r154 pops out in gears 1-3

[maxburn]

Hey guys I was just driving in to town and just driving normally then all of a sudden the car pops out of third. Now when I select a gear it will hold until I let the clutch out then it will pop out and grind. This happens in gears 1-3. When I leave the car in neutral and start it up a grinding noise remains. I realized I still have reverse 4th and 5th gears.

 

[Nick M]

They synchronizing teeth are not matching speed, hence the grinding.

 

[maxburn]

I realized I still have 4th 5th and reverse would the syncros still be to blame? I'm planning on pulling the tranny tomorrow. Which way is easier? Dropping the trans by itself or pulling the motor with it?

 

[Nick M]

There is no 4th gear, but there is a 4th speed which is when the input and output shafts are locked together. And 5th is the easiest to match with the lowest speed. If you had noise that would be a different diagnosis. The synchros are what cause the speeds of the gears to match. So if they don't match, why would you not look there first?

Get that idiot cliché about thinking outside the box out of your head. Think inside the box. In other words, think about how it works then the symptom makes sense. If you are grinding and your clutch disengages like it should then the unit should come out and be inspected. Then you will know.

 

[Raven97990]

If it keeps popping out of gears, 98% chance you broke the first gear thrust washer.