Manual Transmission T56 | T5 | MN12 | Clutches | Hydraulics | Shifters

How to save the T56.

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Old Aug 14, 2003 | 10:14 AM
  #1  
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Default How to save the T56.

I had my T-56 rebuilt early this summer, and am paranoid about breaking something again. I dont drive the car very hard, but I do sometimes. (like 20% of the time)
Will a B&M ripper help extend the life of part of the tranny? What other parts can help prolong the life? An 01 slave cylinder? Thanks.
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Old Aug 14, 2003 | 08:20 PM
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Default Re: How to save the T56.

Nothing will help prolong the life except to avoid missing gears and grinding it. As long as you never grind a gear, it will live a very long time.

Tony
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Old Aug 15, 2003 | 01:07 AM
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Default Re: How to save the T56.

If you really know how to drive a stick, you can make any manual transmission last forever. That means double-clutching on down shifts, and no power shifting! Pause on up shifts slightly for the rpm to come down a bit. Use the right amount of presure on the gear shift lever to change gears: too little force and you may not go all the way in and end up grinding; to much force and the syncros don't have time to do their job. The drill mod may help it last longer also. Some people only double clutch when downshifting to full throttle or when skipping gears, but I do it all the time, for every downshift. The whimpy T-5 in my old 3rd gen Camaro was still in excellent condition when I sold it with over 200,000 miles on the clock.
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Old Aug 19, 2003 | 02:20 AM
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Default Re: How to save the T56.

Stupid Question... What is double clutching???
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Old Aug 19, 2003 | 04:15 AM
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Default Re: How to save the T56.

Pushing in the clutch when shifting out of a gear and then letting the clutch out with the trans in neutral(1),then pushing the clutch back in when shifting into the next gear(2)...when letting the clutch out in neutral the syncro's have time to syncronize and get the gears inside the trans all turning at the same speed so you end up with a nice smooth gear exchange. This is not really too critical now, with the use of the thinner ATF rather than the old 90W gear oil that was previously used.In the winter time that "oil" was sooooo thick,that the syncro's really had a hard time doing there job and thus the double clutching evolved.
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Old Aug 19, 2003 | 04:22 PM
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Default Re: How to save the T56.

How hard is rev-matching on the tranny?? I do it now and then when downshifting in order to make things a lot smoother. I would assume since it makes the clutch engage smoother that its not a bad thing. And how neccessary is double-clutching?? As neccessary as 67pete says, or as neccessary as Cal says??
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Old Aug 19, 2003 | 04:59 PM
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Default Re: How to save the T56.

well, i can tell ya, i was shifting the stock shifter HARD, and i mean really hard, and it trashed the synchro keys, and eventually the synchros. since my last re-vamp, i went to a ripper and since then, i havent had a problems with mine. still shift it reeelieeee hard BTW
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Old Aug 20, 2003 | 08:25 AM
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Default Re: How to save the T56.

I have grinded a gear before, once or twice, in like 5th or 6th because I didn't push the shifter in all the way, and once going into 3rd, how much dammage could I have done with those?
thanks
-Steve
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Old Aug 20, 2003 | 09:12 AM
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Default Re: How to save the T56.

you still drive it right? im sure it's fine if thats only happened a time or two.. the real damage is done on hard shifting, when you break the fork pads. once that happens, it's all downhill from there. gears stick, synchros go out, you chip gears, break selector mechanisims, ect.. i think we all grind 'em every once in a while.

...if you cant find it, grind it... ;D
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Old Aug 20, 2003 | 04:06 PM
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Default Re: How to save the T56.

Pushing in the clutch when shifting out of a gear and then letting the clutch out with the trans in neutral(1),then pushing the clutch back in when shifting into the next gear(2)...when letting the clutch out in neutral the syncro's have time to syncronize and get the gears inside the trans all turning at the same speed so you end up with a nice smooth gear exchange. This is not really too critical now, with the use of the thinner ATF rather than the old 90W gear oil that was previously used.In the winter time that "oil" was sooooo thick,that the syncro's really had a hard time doing there job and thus the double clutching evolved.
Don't forget to match your rev's while double clutching on a downshift. Before pressing the clutch in a second time you should tap the gas to get the rev's to where they will be when you let the clutch back in, so the synchro's basically have to do nothing. Back in the old days before transmissions had synchros you always had to double clutch and match revs perfectly or you'd grind gears. Synchro's do away with the need for double clutching but it still saves wear on your clutch and synchros.
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