Tranny trouble

[gonesurfing04]

I have a 1995 200sx ser and my 5th gear is bad. When I go to put it into 5th it grinds as I go to let off the clutch, or it dosent make any sounds at all. Some times it pops out not often though. Then only way for me to get it in is to barley hit the clutch as I slam it in to gear. I dontk now if its the shift fork, or the gear its self or what. If any one knows and could help me that would be great. Thanks.

[curtis73]

Is the shifter sloppy? It might not be fully engaging 5th. Sounds like you get it in part way, then when the clutch comes back out it pops it out and grinds.

Since the other gears are working, I doubt its a clutch issue, and since its just 5th, I suspect a cable, pivot, or perhaps a fork. Usually sloppy forks affect more than one gear, but I don't know how your particular tranny is designed.

its also possible, but rare that the gears themselves have become worn or damaged, but that's usually a gradual thing and is often accompanied by tons of noise.

The other clue is that it tends to work better if you slam it into gear. When you slam it, it pops past the synchro and has some momentum that further engages the gears.

I would diagnose all of the external shifter issues first since they can be done with the car intact. If not, you're looking at tranny work. The good news is (depending on your car) 5 speeds are cheap. Salvage yard trannys are fine if you can drive them, but they often charge way too much. I was looking for a Getrag 260 for a BMW, and I found two used ones in great shape for FREE. I just paid shipping. So don't worry about rebuilding yours ($1000) or buying new ($1500), just get a $200 ebay special and put new seals and a clutch in it. Make sure you get a written guarantee of some sort, but 95% of all salvaged manual trannys are fine for daily use.

The only time I would recommend fixing the current tranny is if a garage says they can just fix it in the car by pulling the cover and blah blah for $200, but usually tranny work on a FWD is a complete removal and overhaul that can be very costly.

Do research for your 200 in particular, but in my experience, replacing a FWD manual tranny is more cost effective than repairing it. Plus, when its over you have a (slightly busted) tranny that might be worth $50 to someone. I did that with a busted THM200 tranny in an El Camino. I had a shop put in a TH350 since I was out of town and didn't have my garage. As a partial trade, they took my old tranny and gave me $75 off the labor. They probably spent $200 fixing it, then sold it for $400.

[gonesurfing04]

Yesterday I was driving and I took it out of 4th to go into 5th, and I didnt put the clutch in when I was going into 5th and it was just going in and out. No grinding, no engaging, or anything. Then I go to put the clutch in and put it into 5th and it grinds. Sometimes it goes in easy other times it takes about 3-4 times before it goes in there after I slam it in there while tapping on the clutch. IDK?

[curtis73]

Yup, further evidence that its a slopply point in the linkage. With the clutch out trying to put it in fifth, you went all the way to the end of the shifter's travel only to butt up against the synchros. With the clutch in, it was enough travel to get past the synchros, but not engage the gear.

[ales]

5th gear popout is a rather common issue on se-rs. Check the faq on www.se-r.net and the archive of the mailing list.

Good luck.

[gonesurfing04]

Ok so how would I be able to fix that in the linkage?