280zx rough shifting....help

[biohazard53188]

So ive had my 280zx for a while now and ive noticed that when its cold i will have a bit of trouble getting it into gear. It seems that i have to push a little harder than I should have to. This problem only seems to happen in 1st and 2nd. It also happens when the car is hot but its not nearly as bad. Whats wrong?

[COZY Z COLE]

Join the club...The 80 280ZX had a odd ball one year only 5-speed tranny. I drove mine for 23 years with that problem. Search in the driveline forum for transmission oil.

I gave that car to my niece...http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=123963

 

 

LARRY

[JMortensen]

Hmm... I have an 80 transmission and I never had that kind of issue until years of autox and time trial abuse started to take it's toll. I got the trans with something like 225K on it and put 40K of hard miles on it myself. Now my 1st and 2nd synchros are mostly gone and I think the mainshaft nut is backed off, and that's what I attribute my issues to (main issue is that it pops out of gear on decel, but it is hard to get into 2nd sometimes in autoxing situations).

 

As far as oil goes, I'm sold on 50/50 mix of SWEPCO 201 and ATF. You can use the SWEPCO straight, but the ATF thins it out and makes it shift a bit faster than regular 80/90 gear oil.

[COmputoman]

I have an 82 with the same issue... I replaced my tranny fluid with ATF, and my diff fluid with 80/90. Im still seeing the issue.. although i think this is a normal problem for the zx's from what I hear. I am going to have my tranny rebuilt soon though. Hopefuly with the rebuild I should be quick shifting in no time

[biohazard53188]

hmmmm..... so maybe a rebuild down the line? anyone know the ballpark price of a rebuild? Thanks a bunch for the info guys!

[Mayolives]

SYNERGYN Syngear II Gearlube works well in the Borg gear boxes and LSD rear ends. It is recommended by G Force Transmissions and by Quaife Differentials. You can purchase it on Ebay.

[preith]

As far as oil goes, I'm sold on 50/50 mix of SWEPCO 201 and ATF. You can use the SWEPCO straight, but the ATF thins it out and makes it shift a bit faster than regular 80/90 gear oil.

 

An older thread, but I thought I'd throw my $.02 in. Thanks to Jon, I too am sold on Swepco/ATF. I tried Mobil One and royal purple but had some slight grinding when down shifting too fast. Once I switched to Swepco/ATF that disappeared and it shifted much faster, I was very happy.

 

Also, in addition to thinning out the mixture, the added detergents in the ATF aid the synchros and deposits, not as much an issue with synthetics, but worth noting. Curiously enough, this is noted as being used by the old ElectrAmotive team in the How to Hotrod race book back in the 70's and early 80's.

[HizAndHerz]

Even after rebuilding both of my 1980 ZX transmissions with new synchros and bearings, I still had the problem. Tried Redline and Royal Purple but did not make a difference. The "fix" is to adjust the baulk springs by heating and stretching them slightly or by replacing them.

 

Also, resurfacing the cone gear that mates to the baulk rings (synchros) is a good idea. I resurfaced the cone gears on one tranny using valve grinding paste and an old synchro. Someone said that its a bad idea to wire wheel the surface, but I did it anyway on my other rebuild with a mini brass wire wheel on a Dremel tool with no problems. Very carefully deglazed the polished steel surface to make a crosshatch pattern.

 

After adjusting the springs and resurfacing the cones, shifting was a little stiff which went away fairly quickly. Bye-bye ka-chunk and crunchy shifts.