Rebuild Or Buy New(ish)

rangerboy101

Active Member
Oct 11, 2011
310
20
28
Inwood, WV
The trans is my car is beginning to become junk. 2nd gear is grinding pretty bad. Should I pull it and try to find somebody local to fix it? Or buy something newer like this?
http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/mld/pts/3855084796.html

My main worry is that I'm going to have too much into my current T5. But on the other hand it could just be the syncro going out in 2nd and I'm only in it a couple bucks. Thoughts and advice on what my best option here is? Money isn't really an obstacle but I'm not really looking to spend my life savings on a trans.
 
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Buying something off a private person is a roll of the dice; usually it's okay, but sometimes it isn't what it should be. Rebuilding a T-5 is a little more involved than most, but with a shop manual in hand, it's not too bad. If you've been grinding second for a while, you may need second gear on top of a rebuild kit. D&D has been around a long time selling transmissions and transmission parts.
 
Do you have wrenching skills? If so buy the Hanlon rebuild video and try it yourself. That's what i am gonna do. Heard it makes it easy to understand

I can pretty much do anything(little bit of arrogance there lol) I just didn't want to put all my time and effort into it and have it be wrong. My biggest fear is just opening this trans up and having it be a mess in there which is something I don't want to deal with.
 
If you can't find a used one dirt cheap...and by dirt cheap, I mean consider the cost of complete rebuild plus whatever you're paying for it and weigh it against the cost of a replacement unit. Or, if it turns out you don't trust your own skills to rebuild your current one, I'd suck it up and buy a rebuilt one from a reputable vendor (D&D, Astro Performance, etc).

I've seen more junk used T5 sold out there, than I've seen good ones. Let's be honest....the only reason people tend to replace them in the first place is because they start to give them problems, or because they've blown them up completely and need a tougher unit.

And I wouldn't suggest a novice try rebuilding one on their own. It can be a daunting task and you might just end up with a pile of scrap metal you're unable to put back together in the end.

If it were me, I'd pull the stocker out and sell it as is, with a description of the issues (sound like little more than worn synchro's) to recoup some of the cost of buying a new/rebuilt unit. You probably won't have to shell out more than a few hundred dollars and the piece of mind and no stress level alone would be worth that to me.
 
man just replacing bearings and seals is going to run a couple hundred. If you have synchros that are burnt up as well you are going to be in for about 4-500. I have rebuilt a couple trannies in a mustang and a few in some other vehicles. Its not for the faint of heart. If you are dead set on doing this yourself I would buy the video and read every tutorial I could before even cracking the case open.
 
If you think the tranny is toast then it's more or less worthless. The few bucks you might be able to sell it for may not be worth it. I'd buy a new one and use the old one as education. Tear it apart and learn about transmissions. Try to rebuild it when you get a couple bucks.