Weird T-45 Issue...input needed

[BMAC96GT]

Alright guys. Weird problem I have here with my 96 GT. If I'm VERY easy on the car, I have no problems with the tranny. Its when I do some spirited driving when I have issues. I have problems with 2nd, 4th, and reverse. For example, I was on a back road coming home today, took off slowly, eased into 2nd, shifted to third and got on it in 3rd, ran it up to 4 or 5k RPMs then let off and slowed down to pull into my road. Almost come to a stop and try to put it in 2nd, and its like 2nd gear is blocked off, try it again and it goes about 1/4 of the way in the gear, keep my foot on the clutch to avoid grinding, and it takes 4 or 5 times to get it to go into gear.

I get home, try to put it in reverse, goes in, let off the clutch and it grinds, once again, takes me three or four times to get it engaged in the gear.

And again, if I get in the car tomorrow, if I lug around town keeping RPMs down and trying to keep stress off of the tranny, Ill have no problems, its when stress is put on the tranny when problems arise.

HELP! Any input is appreciated. Is this an internal tranny issue? Not enough fluid? Who knows. A new clutch was put in a couple years ago but I dont put many miles on the car at all. Still has a firm clutch

 

[96blak54]

It is an internal issue. A very common issue as well. The t45's are actually stout trannies, but the shifting linkages sucks.

 

[ScottyDsntKnow]

No, the shifting linkage is great and its single rail too, for this reason a fresh T-45 (or T-5 or T-56) is going to shift much smoother than a triple rail design like the 3650. If a t-45s linkage is messed up its because someone was slamming the crap out of the shifter without an aftermarket unit or with one without the stops properly set. The real problem with the 96-98 T-45s are terrible paper blocker rings and a badly designed 5-R slider that can stick and cause all sorts of problems with getting in (and out of) reverse. Your T-45 is even worse than the T-45 I just replaced with a new trans in my car. That one would just grind if you tried to powershift 2nd and you sometimes had to do the old "1st 1st reverse" trick to get it to go. In 1999 Tremec updated the blocker rings to carbon fiber and implemented an updated 5-R slider to fix the reverse issue. The 99-01 T-45s are actually really good transmissions and don't have all the issues the earlier ones do. However, you can get any T-45 rebuilt with carbon fiber blocker rings, any fixes you need and there are aftermarket billet internal parts for them available too.

 

[96blak54]

No.....the shifting linkage sucks. Yes..... its a great design, but poor quality components that are full of prone breaking stress cracks. Massaging these cracks with a little love improves reliability greatly. Also paper or carbon blocker rings really dont matter at drag shifting level ...lol

 

[ScottyDsntKnow]

At drag shifting level you should be automatic if you want to be really competetive lol. Eh... honestly a fresh rebuild is going to put carbon rings in anything. The bone ass stock rebuild 3650 I just swapped into my 98 shifts great.