We're having a discussion on F-body reliability on another website. I find it to be much much higher than the perception out there and quoted some of my experiences and those of people I know who own LS1 F-bodies as far as fit and finish, powertrain reliability, etc...

The funny thing is, 2 people came back with a list of common problems:

1. Bad power window on driver side, we all know about that one.
2. Rear Diff's taking a crap...one said he went through 3 road racing it and that seems to be a bit excessive considering how much abuse alot of us put stock 10 bolts through
3. This is the one that suprised me. Stock, or near stock power levels blowing T56's. One guy said his roommate went through 3, another poster said 2 other friends had gone through 5 in total.

I know we have clutch/slave issues but those have all been pretty much taken care of with aftermarket parts.

I cannot for the life of me understand how these guys are going through trannys at the rate they are.

Please post your bad T56 experiences and the HP/TQ level you are at. Maybe I'm wrong and there are more problems out there than I thought but it seems the one piece left standing in a F-body 4th gen, LT1 or LS1 is the transmission.

Thanks

 

If you ask me its due to driver error.

 

Thats what I think too, but thats now just you and me so far <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="gr_stretch.gif" />

Like to get some hard facts.

 

I could be wrong about this, but I remember a few years back there was talk of a "bad batch" so to speak of T56's for a period of time. I think it had something to do with the Borg-Warner/Tremec migration. I do know of a number of 98/99 cars that had T56 problems, but the later year cars seem to be more trouble free.

Then there is the TSB for certain 99/00 cars that involved a popping out of 3rd gear problem

 

I rebuilt my 3rd/4th syncros with 9k miles on the car.(3rd didn't work any more)But I think it was mostly caused by the 60+ 1/4 mile passes speed shifting the tranny without doing the drill out mod <img border="0" title="" alt="[Embarrassed]" src="gr_emb.gif" />

Car is a 01 TA

 

If you don't beat them sensless....they seem to hold up pretty well. I have friends that abuse them....and have broken a few.....

 

I second the shitty driver I was one of them! <img border="0" alt="[cry]" title="" src="graemlins/gr_cry.gif" /> But as soon as I bought my 2001 ws6 I noticed it would just pop out of second gear then it got worse because of me not knowing how to shift soon 2nd was gone and warranty came into place!!!! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="gr_stretch.gif" /> Then the second round I learned how to shift and it took a crap on me again 2nd gear snycro died again! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Mad]" src="gr_images/icons/mad.gif" /> Third time pedal stayed to the floor!! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Mad]" src="gr_images/icons/mad.gif" /> Now everythings ok and noo more problems but I think it was me not knowing how to drive it but now I

 

I second the shitty driver I was one of them! <img border="0" alt="[cry]" title="" src="graemlins/gr_cry.gif" /> But as soon as I bought my 2001 ws6 I noticed it would just pop out of second gear then it got worse because of me not knowing how to shift soon 2nd was gone and warranty came into place!!!! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="gr_stretch.gif" /> Then the second round I learned how to shift and it took a crap on me again 2nd gear snycro died again! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Mad]" src="gr_images/icons/mad.gif" /> Third time pedal stayed to the floor!! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Mad]" src="gr_images/icons/mad.gif" /> Now everythings ok and no more problems but I think it was me not knowing how to drive it but now I am a shifting fool! <img border="0" alt="[cheers]" title="" src="graemlins/gr_cheers.gif" /> <img border="0" alt="[evil]" title="" src="graemlins/gr_devil.gif" /> <img border="0" alt="[driving]" title="" src="graemlins/gr_driving3.gif" />

 

I will be taking my car in for the 2nd time for 3/4th synchro and shift forks. Car is an 02 with 5k miles. The reason for the trans blowing out forks and synchros is because of a bad casing. The casing throws off allignment of shafts that the gears ride on (or something like that) and in time (in a short time!) it ends up bending your forks and grinding your synchros away.

I know of alot of 01-02 cars that had this probelem specifically. My car was phisically harder to put into gear from day ONE than any 98-00 car I have felt, and I have driven a lot of them.

I feel I am part of a "bad batch" of casings and untill I get a new casing or new trans from the dealer I will continue to have this probelem.

In total between me and 2 other guys I know personally, my car, a 02 SS, and 02 WS6, with a total of 25,000 miles between all 3 cars, we have gone through 8 transmissions. 2 in mine, 2 in the ws6, and 4 in the SS, and the SS had 9,000 miles on it.

