6 speed grind

[Windrider]

Well, my transmissions always been a little persnickty when shifting from second to 3rd, but it has the bonafide grind now (19,000 miles).



Unfortunately I'm supposed to be hauling a trailer on vacation in about 2 weeks. I have a decent service department picked out. (It's supposed to be the best in the area, and I've experienced the two others)



For those of you who have had tranmission issues, how long did it take to fix? No truck = No vacation. truck with grinding gear = still get vacation.



I can't take it in until Monday so fire away.

 

[HC]

You're easily within warranty. Let the dealer drive it. If he gives you the "sounds normal to us" line, you'll have documentation; drive it on your vacation and see what happens!

At 81k mine still has a mild grind, but still gets better as the miles accumulate. Seems to have good days and bad days; probably something minor I'm doing like speed at time of shift, etc. If your's got "a little" worse, it might just be a perception thing. If it got "a lot" worse, then getting it documented now will help you down the road.

 

[cswanger]

had a 2001. 5 got tired of the run-aroud with 5 star traded it. before that they replaced the clutch , that wasnt the problem , so they rebuilt the trans. and and sent the flywheel out to be surfaced this time , still shifted like sh-t. grinding and hard to get into 2nd 3rd 5th and rev. , i was told that this is normal, i went out and test drove two more six speeds the didnt shift much better, so i guess thats normal. good luck

 

[Alan Reagan]

Windrider, One thing I found about the 2-3 shift was that if I put the pressure straight up, it doesn't have that "grind". I was shifting (I think) a little to the right as I would go to 3rd and I could feel the hesitation. By going into 3rd with a little pressure to the left (at least that's how it feels) I am actually shifting straight up or straight toward the engine. When I was getting the little grind, I found I was shifting on a slight diagonal from 2nd to 3rd. Hope this helps. Now at 53K miles it's a lot more forgiving.

 

[1tuffram]

documentation

Originally posted by HC

You're easily within warranty. Let the dealer drive it. If he gives you the "sounds normal to us" line, you'll have documentation; drive it on your vacation and see what happens!

At 81k mine still has a mild grind, but still gets better as the miles accumulate. Seems to have good days and bad days; probably something minor I'm doing like speed at time of shift, etc. If your's got "a little" worse, it might just be a perception thing. If it got "a lot" worse, then getting it documented now will help you down the road.

I'd like to make a comment, having documentation with "sounds normal to us", "unable to verify", "no problems found", etc will NOT save your a$$ in the future should there be a problem once the warranty is past. Trust me, I have been down this road with a dealer and DC when my transfer case bit it. I had several work orders with my complaints of grinding and difficulties engaging the transfer case for 3 yrs. On all accounts various dealers all put "unable to verify" or "no problems found" on my copy of the work orders and in the computer system. Shortly (5 or 6K miles) after my 3/36 warranty the transfer case went south and I presented the dealer with all my "documentation" for 3 yrs of complaints. DC's response: "there was no identified problem with the transfer case when it was under warranty, sorry".



Words of advice is don't fall for the "it's normal" BS and be very persistant it is taken care of early on. If you have to, start going up the ladder if the service dept tries the "no problems found" stratagy. They will dick with ya thru the warranty period, and will put such things as "unable to verify" etc on your documentation and in the comptuer system (which leaves you with absolutly no leg to stand on if the transmission fails past warranty). Of course if you have a lot of time, energy and money on your hands you could always force the issue in court. :-{}

 

[JJW_ND]

I had my work truck (2001 6sp) in to get the new DC recomend 6sp grind repair. They have to get inside the transmission and replace some synros I believe.



If they have all the parts it should be a day or two. In my case, I told them to call when all the parts were in and then start. Took truck over after they called, they got it all apart and found a few parts were not in. Took THREE WEEKS for parts of come in. Almost demanded truck be put back together.



No more grind and tranning shifts better.



jjw

ND

 

[Windrider]

Ouch!



Three weeks!



I delayed my meeting with the warranty work until after vacation. I'll have about 23,000 on the truck then.

 

[mbrolin]

Mine has good and bad days as well. Its more noticeable when cold but gets better as it warms. Ive also noticed that with the 10klb 5er in tow there is very little grind. I feel that this is due to the fact that the engine rpms are moved up into the working range versus being empty and te transmission warms up.

 

[NVR FNSH]

Had the counter shaft repair done on my 6spd - no change. Had a new 6spd installed - still not good enough. Added 2 qts(he said qts not pts) of friction modifier - helped for about a week. It's getting worse so my dealer is going to be hearing from me again. Clutch linkage, clutch, pilot bushing - I don't know.



You were smart to delay the trans work.



Brian

 

[cswanger]

drove by the dealer my old truck is now cert. preowner.

 

[boonsur]

Qualifier: I'm definately not an expert, just feeling out your thoughts:



Wouldn't grinding be caused be a bad syncro? Would double clutching help the gear slide-in better? This may explain why it works "better" at higher RPM's (maybe the de-celleration of the shafts is different & better matches your shifting habits).



Or (as I think someone mentioned), could a bad shifting linkage be trying to engage the wrong or multiple gears?





Looking for more expert opinions, to help better my understanding as well.

 

[NVR FNSH]

In my case I think the input is still 'connected' to the engine - ie the input shaft is still spinning under power. For me 2-3 shift is the worst, 3-4 is a little better, 4-5 & 5-6 are pretty darn smooth. As I shift up thru the gears the shaft speeds are getting closer together and there is less 'work' required from the synchros to match speeds. I've tried double clutching and it helps a bit but it is not an acceptable solution IMO.



I'll get it resolved one of these days.....



Brian

 

[Windrider]

Personally, I think it's a combination of a somewhat bad synchro and the fact that the transmission needs to warm up.



My grind only happens on the coldest of days, (About 20 degrees here in Texas. ) and only on the first shift or two to third.



It has never ground while towing. Probably by the time I get hooked up and cruise through the RV park, the transmission has warmed up.



The suggestion about making sure I shift directly into 3rd appears to be working. I don't think a transmission should be that picky, but that just me.



I've also noticed that if I shift around 2500 rpms that it shifts much smoother. (The truck is more fun to drive. )



Well, I either need to get it fixed or learn to live with it. I'm not sure how much longer I can stave off the bombing bug.



Repeat after me:

I don't really need more power.



Stock trucks rule.



Ah heck, it'n not working!

:{

 

[Alan Reagan]

Windrider, Since I started that little shift move where it felt like I was moving the shifter up and a little left, I've had no grind. I agree, it is a picky little shift. It almost seems like you are coming out of "double low" for the shift and you have to give it some time. I certainly won't do anything or let the dealer do anything at this point unless I'm taking the transmission out for some other reason such as a clutch install.

 

[JJW_ND]

Fluid not ideal!

Because a little temperature helps the shifting, the oil used is not a perfect fit with the synchro used.



You think the grind is bad a 20 or 30 degrees you should see it at -20. Last winter when I would first drive the truck (very cold day and transmission). You could not shift into 3nd or 4th without getting a little grind unless you double clutched or gave it a second or two before you push into next gear.



I have said it before, a fully synchronized transmission in the year 2000 should NEVER GRIND if using a clutch to shift. Most shift great the from the first time their driven. They don't need to get better with miles. They shift great cold or hot. If they don't something is not right!



jjw

ND