Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) Shifting habits

[John Berger]

After I had the input shaft replaced and the FS mainshaft installed I changed the filter kit and put in 6 quarts of Amsoil Series 2000 75W-90 and the thing is shifting great. Now before I go off half-cocked, and give the lube all of the credit, I'd like to say that I've changed my shifting habits slightly, especially from 2nd to 3rd. I've never understood shifting and matching engine speed with a synchronized transmission. When towing I try to rev the engine higher before shifting, for the obvious reasons and some of this habit rolled over into unloaded driving. If I shift between 2125 and 2375 going from 2nd to 3rd, the binding or hard shift out of second generally does not occur. Now, I could still have a shift fork problem(which the dealer said I did) but its not that bad to spend the 600 bucks for a shift box. The guy that "re-built" my transmission said it was exceptionally clean and showed a remarkable lack of wear relative to mileage. He also told me that if there would have been problems with the synchros or bearings they would have been replaced. I'm wondering if maybe I was causing some of my hard shifting problems due to the fact that I never had driven a vehicle with a high performance clutch. I never had hard shifting whatsoever with the stock clutch. It all started with the South Bend. It's shifting as well now as it ever has, and I may have been the culprit when it was not shifting properly. All opinions are most definitely welcome.



As for the lube, I would say that the Amsoil Series 2000 75W-90 gear lube is not damaging to the synchronizers the way many an oil war in the past has refuted or implied. I've towed with transmission temps over 220 degrees with that stuff in there and my transmission was in great shape internally.

 

[Rman]

I assume you're speaking of the NV5600? With my experience with manual transmissions and smoother shifting, clutch setup is critical. Perhaps someone installed your southbend just a little off and the transmission couldn't synchronize properly. Just a thought. I've run into that in some drag racing cars. As far as streetable clutches go, i can't stand having a high-performance clutch in a truck, car or anything I have to drive everyday. Its too much a pain to me, just my opinion. I hope this doesn't turn into another oil war over the lube, lets keep this to shifting patterns.



yeah right... .

 

[John Berger]

See sig, I got a 5 speed. Oil wars aren't that bad. The real testy contributors have been banned or relegated to the cheap seats. I never liked to see them get personal, but they were fun to read. Funny, but I always learned something from those threads and had fun while doing it. Oo. :-{} :-laf

 

[Rman]

Oops, I have the sigs turned off. Guess i should have checked. The oil wars are pretty comical. Have you had a problem with the 5th gear nut those trannies are infamous for? My brothers finally slipped off... . poor guy.

 

[John Berger]

No, I did not and since I had the FS mainshaft installed two weeks ago while the transmission was off for warranty work on the input shaft and seal, I escaped that adventure. My old fifth gear nut wore grooves into the non-splined mainshaft that was stock. I asked the mechanic who did the work if it had started working it's way loose and he said it had not. Tell him to spend the money on the fully-splined mainshaft if he can. It's worth the security and money after your warranty is gone.