302 swap T-5 is stiff


Iron Ranger

Iron Ranger

Run lil' ricer RUN!!

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Age
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Minnesota
Vehicle Year
1992
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Manual
the NWC T-5 that my brother and I rebuilt seems to be stiff in spinning the input shaft. We put it in neutral and tried to spin it by hand and it's very stiff.

Nothing is binding and I have not put the gear oil in yet, it shifts in and out of all the gears just fine. Is it normal for a rebuilt tranny to be stiff? I'm thinking that it should loosen up with gear oil and usage, but I'm not sure.

Help me.:dunno::dunno::dunno::dunno::dunno:
 
you might have the end play too tight...and dont put gear oil in it
 
WC gets ATF. NWC gets 80w gear oil. Thats the specs on the tranny. The endplay shouldn't be tight, we left a little bit of wiggle in it.
 
for some reason i didnt see the N in NWC...my bad,. something is definately binding if its hard to turn. unless you have it in gear, then itll be a little stiff depending what gear its in. you sure its in neutral? if it is, take it back apart. it dont take long
 
bottledgt said:
for some reason i didnt see the N in NWC...my bad,. something is definately binding if its hard to turn. unless you have it in gear, then itll be a little stiff depending what gear its in. you sure its in neutral? if it is, take it back apart. it dont take long
Click to expand...

So, should it turn with 2 fingers(easy), or a light grasp of the hand(some stiffness)? It doesn't free spin alot, but it does free spin a little with a good twist of the wrist.

OK, this is what I know, when we were at the point where the input bearing retainer could be installed, it was a snug spin. After we shimmed and bolted down the bearing retainer, it tightened up just a half a hair, barely noticed a difference, still a snug spin.

It's hard to explain without actually showing it to you.
 
Last edited:
If you put the clutch plate on the shaft, then its easy to turn(more to grab). But it still feels "tight". Maybe I'll let the local tranny shop give it a once over. Or maybe if I add the gear oil, it will loosen up a little.
 
from what youre saying its probably fine. a NWC would maybe be a hair tighter due to gears riding on a shaft instead of needle bearings
 
bottledgt said:
from what youre saying its probably fine. a NWC would maybe be a hair tighter due to gears riding on a shaft instead of needle bearings
Click to expand...

I took off the retainer cap(pulled the treads out along with one of the stupid bolts,
heli-coil time!!!) and removed one of the shims, there's still very little endplay and the shaft moves a heck of a lot easier. So, maybe that's what the problem was.
 
sounds like you need to dial in the play a little better. too tight is bad. shim until there is no endplay and the shaft is pretty stiff side to side. back off a couple thousandths. and by that i mean .002 inch. it should then spin fine and have a slightly noticable side to side play but not excessive
 
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