Will, your tranny is normal, don't sweat it. Before my '01 Dak, I drove an
88 S-10 with 205k on it when we parted ways. Sure the no. 3 cylinder was low,
but the other three cylinders were fine and untouched, including the tranny.
The point is that I had a VERY tired engine and tranny, which left me with 4th
and 5th gear synchros left, 1 and 2 on the way out, and 3 was toast. If you've
ever heard of double-clutching, here's what I know about it (heel-toe braking
will follow some other time).
The synchronizers in your transmission basically act like a clutch for each
gear (except reverse, which is why it grinds if you don't let the tranny spin
down). As you put pressure on the the shifter, the synchros engage, spinning
up the input shaft so that your gears are going the same speed and can be
engaged. When upshifting, the synchros slow the input shaft, but so do normal
frictional losses in the tranny and oil, so it's not typically a
consideration. Rather than pushing against the syncros at high speed, you can
double-clutch the truck as well, which is what one learns when living with
tired syncros. As the syncronizers wear, they'll start to sing as you push
into gear, but I digress... Rather than using the synchros to spin up the
input shaft when downshifting, which wears them considerably, you can put the
shifter into neutral and release the clutch, rev the engine to the approximate
RPM that it'll be at when you shift, push in the clutch and shift. You have to
do this quickly and with practice though, because the input shaft will slow as
soon as you release the clutch. You can get it in one fluid motion with a
little practice and save some synchro life, along with saving yourself the
dreaded lurch (unsettling to women in the cab, in my experience) associated
with engaging the clutch with an engine at 600 rpm and a drivetrain trying to
do 70.
As grinding the gears goes, I'd look into a magnetic drain plug for the
tranny, just like people use in oil pans. Once you grind gears, those filings
float in your tranny fluid. The next time they go between two gear teeth,
you've got more wear and it only get worse with age. Most trannys do fine
without them, but they've always held a little piece of mind for me. I'm all
for keeping the junk (and steel) that I knock off my gears from recirculating
through them later. As a side note, there's something to be said for double-
clutching into third at 70 (about 4k rpm with a 3.55) on the interstate - it
just feels good and is cheaper than any therapist.
Crit
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 02 Dec 2000 00:28:27 -0600
From: "Will Coughlin" <willcoughlin@hotmail.com>
Subject: DML: update on my transmission/truck
Ok guys, I got the truck out today for the first time in over a week.I was
curious and anxious to drive it after discussing transmissions with
everybody else.I did some little tests.Results-I can in fact shift into
first at 30mph(thats as fast as I tried it).I shifted into second at almost
50.Shifted into 3rd at 70.It took reverse even while rolling forward 1-3
mph.It didn't miss any gears on the way(I went 50 miles down the road to
look at new trucks).Only difference: I just haven't been forcing it hard
enough.It takes a little effort to down shift into first,second,third at
high speeds,and I wasn't willing to force it before.I have always been
extremely careful with my transmission-never dumped the clutch,never shifted
hard,always relaese the clutch very easily,don't accelerate in O/D,etc.I
guess it is just like that? I was real excited thinking that my transmission
might be "normal".I turned around and was coming back.I went to shift into
3rd,and it ground-$#^@! Scared the hell out of me! I thought,well I've
really torn it up now.So, I pulled over,started in 1st again,shifted into
2nd no problem,and went to shift to 3rd-no problem whatsoever,smooth as it's
ever been.What is that? I was going over some relatively rough road when it
ground,maybe I hit a bump at just the wrong moment? I shifted into 3rd 6
times after that before I parked it,never a problem or a grind! I got
back,it took reverse and I parked it.Now I don't know if my tranny is bad or
not! Ughhh! This is really aggravating me! Now I have another problem for
ya'll.My alignment is really screwed up! I was driving and it would pull
pretty good to the right for a while,then seem to track pretty good,then it
would pull pretty good to the left! It's like it couldn't make up it's mind
wich way to pull! If you hold the wheel perfectly straight,I don't know
which way it'll pull! It had these symptoms on several different sections of
road,and was intensified with increase in speed.This is making really mad! I
Witry to maintain this truck so well,and I don't abuse it.The tranny fluid has
been changed three times now,hasn't ever been shifted without clutch or
anything.The tires are rotated and balanced every 2500 miles and it is
aligned at the same time.I have 8300 miles now.I am getting irritated with
my 2000 model truck that I care for religiously,because it has problems it
shouldn't.On the other hand, I looked at new trucks today! I looked at a
durango,as well as silverados.I love my dakota,but may have to rethink if it
has to have surgery at 8400 miles! I am going to pick up a new F-250 crew
cab 4x4 sometime in the next 2 weeks and will drive it for a while.
Hopefully I can get all my quirks figured out on the dakota so I can keep
it!
Will Coughlin willcoughlin@hotmail.com
'00 reg.cab,2wd,4.7L/hd5-spd/3.92sg(9.25")
1ST place Dakota-truck at 11th annual Houston Mopar show and race/National
DML meet!!
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