<small>[ April 10, 2003, 10:21 AM: Message edited by: RED QUASAR ]</small>

 

I have come up with a few ideas over the past year or so as to what is causing so many people to blow M6s. A big one is driver error. Not rev matching and just flat out not using the clutch correctly. The second thing (which mixes with the first) is that the hydraulics screw up which prevents the clutch from disengaging all the way. People dont fix it and then the synchronizers/shift forks go out. I have to bleed mine every 6k or so to keep it working correctly. When the fluid starts to get old/contaminated, I can tell because its much harder to put in gear and the gears will grind when rev-match downshifting. No, you shouldnt have to do this with a new car, but mine's been like that since day one. I have two buddies with T56 LS1s and both have been rebuilt. The one is a 2000 and needed to be fixed within 1000 miles, but it was a problem w/ 3rd popping out, which mine does on occasion. The second was (99)due to the hydraulics not being taken care of and just flat out abuse. I've got 40k on mine and it still shifts great except for the occasional 3rd pop out, and mine gets beat.

 

I took my 2002 T-56 trans through 12,000 street miles and over 350 passes last year with no problems what so ever. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Cool]" src="gr_images/icons/cool.gif" />

I think driving error is part of the problem but also, you can not power shift these trans and expect them to live very long. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="gr_images/icons/wink.gif" />

Coach

 

I agree with almost everything that people have said so far.

For people that have problems with the syncros and gear changes, I think that you can chalk it up to bad driving habits 95% of the time.

In my case, I twisted the output shaft on the trans...too much power on slicks (550hp/600ft.lbs). Even after twisting the shaft the transmission still shifted fine, it just had a really bad vibration <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="gr_images/icons/wink.gif" />

Scott

 

The majority of the people with the "pop out of third and get stuck in 4th" probelem are 2001-2002 cars. The probelem is the exact same every time for these people that have this defect. You think if it was driver error you would lose the clutch or screw something else up, nope, same thing every time.

Do a search about the T-56 casing. You'll find the post(s) where a professional road race team pulled the trans apart, measured it, and found the casing to be defective.

 

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by MyLS1Hauls:
<strong> The second thing (which mixes with the first) is that the hydraulics screw up which prevents the clutch from disengaging all the way. People dont fix it and then the synchronizers/shift forks go out. </strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Exactly. And the mentality is "oh, well I put the updated hydraulics in so there." That's exactly what the thought was a couple years ago when we did a McLeod wheel/disc/pp install. Wrong. Enough here have done the drill mod on an 01/02, myself included and it's STILL NEEDED on those updated parts.

Frankly the 01 had munched keys on the 2nd side and gnashed teeth on the gear / slider, but everything else looked pretty darn good inside; the blocker rings & friction cones had a lot more material at 60k miles than I expected. We replaced them anyway; had new parts in hand but I wouldn't have been afraid to continue to run them.

The restricted hydraulics are the #1 enemy of T56 life. Why this isn't a problem in the LT1 trannies I don't know. I theorize that the throwout bearing point requires higher hydr. pressure than the slave cylinder point on an LT1 trans. I.E. the LT1 fork setup uses X amt. of pressure and multiplies it w/ the fork. The LS1 setup requires 2X pressure at the throwout bearing.

Which is somewhat odd as I'll be using the McLeod throwout bearing for 93-97 trans. on a 1995 box. However I know darn well the line is a full 1/8" all the way through <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="gr_grin.gif" />

That's my take on it.
Matthew

 

My 94 has over 2300 1/4 mile runs and 80k of daily driving.
Have been through 4 clutches and 3 7.5 rears but never had any problems at all with the tranny.
Have done drill mod since head/cam gear swap and it is still working wonderfully,surprising because I have blown a few shifts that I thought would destroy the tranny and it just keeps going.
Don't know why,but I got a good one!!!!!!

 

There is too much blame on driver error. Yeah, these trans require finesse but its ridiculous for a new car. Dont get me wrong, I dont drive the car like a ham fisted goon. The bottom line is the clutch doesnt fully disengage. This is what causes most of the problems with the trans.

 

It might be the hydraulics in some cases, but stock hp cars with low low miles and clutches that have never been touched should NOT have a probelem.

5% of the cases are driver error. 95% are shitty defective transmissions.

The t-56 might be shitty, but 2k miles per rebuild is rediculous. If hydraulics were the probelem, why havent I had probelems with any other gear?

 

Man, I have an 02 and i beat the hell out of it, I cant begin to count how many quarter mile passes it has on it and I ALWAYS powershift, honestly I dont think I have been in a race where I DIDN'T powershift. All this and it is still going strong, u have to muscle-fvck it to hit 3rd, but other than that, I have no complaints.

 

I have a 96 ta(400hp+) and my trany has taken everything i have thrown at it. Still works like new

 

I had the trany replaced with 500 miles on it I lost 5th gear and then 3rd. Now with 25000 miles I am losing 5th again but now I believe its the syncroids{spelling}