M5R2 Transmission Tech Questions...

darkstar_one

Registered User
Hey,

I am recently converting my AOD to a 5 speed because i am tired of automatics... now ive run into lil problems like the flywheel.. but oh well.. anywho... I have the 5 Speed from a 89 XR7... the tach read 108K miles... But before i install it my car i want to make sure it still has some mileage left on it. How would i go about doing this without installing it first? Can i pop it open from the top and take a look? What should i look for?
 
darkstar_one said:
Hey,

I am recently converting my AOD to a 5 speed because i am tired of automatics... now ive run into lil problems like the flywheel.. but oh well.. anywho... I have the 5 Speed from a 89 XR7... the tach read 108K miles... But before i install it my car i want to make sure it still has some mileage left on it. How would i go about doing this without installing it first? Can i pop it open from the top and take a look? What should i look for?
I have a 90 that i'am trying to find out if the new mustang tranny will fit but i can tell you i drive it hard and 2 gear syncro just started to go at 165000ford will brake it down i got a price of 500 to take out of the car and brake it down so yours would be a lot cheaper since its out of the car. if you have the tranny down send it now than having to spend it later. Also if you don't catch a problem now when u install it u won't know if it is the tranny or a bad install if there is a problem....
 
He`s right. At the very least new blockers should be installed and a good go though of the rest as once its in the car these have a bad reputation for second gear grind whitch is usaly syncro or blocker problem. as for the entire rebuild I have never seen bad bearings but I have only had 3 of these open.
As far as looking the only thing you can see is on the back side of the blocker if the teeth are chewed up to were they stick out a little its time to replace them as they wont mesh right in the syncro.
 
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My 5-speed was rebuilt in spring of 2003. I haven't driven the car since November when I put it away to keep it off the salty roads during the winter. But.... after about 5 months on the new rebuild, the trans would be a little tough to get into 2nd gear when the car was cold. It wouldn't grind, but it felt like it wanted to, really notchy. It would grind if I power shifted it into 2nd when cold. After the car had been driven for about 15 minutes it'd be fine. I had brass blockers installed because I thought it would beef up the trans, but I think I should have put fiber ones in there. Maybe next spring I'll tear it down and replace them.

Any ideas on the cold notchy issue? Also, no matter warm or cold, 3rd gear if shifted normally is fine, but if you are racing and shift quickly from 2nd to 3rd it grinds.

I hope my new synchro's aren't junk cuz I am alot easier on the car than I was when it had the stock worn out fiber blockers.
 
I converted mine last spring and I can tell you a few things about the conversion. 1, no more AOD problems(obviously), and 2, tear it down and replace all of the synchros(it isn't that hard and the synchros are pretty cheap); I thought the only one's bad in mine were 1-2, and 2-3. Well, 3-4 and 4-5 lasted me until now, but they are going to be replaced in the next couple of weeks. It's getting harder and harder to shift into 4th and 5th without perfect timing. Oh, and I'm doing like Ford says and running ATF in it instead of gear oil like some other manuafacturers say. Like I said, I have been through this and I may have some more pointers. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask, jmvaught1977@yahoo.com. Good Luck and have fun!:cool: Oh and what was this about a flywheel?
 
oh that thing about the flywheel was because the XR7 that i got it from was from a DURACAST crank... unbalanced flywheel and so on... but anywho... seems i will order that kit from southern gear and send it to my dads friend to get it rebuilt... thanks..... so when i get it... switch to ATF fluid? like refular DEX/MERC III ??
 
Give this stuff a try. I have had manual trans all my life and never found a product like GM SYNCROMESH Worked better then anything I have ever used.
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I'm now using Synchromesh in mine and it does seem to do better. The extra notchiness when cold is pretty much normal until it warms up, about 15 mins. The synchromesh is slightly thicker than Mercon but is a lot more slippery feeling. Let's see if my blockers last more than 2 years of constant speed shifting with it.
 
Darkstar one,

It seems people are trying all sorts of different types of fluid. Ford recommends Dex/Merc III in the book, but some poeple have tried Synchromesh by GM or similar and had womderful results. Others have been using 1 bottle of "moly-lube" or "moly-slip" with topping the rest off with ATF (Dex/Merc III) and had decent results. It's totally up to you, but like I said, Ford recommends plain old ATF (motorcraft part no. XT-2-ODX). I'll let you know what works best for me if you like and you can go from there. Again, good luck! :cool:
 
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