First gear won't stay in gear pops out

[walkersimpson]

Been spending a lot of time on this car and it was just Friday when I passed smog and registered it and this morning on the way to work first gear just popped out and I put it back in and it popped out again don't know what exactly it is maybe the gate or syncros but whatever you guys can tell me would be great all othere gears are working fine any help would be great still have some carb issues so got a few things to solve and not to happy about it thought I was going down hill now I'm going back up. It is a transmission from pick and pull but it has worked fine till this morning no symptoms just suddenly started popping out anything would help and might have to bring it to a shop but I do have the old transmission the only thing with that is it has a crack in the side oil fill so can't use the whole transmission just peices tha is guys

[dlb]

that's bad. easiest thing to check is to drain the trans oil and check it and the magnet on the drain plug for chunks of metal. extremely fine metallic flakes that form a goo on the magnet are normal wear for such old transmissions but if you see chunks, it's a sign that something has failed suddenly.

how long have you had this trans in the car for? is there much slop in the shifter? if the shifter is really sloppy, there is a chance that it just doesn't get all the way into 1st, but that is less likely than a worn out gear.

[walkersimpson]

Have had the transmission in for only over 100 miles thinking I might invest in a used one ground one for $858 with a 5 year warranty. I don't know how I already fuck this up that bad was working fine yesterday and just not working right today it sucks because I just got it regestered only been able to legally drive it for 3 days. You think it is better to just get a new one instead of investing in fixing this transmission, that is what I think I might do because I know I'm going to beat the tranny up pretty good going wheeling and stuff just wanted some thoughts

[irowiki]

Did the pick and pull give a warranty?

[marlinh]

Did it pop out of gear when you were decelerating or going down a grade? I am not sure, but it may be a broken spring in the detent. There are spring loaded balls that keep the shifter in place on the side of the transmission. Haven't done it myself, but I seem to remember a friend of mine who's a tranny rebuilder mention them to me. Worst case scenario is the synchro for first is gone. But if it was I would suspect it to be hard to shift into first. It might be worth looking onto.

[walkersimpson]

ya got a warranty but also have another transmission that is in good condition but has a crack in the housing so might use that to rebuild mine but think im going to buy a new one plan on keeping this car for a long time going to rebuild the other engine i have so a new transmission seems like a good idea to me thanks for the help though. it pops out when acelerating and is loud and fights if i try and hold it in

[Petros]

there are a few things that can cause it pop out of gear, presuming the shift bushings and linkage check out, the most common cause unfortunately is the main shaft bearings are so worn they allow a lot of forward and aft movement of the gear cluster and because of the helix in the gear cuts, it forces the cluster fully in one direction when you accelerate. the is so much movement that it pushes the spline sleeve out of gear because the shift forks stay stationary, mounted to the housing.

Bottom line is, it likely needs new bearings. That means a complete rebuild. that is large job, but it can be done. Not sure if you ca just replace the front and rear main cluster bearings without having to pull it apart all the way. if you keep driving it, eventually it will pop out of all of the gears because the movement will move so far that it will push each ear out of engagement.

If you have another good trans, you might install that and return the bad one.

[walkersimpson]

im just going to buy a used one found one for $849 with only 140,000 miles so im going to go with that plan on keeping this car for a long time so when i pull the other one i might just return that one to pick and pull or save it for parts haven't decided yet but thanks for the info hope it doesn't start popping out of gears to soon need to get it to last me for the time it takes to get the new one. i have another transmission but it has a big crack in it and don't want to drive it with low oil in the transmission so im just going to have to tuff it out and hope my gears don't get to screwed up in the the time being thanks for you help petros you have mush knowledge and i appreciate every bit of it

[Petros]

be aware that the ring and pinion ratio on the front and rear need to match, the '83-84 uses 3.73:1 and the '85 and newer manual trans uses 4.1:1. most places list the trans assembly as being interchangeable, but that is not quite true if you change the whole trans over as a unit. You have to buy the correct year range for your car, or be prepared to also switch out the rear diff assembly from the same year car the trans came from. Changing the rear diff is easy, you pull the axles and unbolt the thrid member in the middle, and swap it out as a unit. You can also change out the front diff assembly from your old one (if it is still good) on to the front of the new replacement trans. Just be aware that you could end up with the wrong front ring and pinion ratio, you can not use the 4wd feature if you have mismatched front and rear ratios, or you risk severe (and costly) damage to the trans, diff or drive train.

[walkersimpson]

got the new transmission a while ago and made sure to get the right gear ratio so i didnt do just that had done lots of reading and knew not to do that but thanks for the heads up anyway petros she drives great now and should keep going for a long time