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Saga of getrag issues.

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1stgen4evr??

Iowa First Gen Meet #7 (IFGM)

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My getrag is driving me nuts. I have tried on a few other message boards and have spoken to a few rebuilders; however, I am coming up empty on solutions.

I’ve owned the truck for 4 years. Shortly after buying it I noticed a a few issues mainley the shift er vibrating and difficulty going into third gear.

The previous owner had ran delo 15w40 in the trans. I immediatly drained it out and filled the trans with 5 quarts 5w30 mobil 1 as everyone ssems to reccomend. While this helped a bit shifting into 3rd was still extremely slow. As the transmission was/is difficult/ extremly slow to shift and the violently vibrating shifter, I decide it was time to pull it, and rebuild it over the winter.

The transmission had the follwoing issues prior to rebuild:

-Shifter vibrates violently in 3rd gear but no others.
-synchronizer noise/difficult to up shift from 1st to 2nd
-synchronizer noise/difficult to up shift into 3rd gear
-synchronizer noise/difficult to downshift from 3rd to 2nd
-synchronizer noise/difficult to downshift from 2nd to 1st
-One time on a steep incline the trans popped out of 1st gear. I had kind of “stepped on it”. It has not happened since, however I haven’t tried to replicate it.

I rebuild the transmission myself. It got new bearings (except the needle bearings) synchronizers and input shaft. The only part with visable wear was the mainshaft output bearing which was pitted. Surprisingly there was no visable wear to the inputshaft/race or pocket bearing, I replaced them nevertheless. Even though the old synchronizers were in good shape( I was astonished), I still replaced them.

The rebuild manuals spec for bearing preload is .006-.008 I set it at .007. I filled it with 5 quarts of conventional 5w30 as Craig from Zumbrota advised the only getrags they had rebuilt that came back for shift issues was caused by runnging synthetic oil(something about a varnish forming on the gears?)

The Sachs clutch was slipping so I replaced it with a HD singledisk/ new flywheel with pilot bearing from south bend. I replaced the throwout bearing, fork and pivot ball as well.

Now, I have about 400 miles on the truck since rebuilding it and I am (still) having the following issues:

-Sychroniser noise difficulty to shift from 1st to 2nd.
-Synchronizer noise difficulty to shift from 2nd to 3rd.

I want to make it clear I am not attempting to "speed shift" the transmission, and correct me if i am wrong, but I don’t believe I should have to shift into neutral then count: one, onethousand , two onethousand, three onethousand before i am able to shift without grinding/synchronizer noise( even when waiting that long it still grinds at times.

About the only way I can shift into 3rd without noise is to go from 2nd into neutral then slightly pull it back like im going into 4th then up into 3rd.

Because of this slow shifting, even on the slight hill (totally unloaded only my 180 lb. self in the truck) I can barely shift into third without lugging it.

Its driving me nuts considering it shifts great from 3rd to 4th and 4th to 5th.

Also, I am unsure if this is normal or not, but lets say i put 30 miles on the truck on the interstate at 70 in 5th gear(truck has 3.54s) and was to park get out and touch the trans it is to hot to be able to hold my hand on without burning it.

The only Idea I have as to the poor shifitng is the clutch hydrolics are worn internally and I need to replace them(they are bleed and there is no leaks). However,they are not cheap and I am tired of putting money into this thing if the can’t shift decently.

Does anyone have any clue as to where I can go from here?

Any folks in Indiana with getrag trucks, rebuild experiance?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Mike
 
I had 2nd to 3rd shift issues with my getrag, I never tried to fix it but found that double clutch seemed to do the trick to stop the grinding, Push clutch go to neutral release the clutch then press the clutch in again and shift into 3rd, doing this I found I could shift as fast as I could pump the clutch with out issue. then 3rd to 4th and 4th to 5th were aleasy fine. but I since burnt up my getrag and replaced it with NV4500
 
Are you on Facebook? I know a guy in Terre Haute that does them with good luck. He used to be here but drifted away. His name is Bill Gilbert. He is on a bunch of other forums also. On Cummins Forum I believe he goes by dodcummins, and on 1st gen.org he goes by his name. I was running 50w synthetic in mine and then went back to 15w-40 because it was shifting stiffer than it was with the engine oil. It works fine again with engine oil in it.
 
Are you on Facebook? I know a guy in Terre Haute that does them with good luck. He used to be here but drifted away. His name is Bill Gilbert. He is on a bunch of other forums also. On Cummins Forum I believe he goes by dodcummins, and on 1st gen.org he goes by his name. I was running 50w synthetic in mine and then went back to 15w-40 because it was shifting stiffer than it was with the engine oil. It works fine again with engine oil in it.

Thanks for the info, I'll try and message him on one of the other forums. Honestly at this point Im just trying to find someone else who has experience with the g360 drive my truck and see how they think it shifts.

I spoke to Craig at zumbrota again and from talking to him about the only thing that could be wrong is third gear was a bit too warn and i should have replaced it.
 
I have the same problem. Hard to get into 3rd, trouble downshifting, and generally not smooth. Rebuilt transmission with new bearings, seals, synchro rings, and shifter with no improvement so I threw a new slave cylinder at it too...nothing.
I found when going from 2nd to 3rd if I hold the shifter to the left until it gets to neutral then go into 3rd it's all smooth. Got to be in the shift cover.
I'm trying to find somewhere to find/buy rails, detent ball/springs, and the fingers the shifter moves, but haven't had any luck. Where can I find these parts? Have you found a different solution? Bret
 
Most of my shifting problems after a rebuild led back to a preload set too tightly, that may or may not be your trouble. I have done quite a few successful getrag rebuilds, but I've never rebuilt a shift cover. We started in on one, and decided if I ever needed another done, I'd get one from a vendor that is already rebuilt.

I would suggest that you get an infared thermometer and get an actual temp of the transmission. Your "too hot to touch" is too subjective(my threashold for pain of heat is much different then a person that works in an office). In your trip of 30 miles, it shouldn't really get warmed up at all, mine would peak at about 180*F on long trips in overdrive.
 
Bret, i havnt found a solution unfortunately.

I appreciate the input as i was gonna try a new master/slave but im just living with it for now.

Probably just gonna end ip swapping an nv4500.

I have the same problem. Hard to get into 3rd, trouble downshifting, and generally not smooth. Rebuilt transmission with new bearings, seals, synchro rings, and shifter with no improvement so I threw a new slave cylinder at it too...nothing.
I found when going from 2nd to 3rd if I hold the shifter to the left until it gets to neutral then go into 3rd it's all smooth. Got to be in the shift cover.
I'm trying to find somewhere to find/buy rails, detent ball/springs, and the fingers the shifter moves, but haven't had any luck. Where can I find these parts? Have you found a different solution? Bret
 
You could install my manual transmission cooler and pump setup. I run my cooling system whenever it gets over 180* for my G56
 
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