help, my gear syncros are starting to go

[africanmarty]

my gear syncros are crunching almost everytime when slowing down and downgearing to second, but sometimes when driving normaly upgearing to third do i have to get a new gear box ? or can i ge this fixed, how does it cost ? what would you recommend i do ? its on my 91 camry 3sfe 5 speed.

- Marty.

[fredk]

downshifts while the car is slowing down puts more wear on the sinc. rings than normal upshifting ever will, brake pads are dirt cheap, check the cable bushings for slop on the trans end and change the tranny oil

[africanmarty]

thanks will do.

[white90dx]

Probably cheaper to put in a good used transmission instead of going through a rebuild if the car gets too hard to drive.

If your synchros are going, make sure you double-clutch and rev-match all your downshifts, and downshift only when necessary. Find what works on upshifts and stick with it. Change the transmission fluid to 75w90 to see if that helps the shifting too (stock M/T uses ATF).

-Charlie

[africanmarty]

What is rev matching ? Shift to a lower gear. Before you let the clutch out blip the throttle alittle bit and then release the clutch ? as for double clutching is this right ? press clutch, foot of gas, shift into neutral. release clutch . press clutch again and shift into gear.

[wiccanferret]

Replace your transmission fluid with GM Syncromesh...it does WONDERS.

[africanmarty]

Originally Posted by wiccanferret

Replace your transmission fluid with GM Syncromesh...it does WONDERS.

Wiccanferret are you speaking from experiance ? Did you have some gear crunching like i discribed and drained your tranny fluid and filled it up with GM Syncromesh and it fixed it or made shifting alot smoother ?? Also home much would i need to get to fill a completely drained 3sfe 5 speed ? also can you get it in oz ? And how much will i be paying for it, if it's a cheap solution that could help me out a while ( or evan fix it the crunching ) till i can afford a 2nd hand box.

any one got experiance with this ?

[WVcamry3sfe]

Originally Posted by africanmarty

What is rev matching ? Shift to a lower gear. Before you let the clutch out blip the throttle alittle bit and then release the clutch ? as for double clutching is this right ? press clutch, foot of gas, shift into neutral. release clutch . press clutch again and shift into gear.

when you double clutch for a down shift, you take the car into nuetral, then you'll need to rev the engine to the proper RPM for the next lowest gear that you want to shift into, once you're at that RPM, put the car into the gear. Basically all you're doing is doing the work of the syncros manually. Once you get good at doing this, you'll be able to double clutch rather quickly, and might even become habit.

[wiccanferret]

Originally Posted by africanmarty

Wiccanferret are you speaking from experiance ? Did you have some gear crunching like i discribed and drained your tranny fluid and filled it up with GM Syncromesh and it fixed it or made shifting alot smoother ?? Also home much would i need to get to fill a completely drained 3sfe 5 speed ? also can you get it in oz ? And how much will i be paying for it, if it's a cheap solution that could help me out a while ( or evan fix it the crunching ) till i can afford a 2nd hand box.

any one got experiance with this ?

I do have first hand experience with this. A friend of mine swapped his 5SFE Camry auto over to a standard. For some reason he chose a transmission that had 200k+ miles on it. You couldn't downshift at all without grinding. I suggested he switch the fluid out with Syncromesh because it's designed to help transmissions whose syncros are lacking. It shfited smooth as butter for at least a year after that.

I really don't know how much you'd need for your particular application, any repair manual should have that information.

[white90dx]

Originally Posted by WVcamry3sfe

when you double clutch for a down shift, you take the car into nuetral, then you'll need to rev the engine to the proper RPM for the next lowest gear that you want to shift into, once you're at that RPM, put the car into the gear. Basically all you're doing is doing the work of the syncros manually. Once you get good at doing this, you'll be able to double clutch rather quickly, and might even become habit.

Yup. Just make sure the clutch is out so that the input shaft actually changes speed when you blip the throttle. Otherwise, you are just rev-matching and not double clutching.

For upshifting (normal accelleration), just find the rpms and rate that you need to shift with no grinding and do that. No special clutch work or revving should be needed. Downshifting is where all the work comes in.

-Charlie

[IvanHoe]

Originally Posted by white90dx

Probably cheaper to put in a good used transmission instead of going through a rebuild if the car gets too hard to drive.

If your synchros are going, make sure you double-clutch and rev-match all your downshifts, and downshift only when necessary. Find what works on upshifts and stick with it. Change the transmission fluid to 75w90 to see if that helps the shifting too (stock M/T uses ATF).

-Charlie

the stock 3sFe 5 speed tranny did come with ATF, but a 1991 TSB recommended switching to gear oil for smoother shifting......my 5 speed tranny had gear oil in it when I got it(I just put fresh gear oil in BTW), so Im guessing the original owner follwed the TSB

As for the thread starter, you should definately try gear oil(if it hasnt been switched from ATF previously)......way better than ATF for gear boxes, I bet it would also improve your situation!

Look for Hypoid-C gear oil 80w90, it exceeds API GL-5 expectations.....I bought the Castrol GTX brand and my baby is smooth as silk

3 quarts is what I put in.....the book says 2.7, but when I drained it, there was a tad over 3, so I decided to fill with the same 3 quarts

.........But if all else fails.....have no fear, 5 speed trannys for Gen 2's are not that hard to find (Celicas w/3sfe used the same tranny)...I just recently priced them for $200-$250 at the local boneyards

[Toysrme]

You've been saving brake wear by trading it off for clutch & synchronizer wear. Brakes are cheaper. There's nothing wrong with slowing down with engine braking. It's awesome... But you have to ofset the expencive clutch & synchro wear via downshifting properly.


Learn to heel & toe downshift.


Good old double clutching. If you get to the point where you MUST double clutch to shift. Atleast be secure in the knowledge that if you ever had to move a piece of industrial equipment, you will be well equipped to do so 'cause they aint got synchro's. tehehehe

[africanmarty]

i'll try and find some syncromesh and let you guys know how it goes.

[IvanHoe]

Originally Posted by africanmarty

i'll try and find some syncromesh and let you guys know how it goes.

.....uhhhh, did you read my post?
I own a '88 3sfe 5 speed........I know your pain

[africanmarty]

well i just called around and no one has the stuff ( i didnt call any dealers ) so what your saying it you had the same problem and you put in Castrol GTX brand Hypoid-C gear oil 80w90 and your problems are gone ?