T-5 Trans Gone Bad...

[AntwaanRandleEL]

My T-5 is about to go in my 90 LX. I really don't think I can afford to fix it so I'm most likely selling the car. I was wondering though, if I bought a new T-5, what else as far as all the little things would I need in order to do the job right and about how much would all that cost?

[richd]

What are the symptoms? Are you leaking fluid? Popping out of gear? Hard to get in gear? Which gears are a problem? Is your clutch disengaging?

Give us more details...

But if you were to just buy a new trans

T-5Z $1299
Clutch ~$100 for stocker, more for aftermarket
$170 for aluminum driveshaft, if your yoke is shot

You could substitute a tremec for the T-5Z, but add a few hunderd more. You may need a new bellhousing with that, though.

You could also rebuild your current trans, did mine last August. Cost me $700 in parts, but mine leaked fluid and needed the cluster replaced. Did the work myself, add $200 to have someone like Hanlon Motorsports do the work. You would still have to remove and replace it, though.

Check with hanlonmotorsports.com, they will pull yours apart and inspect it for about $200 and you can decide from there. If you go through with it with Hanlon you'll pay $200 + $170 for rebuild kit + whatever other parts are needed.

Good luck,

Rich D.

[Chevyguy]

You are looking at at least $1000 for the job, even if you get a good rebuilt tranny. I would go with a prof rebuilt trans they go for about $800. A good rebuilt trans can be stronger than a new T-5Z, if it's done by a specialist. Anyone can replace the broken parts, but thats not really rebuilding.

The T-5 trans needs some modifications and strengthening to be reliable. Lots of guys end up breaking the new T-5Z trans. Remember it's still a mass produced trans, subject to the same design limitations of a regular T-5. The Z does have the improved imput shaft bearing retainer, and the 2.95 first gear, so that is a good step forwards.

IMHO it's too much work to use a used trans, you are likley to not have it last very long.

[AntwaanRandleEL]

Mainly what happened was when I was pulling away from my house, (not fast), the car came out of gear, there was a loud bang and the engine freewheeled for a second. I stop the car and put it back in first and drove it. It hasnt happened again in 4 days. The trans has always been a little hard to get into reverse but thats it. I see no signs of a leak. My buddy who has a 10 second 87 LX says my trans is on its last leg. He knows his stuff, he does all his own work on his stang and on his 10 second Eagle Talon, and he is one of the top mechanics at the Lexus Dealership out here so I do trust him, but he could be wrong, as could anyone. So I found this transmission place that will do a full inspection of my trans for $70 (if I pull it myself) (250 if they have to do it) Do you think I should try that? Atleast see what my problem is? And go from there. I just need the car to work so I can get to work. I'm 18 and in highschool and I want to go to college with some money in my pocket so I need to work this summer a lot. Any suggestions from here would be great.

[Chevyguy]

What happened is you were not completely in first, then it popped out. That is not necessarly a death sentance yet. My old trans would pop out of second sometimes while driving, that syncro was shot as it would often grind downshifting from 3 to 2. Eventually the 3rd cluster gear broke apart. That trans was rebuilt by a local trans shop, and only lasted 40,000 miles but always shifted funny and never really felt right.

Poor adjustment of the clutch cable, or firewall flex can make it hard to fully shift into a gear, look for the cheap stuff first

[Coupe50h]

Yea most of us might remember my current post "t-5 experts help!" but i came to the conclusion, i just need a more sturdy trans, im putting aside a tremmec fund now, my 1st gear is sounding whiney after a bad wheel hop at the track, my first t-5 sounded awful days before it broke, the 3rd gr cluster made a clicking noise before it went CCCCLAANK CAHHBOOOM! and i was just leaving a store driving easy, fact is, t-5's are good tranny's but they will wear out, racing just speeds up the process.

I just installed heads and cam, the power gains of that overpower the t-5, with sticky tires im just going to let it go gracefully with a 5k launch next week, who knows it might make it a couple more track trips......btw, i had my 1st one rebuilt for 575$ also had a core exchange, check the paper and you might find someone that does the rebuilds cheap.