Challenger Gearbox Trouble

[kody.b]

Hi Everyone,

New to the forum, I am hoping that some Challenger owners could shed some light on a transmission issue I have.

I recently purchased a 2001 Challenger, 3.0 Petrol, manual. I bought the car with a gearbox issue, allowing having to replace the transmission into the purchase price - however I am hoping I may be able to get away with a rebuild at the most.

My issue:
1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and reverse are all extremely difficult, if not impossible to get in (when cold). 5th gear is fine. I drove the car home with this issue for an hour – got home no problem. The next day, after sitting for a while, I couldn’t find any gear but 5th and couldn’t move the car.
The problem is the same with the motor off, eliminating (I believe) the clutch.
I have replaced the whole shifter assembly (on the outside of the gearbox) with no change. When running and driving, the car does not grind into gears, doesn’t make any noises and apart from being ridiculously hard to get in and out of gear, and loose in gear, it seems fine.
I haven’t checked the fluid yet – if I get it rebuilt, I don’t want to buy transmission fluid twice and there is no dipstick like prior cars I have owned.

So far I’m thinking it could be the shifter linkage, or forks. Rev matching and double clutching made no difference when driving it, so I am not sure whether that would eliminate it being synchros?

I am unsure of how much this issue would be to address or be diagnosed. I can get a second hand transmission, with higher k’s and put it in, but in all honesty I’d really rather avoid this – I’m over swapping 4wd gearboxes without a hoist!

Has anyone had this issue before, or could shed some light on what it may be?

Thanks!

[BruceandBobbi]

Hi Everyone,

New to the forum, I am hoping that some Challenger owners could shed some light on a transmission issue I have.

I recently purchased a 2001 Challenger, 3.0 Petrol, manual. I bought the car with a gearbox issue, allowing having to replace the transmission into the purchase price - however I am hoping I may be able to get away with a rebuild at the most.

My issue:
1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and reverse are all extremely difficult, if not impossible to get in (when cold). 5th gear is fine. I drove the car home with this issue for an hour – got home no problem. The next day, after sitting for a while, I couldn’t find any gear but 5th and couldn’t move the car.
The problem is the same with the motor off, eliminating (I believe) the clutch.
I have replaced the whole shifter assembly (on the outside of the gearbox) with no change. When running and driving, the car does not grind into gears, doesn’t make any noises and apart from being ridiculously hard to get in and out of gear, and loose in gear, it seems fine.
I haven’t checked the fluid yet – if I get it rebuilt, I don’t want to buy transmission fluid twice and there is no dipstick like prior cars I have owned.

So far I’m thinking it could be the shifter linkage, or forks. Rev matching and double clutching made no difference when driving it, so I am not sure whether that would eliminate it being synchros?

I am unsure of how much this issue would be to address or be diagnosed. I can get a second hand transmission, with higher k’s and put it in, but in all honesty I’d really rather avoid this – I’m over swapping 4wd gearboxes without a hoist!

Has anyone had this issue before, or could shed some light on what it may be?

Thanks!

Can't help with you problem but I have never seen a manual gearbox with a dipstick, also manuals don't have transmission fluid just gearbox oil.

[BMN]

Not really familiar with your gearbox but check if it should have a nylon bush at the end of the shifter. If so check if yours is still there i.e. not broken, worn out and replace. And you will really need to drop the oil. Its condition and how much metal fragments are attached to the magnet in the drain plug will give some idea of the gearbox's overall condition. The oil should be very clean, golden, and little metal. If the gearbox has been flogged its probably better finding a low km unit as gearboxes can get very expensive to repair if you need to start replacing gears and layshafts etc. At a guess just a standard rebuild with new bearings, syncros, will cost $1500 and upwards

[kody.b]

@BruceandBobbi
I've have two Subaru's and a Volvo with a dipstick for the transmission, it's quite common

@BMN The bush is worn in the shifter, I am going to replace it but I am not holding my breath that that is the issue! The fluid will be dropped out on the weekend now. Rebuild costs sound worth the effort of putting a new gearbox in. Thanks for your help!

[BruceandBobbi]

@BruceandBobbi
I've have two Subaru's and a Volvo with a dipstick for the transmission, it's quite common

Wow, never heard of that. Thank you. I learnt something today.

[old Jack]

Hi Kody,

1989 to 91 Jackaroo's had a similar issue of not being able to select gears, this was caused by the oil being too thick and clogging up the syncro's, solution was to change the oil to 0w-50W Mobil 1 full synthetic engine oil in the gearbox. For the price of the oil it maybe worth a try.

cheers, oj.

[kody.b]

Wow, never heard of that. Thank you. I learnt something today.

Cheers to that
Apologies for mistaking gear oil/transmission fluid

Hi Kody,

1989 to 91 Jackaroo's had a similar issue of not being able to select gears, this was caused by the oil being too thick and clogging up the syncro's, solution was to change the oil to 0w-50W Mobil 1 full synthetic engine oil in the gearbox. For the price of the oil it maybe worth a try.

cheers, oj.

Thanks Jack, I will be dropping the fluid out on the weekend. Castrol's DataDeck website say it has a 2.5 litre capacity, which is a lot less than a lot of cars I've had, but I guess with the transfer case fluid its about 5L combined.
I have also had my shifter rebuilt by Mitsubishi today so hopefully one or the other resolves my issue!

[kody.b]

In case anyone follows this for future reference, just a follow up.

I rebuilt my shifter with new bushes which improved the issue.
I then also dumped the fluid, and put ATF in to flush the system for a few weeks.

The issue has much improved - the car is easier to shift and is getting better and better as I run the ATF through the box. I will dump this and replace with VMX-M after a few weeks.

The gearbox still feels very notchy, and reverse gear can only be found 50% of the time indicating an internal issue which I will get checked out by a transmission mechanic.

[linds_72_99]

The gearbox still feels very notchy, and reverse gear can only be found 50% of the time indicating an internal issue which I will get checked out by a transmission mechanic.

Mine was getting like that with age before it went to god. Worst gear was third.

[kody.b]

Mine was getting like that with age before it went to god. Worst gear was third.

That's what I expected...
Did you ever find out what actually failed in your gearbox?

[linds_72_99]

That's what I expected...
Did you ever find out what actually failed in your gearbox?

Car went to God. Gearbox was still OK, a little noise and notchy, but never opened it up. I think at the time mechanic suggested thrust bearing needed replacement and expected to see wear on gear cogs.

[kawamk]

Recommend some ATF?

Hi guys,

Same problem here on Pajero Sport with manual transmission V5MT1, just the shifting problem goes till third gear and back

I solved part of the problem with MOTUL GEAR 300 LS and while reading this thread I get the idea to give it a try with ATF, but what kind of ATF? I find this:

https://www.kroon-oil.com/en/catalogue/product/2492/sp-matic-4026/5221/

Will this be OK to try with?

Thanks

[Derekthetree]

Hey guys, new potential PB challenger owner here.

I test drove a 2012 model and it's got low km (95k) but seemingly had this 4th to 3rd issue. 2nd to 3rd was ok

Does anybody have any idea roughly how much it is to fix, so I can haggle for some money off?

Much appreciated