High mileage out of your NV5600?

[RTillery]

I have a little over 109,000 miles on my NV. So far it has been great, maybe a little notchy but has given me no trouble. Seems to be a little more cantankerous to get into 1st or 2nd lately. I am starting to suspect it may be more clutch/pilot bearing realated but it is not bad enought to tear into it by any means. I have been reading the threads on shot synchros and trouble finding parts for these trannys.



Thought I would just check and see who has run these boxes up to fairly high miles without having to get inside them. If you have a high mileage unit, let us know how you have done your maintenance and if you have gotten past a clutch change, how did it change your shifting. Which pilot bushing did you go with? etc.



Thanks for the input.

 

[jnelson]

208,000 and still ding fine.

 

[Diesel Nut]

Had 90k hard miles on my 03 when I traded it. Was great. I towed and drag raced it with 400-500 hp (depending on when you look at it) and it never gave me trouble.

 

[JPlybon]

120,000 no problems.

 

[MMeier]

No high mileage out of mine! `129k and KABOOM!!!!! :{ New remanned is making noise also. Found a new unit that someone has in stock, think I'll buy it also... "just in case"

 

[EB]

I've put 311,500+ miles on mine and done nothing to it but change the oil.

 

[JHardwick]

180,000 plus, nothing but 2 fluid changes.

 

[MMeier]

Wonder how I killed mine then, always serviced at 25-30k mile intervals. Thought I might kill off an axle or something , but not the darn 6 speed!!!!

 

[RTillery]

EB wins so far with 311,000. What kind of oil are you running? How often have you changed it? How is the ol' girl shifting? How long did your first clutch last? info,info,info?

 

[EB]

EB wins so far with 311,000. What kind of oil are you running? How often have you changed it? How is the ol' girl shifting? How long did your first clutch last? info,info,info?

All I have ever used is Amsoil. Used 10/30 motor oil until they came out with the synchromesh manual transmission lube, have been using it every since. I change it every 50-60,000 miles, can't really say it shifts any different than it was when it was new, maybe a little looser. Changed the clutch at 226k miles, still on that clutch.



I do overfill the transmission. I put fluid in until it comes out the top hole in the PTO cover, some people say that is not a good idea, but it works for me. Usually the top shaft is what you will have trouble with on a 5600 and it is because of a lack of lube. "what about it foaming" Before anyone brings it up, this is my opinion about that. All oil foams, I would rather have my top shaft running in oil than foam, which is what it is running in if it is level full or a little low. That is my thoughts on that and like I said, it works for me.

 

[TX Gooseneck]

I got 146k out of my factory unit, 16k out of the rebuild and 84k on the new one.



On our 05 we got 94k out of the factory unit, 1k out of the reman, going on 4k in the new reman.

 

[betterthanstock]

I hear some people say the input shaft may run dry up long hills. In that case, we need to overfill like the G56, so maybe we should fill them with two wheels jacked up to get more oil in there.

 

[TPoulsen]

53k on mine, been running redline MTL since 5k didn't notice any change in shifting when I changed over.



Tyler

 

[HBarlow]

I have reported my own experience in other posts but I'll respond to the question.



I ran mine in the '01 I previously owned about 305k miles before rebuild. It had to have work because after a clutch replacement (another story) the gasket on the top cover slowly leaked. My Dodge mechanic mentioned it every time he serviced the truck but neither he or I realized that the NV-5600 had a design flaw that cause it to starve the large thrust bearing for oil under normal usage and even more so if the fluid level was allowed to get a little low. Experts like the rebuilders at Standard Transmission in Fort Worth, TX (TDR advertiser) will tell you to overfill it to avoid that problem. Also, after a day of stop and go driving from Riverside to Santa Fe Springs overloaded with a heavy fifth wheel I heard a binding bearing under low speed coasting with clutch disengaged but the transmission still in 1st or 2nd gear. If not for the abusive towing with low fluid the transmission would still be going strong. My fault and I paid for an overhaul. Lesson learned.



I never used anything but standard MOPAR spec Pennzoil SynchroMesh Transmission Lube purchased at Autozone. It was intially changed at 50k intervals but my Dodge mechanic friend who maintained the truck convinced me I was wasting my money because the drained fluid was clean after 50k miles so I extended the service interval to 100k miles after I began life on the road as an RV transporter. The fluid was still clean and normal when it was changed at 100k miles of heavy service.



I never was particularly pleased with the operating characteristics of the NV-5600 in my truck. It was always hard to pull out of 1st gear when rolling and the synchronizers were always slow when upshifting or downshifting. I tried every technique I could dream up like double-clutching, declutching and pulling it out of 1st gear before I eased up on the throttle foot to keep from unloading the gears. Whatever I tried it always shifted poorly but it was reliable and worked fine for over 300k miles until I allowed the fluid level to get low.



Harvey

 

[Cattletrkr]

I sold my '01 with 138K and never an issue. My '04 currently has 114K and no trans issues. I've changed the fluid a few times. Now it has Amsoil MTF. I've always filled until it comes out the fill hole. After reading this I just might go add a little extra.



Half of my miles are towing HEAVY. Tues night my trailer weighed approx 31K. The other half is with an empty tailer 6K+.

 

[Cattletrkr]

Update: 171K and starting to look at rebuilds. I think you know why if you've seen my "looky" thread.

 

[GaryOwen]

285k with no NV5600 problems yet (changed clutch at 266k). Change oil every 50k with Amsoil. Not sure of any problems or maintenance before 79k since I bought it used. Overfilled to top PTO cover bolt at last change, but only to fill plug before then.

 

[betterthanstock]

YOu guys missed this one at 330K+



https://www.turbodieselregister.com...ssions/187501-325-000-mile-facelift-pics.html

 

[BothellDiesel]

Just heard about a guy who has 480,000 on his 04. Original injectors, original transmission except clutch, never even had the valve cover off and 40k mile fuel filter changes. Truck is always loaded. I couldn't believe it

 

[J&LRam]

my neighbor lady [hotshoter] has a '03 3500 flat bed HO NV5600 with 325000+ miles. She had it serviced at Blumenthals in OK City. They also recommended she run additional 2 qts over for the bearing starvation problem from heavy haulers mostly in the mountains. Shes about to retire the '03 for a 3500 6. 7 CR truck but wants the manual G56.

JIM