biglar

While on a trip last weekend, a couple of hundred miles from home, I slowed down to make a turn, and started to shift from 6th down to 5th. Slipped into neutral fine, but the 5th gate was gone. Shifter just skated back and forth in neutral, and couldn't feel any gear notches. Tried for 6th. Nope. Slowed some more and looked for 4th. Nope. Getting concerned - I was miles off in the middle of nowhere - I tried for 3rd, and felt where it should be, and pushed hard - way too hard. It gave a crunch and went into 3rd. OK, accelerate and try for 4th again. Very hard, crunchy shift. Not good. Pulled over to the side, stopped and shifted to neutral. Clutch (my 1st guess) seemed to feel normal, so tried for 2nd. Pulled much harder than I liked, and finally crunched into 2nd. Eased up on the clutch, and it felt normal. Engaged at the usual place and felt fine. Very hard going into 3rd, and again, the clutch seemed fine. After 30 or 40 miles of this, on a winding back country road, (near Kelso, CA) it suddenly smoothed out, and shifted normally across to Needles and down Hwy 95. Half way to Blythe, it got sticky again, but not as bad. It was intermittent all the way home, but never as bad as the 1st go-round. This is the 6 spd on an '02........and I've only got a few 1,000 miles of warranty left. Yes, I'm concerned. Any ideas ??

Lar.

roadranger

Sounds more like the clutch plate damping springs coming apart and not allowing disengagement.
When you were having problems downshifting, were you trying to raise/equalize the engine RPM's to get the tranny into the next lower gear? Like double-clutching a big rig?

Usually, when the tranny grenades, it's forever, not intermittent.
Clutch springs falling out will dance all around inside the disc/flywheel and end up in a different spot every time you depress the clutch pedal=intermittent.
JMO

blackdiesel

i had this happen to me, but to a much more severe degree. i was only about 1/2 mile from home (thank goodness) and i went to shift from 3rd to 4th and it didnt really want to go it. so i shoved it in there and i herd an awful grinding noise and it locked up my rear tires.

the only gear i could get it in was reverse so i backed it up to the house. then pulled it up to the shop and dropped the trans. Pulled it apart and i had broken the tabs off of a stop clutch.

fixed the trans and stuck it back in the truck and it worked good. But now im getting hard shifts again. its grinding going into 6th and 4th now. i dunno what to do.

biglar

Yah, I tried matching rpm's with no joy. Clutch was my 1st thought, too, and that's why I played with it a bit to see what the clutch felt like. Once it was in gear, the clutch felt normal, where if the clutch was dragging, it would've took hold immediately. Also, it's driving normally now, with just a bit of stickiness from time to time. I'll talk to the dealer about it when I take it in for an oil change in the near future, but had hoped it was a known problem. Thanks for the replies........blackdiesel, it don't sound good for you. Good Luck.

Lar.

dodgezilla04

mine has done the 6th to 5th thing a few times. Even when brand new. No noise, no vibration, just would not go into 5th. had to put it back into 6th and try again. try to remember that there is alot of BIG components spinning in there, this isnt your teenage sons honda trans, and you have to take things slow. I get in a hurry too and then, no shift.

biglar

Yah, I hear ya, and understand what you're saying, but I wasn't (and won't) hot rod it - this was totally different from anything I've experienced with it in over 90,000 miles. It usually shifts smooth as butter into any gear..........quick and slick. If it's gonna break, I want it to break NOW, while it's still under warranty.

Lar.

blackdiesel

well heck. i was 80 miles from home today and i went to downshift into 3rd from 4th and it locked up the tires again. then it somehow got stuck in 6th, and i drove about a mile and i felt if free up. then i could row through all the gears again.

this really makes me mad. i just rebuilt the trans about 2 or 3 months ago. i spent over 800 bucks on stop clutches and bearings.

i wish i could buy a new one. but they quit making them didnt they?