Manual gearbox is probably toast (again), but still looking for opinions/confirmation

[DanDombrowski]

Okay guys,

Some of you might remember when I lost the 2nd gear syncro in my 93 525i manual (getrag) transmission. I ordered a rebuilt unit from Vines auto and had it installed.

About 3-4,000 miles later, I'm starting to have problems with it. When the car is cold, I cannot get the car into 4th gear. I first started noticing the problem when shifting to 4th when cold, it would grind (a little at first, then over the next two weeks it got worse and worse).

So, I started testing different things. When its warm, it works probably 95% of the time, however, there have been occasions even when the trans was hot that it grinded and startled me. Now, heres the wierd part.

When its cold (and the condition is the worst), and I shift from 3rd to 4th, but DONT let out the clutch, the stick will wiggle a lot and wiggle its way back to neutral. I can do this 3-4 times in a row when the car is cold.

All other gears work fine. The transmission has a 1 year warranty, so I have the option of pulling it and sending it back (at the cost of about $4-500, thanks Vines), but if its a shift bushing or some other issue that someone has run into before, I'd like to know before hand.

Oh, and I changed the fluid too, from the original Redline MTL (new when trans installed) to new Redline MTL, and I made sure it was full.

Thanks a bunch guys!

[Ferret]

When its cold (and the condition is the worst), and I shift from 3rd to 4th, but DONT let out the clutch, the stick will wiggle a lot and wiggle its way back to neutral.

That sounds like a synchro's disintegrated - what the heck is wrong with vines? Why cant they do a proper job of something.

[whiskychaser]

When its cold (and the condition is the worst), and I shift from 3rd to 4th, but DONT let out the clutch, the stick will wiggle a lot and wiggle its way back to neutral. I can do this 3-4 times in a row when the car is cold.

Think this may be due to worn detent springs or pins-they keep the selector in place. That said, they shoudnt stop you engaging 4th gear. But if its a small gate and there is some wear you could be hitting 2nd instead of 4th? Hope you get it sorted

[Bin_jammin]

That sounds like a synchro's disintegrated - what the heck is wrong with vines? Why cant they do a proper job of something.

I've never dealt with vines, and I'm certainly not defending them, but if they're a junkyard how are they supposed to predict a synchro failure?

[DanDombrowski]

They rebuilt the transmission

[ryan roopnarine]

aw jeez. sorry to hear that. you are much nicer than I am, at this point, i'd have already disputed the transaction on my credit card. if i were you, and i lived in louisana (which obviously isn't the case for either of us), i'd have already filed a law-soot for the installation labor by mah-self. it always sucks when it costs more to rectify a situation than for the item in question itself.

[DanDombrowski]

Well,

The credit dispute was the first thing that crossed my mind, but since I put it on my debit card (my mistake), I only had 90 days from the original transaction to dispute the charge.

As for the labor, yeah, I'm really pissed about that, but theres not a whole lot I can do.