5 speed tranny, any ideas?

[siteunseen]

4 minutes ago, psdenno said:

Our chewer is a Cocker Spaniel in a state of perpetual teething.  In fact he just brought another orange in from outside while I was typing this.  That travertine looks really nice!  And puppyproof.  

Dennis

 

 

He chews everything, it's crazy.  My female wasn't like this, I miss that dog but I'm liking him more and more.  He's got a personality I'm not used to, sorta goofy like me, clumsy as can be and always ready to play.  I can't afford chew toys the way he goes through them.  I gave him blocks of wood but read that wasn't good to do.  I wish he liked to chew on Zoysia. 

[siteunseen]

4 hours ago, Zed Head said:

That carpet needed chewing!  Puppy's trying to tell you something.

I'm embarrassed after looking at that picture of my carpet!  

There's a window right there and it was casting some strange light plus that was my cell phone.  It's not nasty like it looks in the picture, I promise.

[Dave WM]

That is one clean cylinder head!

I thought of a good test procedure regarding  the use of the Z shifter in a ZX 5 speed.

Best done with the transmission on the bench.

1. Shift trans into 5th gear
2. carefully remove the shift pin and remove the shifter see if there is any binding against the oval shaped hole in the strike rod head.
3. Use a tool (large screwdriver) to see if the shift head can be moved any further rearward (this would be proof the engagement was not complete) check to see if it seems to be in the detent position.
4. put the shifter back in with the pin in place see if there is any resistance felt, if so grind away the metal that is coming into contact. Do the same for the reverse gear.

Some bluing or finger nail polish on the shifter may make it easier to see where the contact is happening. The metal of the shifter is pretty soft, easy to remove with a dremal moto tool and drum sander. I wish I had tried this before doing grinding. For now I am using a thin paper strip inserted into the oval opening where the binding can take place. My reverse is still just a tad tight (tore the paper). So I will get the witness paint on the shifter to see if I can locate the exact spot to be ground.

[Dave WM]

just one more update, I used some thick red paint to mark the oval metal of the striker rod, installed the shifter and tried 5th and rev again. 5th looked (and sounded ) good, but rev was still leaving  good witness mark from the paint on the shifter. More grinding/check/grind more/etc... until looks good and it passes the strip of paper test now. I can see how some wear marks on the striker rod head, I suspect that each trans will require zero to some work for full engagement based on the amount of wear at this point and perhaps production variances in the trans and shift rod. Anyway best to deal with this issue with the trans on the bench, I am really glad about this thread, see as I was able to work on mine before the install.

[siteunseen]

I'll put some blue layout dye on mine and see what marks I get, thanks for that idea.  I can try that today and hopefully get my interior put back together.  I need to change the break-in oil out with some fresh and put some miles on that little baby. 

[Zed Head]

Here's some shifter stuff.  MSA says that there are two styles of 1978 transmissions.  An A and a B.  I assume that their little brackets fit on the ears, extending them so that the really long lower lever's tip will ride at the right spot.  I wonder if there are other differences.

http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/PROD/20-1054

http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/PROD/20-1050

Don't forget, if the lower nylon bushing is worn the lever will move farther, causing more interference.  Even wear on the inside will allow the metal rod to move farther.  A tighter bushing might help.

[Dave WM]

good point Zed head, another variable (worn bushing) that is in play for why some folks may have a problem. I am going to pop for a new set of bushings just to be sure (side and bottom).

Edited May 19, 2016 by Dave WM

[Zed Head]

Actually, I think that any wear allows more movement (of course) and intereference.  The shift fork bushings, the coupler sleeve groove, any moving surfaces between the shift lever and the synchros, and the detent balls.  You could even get interference and divot formation after the coupler sleeve has locked in to position.  One of those "how far is far enough" dilemmas.

A transmission guy could probably spend some time tuning the shifting mechanism itself.  Once the sleeve is in place and the inserts have dropped in to their slots the job is done.

The shift fork wear pads have changed over the years.  Plastic and bronze/brass have been used.  There's probably a wear spec. out there somewhere.  Next tear-down!

[siteunseen]

I'm going to put the bronze side bushings on and now will get the thickest cup bushing from my collection of shift rods. 

It's still hard to believe I haven't read anything about grinding the shift rod. I've read a lot of stuff on theses cars over the past 5 years.