My car has about 150 K miles on it and shifting was rough. Grinding into first and a scary loud noise when shifting down fast into second.
I tried local sources to take a look at the tranny but all I got was: "Thanks, but no, we are not interrested. We could send your tranny away to have it fixed if you leave your check book as deposit".
So, I bought a bad tranny on ebay some time ago to practise with, printed out the PP tech article and made myself comfortable with the idea that I have to deal with it myself. Bought beer.
Took the practise tranny apart and learned some valuable lessons (don't let the shafts drop on the floor and all the gears fly all over the place). Saved the good synchro rings from 4th and 5th gear.
Next I drove the car on ramps and took the tranny apart and got more beer. Diagnosis: Bad main pinion bearing, bad syncro rings on first and second. I did not disassemble the main shaft with the fourth and fifth gear assembly at all.
Ordered new bearing and gasket kit from PP and bought more beer.
Yesterday I tried to assemble the pinion shaft and the gears. No luck, gave up and took a break before breaking something with the big hammer.
Today I got the thing assembled, installed and working. I mean, really working good. Drove around for a while and enjoyed the snappy shifting, no grinding noise easing into first while rolling to a stop and shifting down into second without noise.
Anybody out there in the same boat as me: This is not an overly complicated job. Put it together as you took it apart. A heavy mallet is an essential tool for this job. I spent more time cleaning parts than anything else.
At this point I want to thank PP for their fast shipment of needed parts, the Alaskan Brewing Company and AC/DC for the inspirational music.
Neal
