or suggest a better 5 speed.

Thanks
Birddog 20
Click to expand...

I bought a used one, put it behind a healthy 350 and drove it for 100k before pulling it out in favor of an NV4500. Its now in another 60 still working perfectly. Its a tough trans, good ratios for th 2F. The NV4500 is better suited to more torque than the F can make due to the wider ratios and 27% overdrive.
 
My 5 speed used to pop out of gear for no good reason. I found by removing the inner boot, the problem went away. The inner boot would push against the stick and push it out of gear. The inner boot became a problem because my V8 conversion forced my trans forward a couple of inches, bunching up the boot.
 
Birddog20 said:
I am looking to put the H55f in my 76 fj40, but the more I read the more I hear people are having problems with it. Can anyone comment on this or suggest a better 5 speed.

Thanks
Birddog 20
Click to expand...

Uh, yeah, any trans can have problems.

Ask the original poster how many 100s of 1000s of kms are on his truck first.

I have nearly 500,000 kms on my BJ42 and the H55f runs great except for 3rd gear synchro (made the mistake of filling it with GL5 a long time ago).

My HJ61 has about 230,000 kms on it and I have to put some time into the transfer case - front out put bearing is noisy, and so I will re-bearing the H55F while I am in there (and doing the clutch if needed) to prevent any problems.

~John
 
Birddog20 said:
I am looking to put the H55f in my 76 fj40, but the more I read the more I hear people are having problems with it. Can anyone comment on this or suggest a better 5 speed.

Thanks
Birddog 20
Click to expand...

Depends on where you want to end up. The only regret I have with mine is if I wanted a crawlbox or deeper transfer case gears I could have went with a NV4500 and Atlas to get the 4:1 in the transfer and have a shorter drivetrain with a little bit more OD (haven't needed the OD though). You would have to center the diff as well but at that point you are pretty deeply vested in the plan.

The H55/splitcase does great behind the 383 so far. With 36" tires first gear is a little short and 2nd is a little tall, but slip the clutch just a little and your off. The only time I use 5th is on the highway and it cruises very well and keeps up with traffic. IF you play much in the rocks you may find the gearing too tall, but it works good with everything else.

BTW it is in a 76 FJ40.
 
Dude .. there is no better 5 speed tranny than H55F .. mine in Tencha have more than half million km doing the job ..

I also have H150 and H151 and the best it's the H55F ..
 
This makes me want to go ahead and get new motor mounts to replace my factory ones with when I do my swap, if for nothing else than piece of mind and avoiding the annoyance later on.

Wonder if they're still available...
 
Hulsty said:
Mine did it, had it rebuilt with the updated 5th gear "locking dog assembly" from a HZJ75, no more problems. There were are fair few upgrades and changes during the gearbox life.
Click to expand...

As far as upgrade that can be installed, or upgrades made at the factory with different revisions to the tranny?
 
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