833-Reverse seems to slightly grind gears

[EccentricMagpies]

I've had issues with 2nd gear shifting (while cold) due to the synchros (so I will probably have it rebuilt... hoping to push out to next spring)

The past few times I took my car out.. reverse seems to have a hard time shifting smoothly.
I have to pull it somewhat quick/hard to minimize the noise... from some slight grind that occurs now.  (clutch was replaced last year along with tail seal and bearing.)

...also, going from reverse to 1st... I will get an initial squelch which I thought was the power steering pump but after it happened twice with the same scenario above... figured it had something to do with the order of shifting??

Other than looking forward to the rebuild, what might be the cause of these symptoms?  I have noticed several specs of oil coming off the trans too... perhaps the seal was installed poorly and it's simply getting low?  The little oil I do see doesn't seem to amount to much but perhaps it's potential oil left on the roads I don't see?

thanks,
John

[FLG]

Not up to snuff on my manuals,

But I don't believe there is a syncro for reverse so a lot of guys put it in first than reverse in order to not grind.

[resq302]

Not up to snuff on my manuals,

But I don't believe there is a syncro for reverse so a lot of guys put it in first than reverse in order to not grind.

Correct, there is no sycro's for reverse, just the forward gears.  If I have difficulty engaging reverse, like Frank said, try putting it into first and then moving it over to reverse.  Should go in no problem then.  If it still gives you problems, might be binding in the shifter mechanism OR one of your nuts that holds the shift level on might have backed off and is not engaging all the way.

[Rolling_Thunder]

that's normal...    no synchro on reverse...       

[EccentricMagpies]

Correct, there is no sycro's for reverse, just the forward gears.  If I have difficulty engaging reverse, like Frank said, try putting it into first and then moving it over to reverse.  Should go in no problem then.  If it still gives you problems, might be binding in the shifter mechanism OR one of your nuts that holds the shift level on might have backed off and is not engaging all the way.

Okay.  No Sycro's in reverse.

Generally I am always in a position to go from 1st to reverse naturally.. in most cases I guess....  The first time I noticed the problem was doing a parallel park.  Grind when shifting in reverse and a loud squelch when disengaging the clutch to move forward in 1st.

I just have never noticed this in the past.

Now...   i do believe in this statement "...might be binding in the shifter mechanism OR one of your nuts that holds the shift level on might have backed off and is not engaging all the way..."

Last fall I lost my first/second gear linkage, had my starter fall out due to the bolts vibrating loose (good thing the headers held onto it), and had a bolt on the housing turn loose to cause a vibration hole in my oil filter (good thing with the headers, again,  directly below this to send off a smoke signal that something was wrong).


thanks a lot... I'll put a jack under it and see if this is the issue and re-post.  

[resq302]

Only reason why I mentioned about the shift linkage tab retaining nut was that mine loosened up on me while we were on a way out to a show in Lancaster, PA from NJ.  We stopped at a traffic light, I downshifted to first, light changed, went to shift out of first and couldn't.  Shifter was stuck in first.  Luckily there was a auto repair shop just after the light and we pulled into there.  The guy was nice enough to tell us he was just closing but would drive us to a buddy of his who did a lot of work on Mopars and would take us there himself.  This was about 3 business down though.  The guy was amazed at how nice my car was and told me to pull it in right away and threw me up on the lift with me in the car.  Sure enough, the retaining nut that holds the shift plate onto the stud backed out causing it to come out of the slot and bind things up.  He loosened it back up and reset it where it was supposed to go and we were on our way in 20 mins.  The guy didnt even want anything for fixing the car.  I flipped him a $20 for his help and thanked him again profusely since we were already about 2 hours away from home.  One thing I did come to find out is that the Hurst type shifter mechanisms do wear and need to be adjusted occasionally.  There is a small hole on the shifter that I think a 5/16" allen wrench can fit in is supposed to be an alignment so you can adjust all the rods accordingly.  I just had to do this with mine as mine started binding up moving from second to third.  A little white lithium grease into the shifter mechanism didnt hurt either.

[matrout76]

What fluid are you running?

Before doing a rebuild, I'd try new manual transmission fluid like Redline MTL or Royal Purple Synchromax.

[EccentricMagpies]

What fluid are you running?

Before doing a rebuild, I'd try new manual transmission fluid like Redline MTL or Royal Purple Synchromax.

80/90 was put in.

I was reading some posts about Redline MTL or Royal Purple Synchromax on here prior to posting this thread.  I'll change it out and see how it runs.  Cheaper than having it rebuilt if it's not neccessary.

[maxwellwedge]

Wonder why you are vibrating so many bolts loose?

[resq302]

I run 80w-90 also.

[John_Kunkel]

Generally I am always in a position to go from 1st to reverse naturally.. in most cases I guess....  The first time I noticed the problem was doing a parallel park.  Grind when shifting in reverse and a loud squelch when disengaging the clutch to move forward in 1st.

You say the clutch if fairly new but is it adjusted correctly? Your problem sounds like a dragging clutch.

Remove the dust cover on the bellhousing and have somebody depress the clutch pedal to the floor. Use a screwdriver to see if you can spin the clutch disc. (be sure the trans is in Neutral)

[EccentricMagpies]

Wonder why you are vibrating so many bolts loose?ne

Good question.  last year, when the clutch was replaced I also needed various other fixes. bearing / seals..
another one being the linkage that I lost on the way to the shop.

the yoke was actually jammed in the tailstock so badly, they had a heck of a time just removing that piece.  It was worn badly and that was replaced too.
The vibration decreased after these updates but it's still there at various speeds such as ~35-40, then again around ~58-62.
Not a full car shaking but just vibration through the shifter mostly.

[EccentricMagpies]

Generally I am always in a position to go from 1st to reverse naturally.. in most cases I guess....  The first time I noticed the problem was doing a parallel park.  Grind when shifting in reverse and a loud squelch when disengaging the clutch to move forward in 1st.

You say the clutch if fairly new but is it adjusted correctly? Your problem sounds like a dragging clutch.

Remove the dust cover on the bellhousing and have somebody depress the clutch pedal to the floor. Use a screwdriver to see if you can spin the clutch disc. (be sure the trans is in Neutral)

okay...how freely should this move?
I really couldn't get a screwdriver in (although I had a fairly long one) (headers) to spin it but I was able to move it slightly with my fingertips. (slightly, meaning 1/8" or so.. then it felt jammed)

the clutch was replaced ~1 year ago and I only started to notice these symptoms recently.

course... was several bolts missing on the cover too. 

[Chryco Psycho]

the clutch disc should move freely but it is still turning the input shaft & cluster gear inside the transmission  , moving it with you fingers is right but it should not jam up , it could be a problem in the tranny or a dragging clutch or not enough free play with the adjustment on the clutch linkage .
I agree with the dragging clutch diagnosis

[John_Kunkel]

okay...how freely should this move?
I really couldn't get a screwdriver in (although I had a fairly long one) (headers) to spin it but I was able to move it slightly with my fingertips. (slightly, meaning 1/8" or so.. then it felt jammed)

Be careful when you do this:

With the engine idling and the parking brake set, have somebody depress the pedal to the floor and shift to a forward gear, this will stop the disc. Then have them shift to Neutral..the disc should remain stopped; if it immediately speeds back up, the clutch is dragging.