Why is my transmission fixed?
 

Last weekend I lowered my 76. Was 27" to the fender front and 26 in the rear. I dropped it to 24.5 in the rear and 25 in the front. Since then my 3rd gear grind is practically gone. I usually have to double clutch up and down.. but now it rarely grinds without the double clutch.

Any idea why this would happen? All the shift linkage bushings were replaced within 1 year... nothing else changed at all but the drop in ride height.

I also recently replaced the trans fluid and it was filled to the top on a level surface.. I was hoping the stuff pelican sells might help. It didnt at all.

Is it possible the weird angle of the car was causing this due to fluid being in the wrong spot?

the fluid splashes around so much I can't see the angle making a difference. seems a bit of a mystery. I can't see what would change with ride height that would affect trans alignment. it might well be the trans fluid. I've heard that it's a bit of a delayed reaction kind of deal. takes a while to start making a difference.

This is a WAG. Lowering the ride height may have either untwisted the chassis or twisted it to the extent it affected the clutch/gearshift linkage. Like I said, it's a WAG. Maybe others have better guesses..... or the correct answer

BTW, how did you lower it? You do realize the ride height at each corner and/or front/rear pair can affect other corners/pairs.

Sherwood

What the heck is a WAG? The linkage is not on a plane that a twist would effect.. it spans all of 3 feet. dont think thats it but I wont discount it.

How did I lower it? Reindex rear and adjust front bolts. I simply brought the rear plates up 1 spline.

I didnt think so either.. however it happened IMMEDIATELY following the drop. The days before the drop I remember trying to fix my up shifts without double clutching by reving the motor slightly before clutching.. which worked half of the time.. there is not doubt it occured immediately following the drop.. odd as it may seem.

The spashed will go as high as they splash.. so maybe now the splashes are higher because the originate from a new location... I dont know..

I tried searching on overfilling the 915 and came up with nothing but I am certain I read somewhere that overfilling fixed a problem.. but I dont remember where.. it may have been for my dodge truck..

WAG = Wild Ass Guess.

Could be the angle of the shafts/CV's.

Strange.

All your mounts in good shape and tight?

Don't think it's the gear oil.

WAG.. too funny.

Okay so, if I double clutch it never grinds. that to me is not mounts. Are my mounts ok? I don't know.. I will check if you still think it could be mounts.

I wonder if somehow I under filled it when I changed it. I had it on my lift and the lift is pretty level side to side but the car may have been sitting forward or rearward... I bet thats it... thoughts? Maybe I should jackstand it level and check the fluid. This would be SO cool if this new trans oil fixes it and I just didnt have it full... I was about to tear into the trans.

EDIT: angle of the shafts... hmmm.. trying to think of how that would change things.. I guess different angle of pressure??

This is just a SWAG [Scientific Wild Ass Guess], but I'd say it has more to do with the clutch linkage action than the shift linkage action.

+1


After my tripod method of checking the ride height I noticed an improvement in the over drivability of my SC. I know that mine was out of whack so the results were probably more noticeable.


Even stranger is that it leaked less oil. I shii-ite you not.:eek:

Oh my car driveability is WAY WAY up.. I cant tell you how much more civil the car is to drive now.. tires that were out of balance are magically no vibrating now (I balanced em over and over and was never able to get rid of it).. car doesnt buck like a jeep anymore and I can just hold the steering wheel in once place and it doesnt wander all over the road.

The clutch linkage theory is interesting but I have my doubts. A clutch just get engaged and disengaged. But hey, I dont know what it is so I'll not rule it out.. I guess I'll just enjoy it.. but I will jackstand the car and make sure its level and check the trans fluid level.