hooziewhatsit Posted September 13, 2010 Share Posted September 13, 2010 My brother has an '82 EA81 wagon with a manual 4 speed in it. He was telling me tonight that when he shifts into 4th, he has to hold the shifter back real hard as he lets the clutch out, otherwise it'll pop out of gear and grind a lot It sounds like once it's in gear it'll be just fine until he needs to shift again, but it's been getting progressively worse. Anybody hear of, or have a cause/solution for this? He lives in a small apartment off base, so he can't drain it and check for chunks in the fluid. Thanks :beer: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hatchsub Posted September 13, 2010 Share Posted September 13, 2010 If its popping out of gear his 4th gear is shot. These trans are not really worth the bother to fix since you can still find them. Is this 2wd or 4wd? 2wd 4 speeds a a bit hard to come by but he can upgrade to a 5 speed. If its 4wd those are easier to find. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted September 13, 2010 Share Posted September 13, 2010 It's shot. Not worth fixing. Tell him to upgrade to a 5 speed. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hooziewhatsit Posted September 13, 2010 Author Share Posted September 13, 2010 Thanks for the replies. So what's the failure mode for this? Eventually he just won't have 4th anymore, but the rest will work? Catastrophic as the entire transmission eats itself and he's dead in the water? He's currently in Texas, and I'm not entirely sure that it would make it back to Oregon where I could work on it. Or if he even wants to go through the trouble of fixing it :-\ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted September 13, 2010 Share Posted September 13, 2010 Eventually 4th gear will just not be there. It will chew up the shift dogs to the point that they no longer hold and the gear just won't lock to the shaft anymore - you will be able to put it in the place where 4th was located - but it will just grind. 3rd is usually the one that fails so expect that to go next. There will be a lot of metal in the oil as well. I doubt it will stop moving - but you won't be able to go real fast without 4th. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hatchsub Posted September 13, 2010 Share Posted September 13, 2010 Tell him to double clutch 4th...as in put it in neutral..let the clutch out...push the clutch in and put it into 4th. It might help that gear along a bit longer but what GD said. At this point its only going to get worse. Time to start looking for another trans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skishop69 Posted September 13, 2010 Share Posted September 13, 2010 +1 The 4th gear blocking ring is wearing out so when the synchro sleeve (the actual part that is 'shifting' inside the trans hits it, it doesn't have the ability it used to to slow down the gear to mesh. The blocking ring rides on a polished chamfered surface that is part of the gear. It has grooves in it and is designed to reduce the gearset speed for the shift. Like GD said, it will eventually tear up the dogs on the gear and that'll be all she wrote. It is repairable and fairly easy, but unless you have a dead donor trans, it's way cheaper to get another one and drop it in. The parts would be as much as the used trans (if you get it at a PAP or from a member). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruparts Posted September 13, 2010 Share Posted September 13, 2010 My brother has an '82 EA81 wagon with a manual 4 speed in it. He was telling me tonight that when he shifts into 4th, he has to hold the shifter back real hard as he lets the clutch out, otherwise it'll pop out of gear and grind a lot It sounds like once it's in gear it'll be just fine until he needs to shift again, but it's been getting progressively worse. Anybody hear of, or have a cause/solution for this? He lives in a small apartment off base, so he can't drain it and check for chunks in the fluid. Thanks :beer: hi, I just want to add that the shifter bushings "might" be the problem, if they are worn really bad and the shifter can barely get it into 4th due to lack of travel in the linkage. just saying, cause if it doesn't jump out once it gets in gear that could be it. mine had the same symptoms and it was the shift linkage bushings, replaced them and its been good ever since. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricearu Posted September 13, 2010 Share Posted September 13, 2010 where is he at in texas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hooziewhatsit Posted September 13, 2010 Author Share Posted September 13, 2010 He's currently in San Antonio, and in ~5 weeks will be going to New Mexico for a while. I sent him this thread, and he sent this reply: I've been double clutching 3rd for a few years now seems to help. If it's in 4th gear and you come to a stop (clutch depressed but leave it in 4th gear) it will get stuck in fourth gear. need to turn the car off or rev it high and get it moving forward a bit to release it out of 4th. It has done that ever since I got. So thats not a big deal but it may be diagnostically usefull. 35MPH is all I'll need to get to work in the morning. All an all not too bad for a $200 suby. up to 256XXX miles on it so far. Hoping it will get me to New Mexico and back this winter!! needs to pay off the new tires i got her about 5000 miles ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted September 13, 2010 Share Posted September 13, 2010 The being stuck in 4th when you come to a stop thing - that's not related. I've had 4 speed's that do that but are otherwise fine and do not grind in any gear. It's not a big problem if you remember to shift to neutral before comming to a complete stop. Sounds like 3rd and 4th are gone as well as the getting stuck in 4th problem.... pretty typical at 250k+ with these. It's junk now . GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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