Can you diagnose my T-5?

[73Grande/Mach1]

So, today I was cruising down one of my favorite roads in 5th gear at 50mph. Out of nowhere my engine starts to rev freely and I lose all power. I realize that I just lost fifth and quickly downshift. I pulled over to the side of the road and proceed to run through all of the gears and in fifth I can tell that the gears are not even being forced together (I can start the car and put the shifter in the fifth position with the clutch out). I effectively have two neutral positions. I personally think that it is the shift fork but, I can put the car in reverse and it works just fine so what do you think is broken?

P.S. when I lost fifth while driving there was no loud bang or commotion not even so much as a pop I just lost power. the shifter wasn't even pushed into neutral.

Edit: I have just learned after a very educational video that fifth gear has it's own separate shift fork which would lead me to believe that it is indeed shot. However, If any of you have anymore insight that would be greatly appreciated.

 

[rocket366]

correct 5th is by itself in the tail housing

pull the tranny and remove the tail the problem will be evident

I'm sure.

Good Luck

Paul

 

[MeZapU]

Could be a few things but like was said. Trans needs to come out to inspect the tailshaft area. Could be several items. But 90% of everything to do with 5th gear is housed in the tailshaft section. Could be as simple as a roll pin.

 

[Jeff73Mach1]

Good luck, hopefully it will be an easy fix.

Question-why can't he pull the tailhousing with the transmission in the car?

 

[MeZapU]

Question-why can't he pull the tailhousing with the transmission in the car?

You could, but reinstalling it while trying to line up the shift block roll pin and everything else is tough even out of the car. You would need to have a very coordinated helper. One person in the car and one person under it.

If you have already pulled the shifter, crossmember, and driveshaft. Only four more bolts and the trans is out.

 

[RacerX]

More than likely the snap ring on the countershaft or mainshaft wasn't seated properly to hold the gears in place and they backed off. I had this happen years ago before I started building my own T5's and had one built by a local shop. After getting the car back together and the student driving it to college, 5th gear quit just like you described. I had to pull the trans back out to get the shop to fix it. After that I swore I wouldn't depend on a professional shop building a proper transmission again.