I lost 5th due to a track day. Spent all day going 1-4 and then couldn't get into 5th at all for about a week and could barely get it into 6th

After about a week it got so that I could put it into 5th but it would jump out under pressure so I held it in 5th and drove about 40 miles and it started working.

A fluid change won't help as it has nothing to do with fluids.

There had been a TSB or bulletin about that prob but they withdrew it.

 

Right, it is not fluid but after the damage to the sleeve and the fix which required two hands to force a shift I figured there was plenty of new metallics in the fluid.

Bottom line it that a high rpm mistake can damage teeth enough to prevent sixth gear engagement. Pressure from the shifter can overcome the damage eventually although this may not work in all cases.

It is not necessarily a total loss as my gearbox now works as well as it ever has, and it has worked for others the same way.

 

Is it only bad to skip gears when upshifting... ie 4-6, or 3-5.....
Is it ok do skip gears when down shifting... ie 6-4 or going 5 or 4-2 slowing from 60/50-30 mph in traffic?

 

Bump Anyone?

 

It's bad to skip any gears because it puts extra stress on any syncro when the engine RPM and tranny RPM are so different, however, it seems that the 5 and 6 syncros are particularly susceptible to damage.

 

downshifting isnt bad as long as you rev match

 

Logic would say there's more to it than that:

If it is because of tranny speed vs engine speed, then isn't the problem: shifting to 6th gear at low speed?

What I don't understand is this: If I'm in 4th at highway speeds, shift to neutral, wait two seconds, then shift to sixth... wouldn't that be the same to the engine as if I short shifted 5th and 6th?

Can anyone comment?

 

True, it is all about matching syncro speeds. Running up to high rpm in third or fourth and going to sixth can be a problem as the synchro is not spun up, but many gear skipping changes are no problem. You can go to and from any gear at lower rpm without any issue.

 

sounds like you've destroyed the countershaft that 5th and 6th share. time for a tranny rebuild

 

Exactly,
Skip shifting does not hurt tranny.
Everything goes through neutral regardless whether skip shifting or not.