6spd Gear Clash - Need help

[NVR FNSH]

Took my truck to the dealer for the second time regarding NV5600 2-3, 3-4 gear clash. Of course the mechanic cannot duplicate the problem & my truck now has ~35k on it. I'm printing out all the threads I can find that mention the specific failures that people have encountered & I will be providing this to the dealer. I've already asked the Service Advisor to contact STAR.



Can anybody provide copies of their paperwork that identifies specific failures & the fix that I could take to my dealer?



Thanks,

Brian

 

[HEMI®Dart]

Brian,



This is from Fritz's web page:



Gear Grind:



Many people (myself included) have reported a gear grind when shifting into 3rd gear while the transmission is cold. After the transmission has been driven for 5-10 miles, it shifts fine. Some owners have reported that after 12,000 miles or so, the transmission "loosens" and the shifting problem goes away. DC is aware of the problem, and is working on a solution.



From mopars1 on the TDR forum on 03-08-2001 :

I talked to the STAR Hotline this morning and they said there where some changes in the stop ring material and the Germans added some anti-slip material to the inside portion of the stop ring. Evidentley the material is too slick and the stop rings are not getting the gears to the same speed as quickly as they should. They are working on new parts now and they should be out in about a month or two. The rep told me to call back every two weeks or so the see when the parts are avaiable.



From Texas Diesel on the TDR forum on 05-22-2001:

Had a talk with my mechanic at the dealership (this dealer has always been straight with me) regarding the 6 sp gear box problems. He says that they now can fix them at the dealerships because the cause of the problem has been identified by DC. It seems that a needle bearing was originally put in to support the forward end of the 3/4 gearshaft and some "engineer" decided to replace it with a brass bushing. Well guess what? The bushing wears out and the shaft gets sloppy. The fix is to replace the bushing with the original needle bearing. The reason some 6sp's clash and others dont is that some have bushings and others have needle bearings.



My comment to the bushing theory: This may be a problem for a transmission that was fine until it accumulated high mileage. The common 3rd gear complaint from owners of low mileage Rams would probably not be due to bushing wear, especially if the problem goes away after 10,000 miles or more. Stay tuned...

 

[HC]

Mine has a mild 2nd to 3rd gear clash. I debated whether it was "normal" for a truck, or just a bit too much. At about 35k, I took it to my dealer, who pronounced it "normal". At 63k, it's still there, but actually still getting better as the miles build up.

My recommendation is that you get your dealer to drive it, and if they think it's normal, just be sure you have a record of them checking it out before the warranty ran out. If something goes wrong later, at least you'll have some documentation to help you make your case.

 

[JJW_ND]

Not knowing where you live, If it is cold in the AM, leave the truck with the dealership and have them drive it first thing in the AM.



Mine is at the dealership getting a new "shaft" and "other" transmission parts which STAR recomend as the current solution.



I hate to see dealerships tear these transmissions apart to add a few parts. I wish STAR would just have a rebuilt sent and call these cores back to have the same techs do the fix.



BTW, stock engine, but pulled hard and lots of aggressive Ebrake use took clutch to less then 30% usefull life in 19K miles.



jjw

ND

 

[Gonzo 1066]

NO clash

You may try changing the gear oil. I changed mine after the first year and it shifts better!! I did not have a gear clash problem as you describe. Although sometimes when it was COLD I had to baby it for the first 10 miles or so. As a side note I do think that the rotating mass of the clusters in this heavy duty transmission will never shift as quickly as a light duty transmission. The 6 in my new truck seems to favor more shift time than the 5 sp in my 95. IMHO

 

[NVR FNSH]

I live in Santa Rosa, CA - ~60 miles north of the Golden Gate. It was ~40F this morning - sure am glad I don't live in North Dakota



Actually, it's been driven by the tech/service mgr 2x and they claim it's normal. I drove a 6spd/HO truck from their lot and it wasn't much different. Maybe a better description of the problem is that it takes more time to get it into 3rd & 4th than 5th or 6th. I depress the clutch, shift and have to wait a second for the shifter to go into to gear. On occassion I can feel a notchy/clash thing going on. I'm going to take these posts to the dealer w/me and see if I can get them to move off dead center.



Thanks,

Brian