Z31 5speed stuck in 3rd gear

[nismo silvia]

As the title says i have a 86 300zx turbo stuck in 3rd gear it drives fine in 3rd but will not come out of 3rd. I bought the car like this and think it is the result of a miss shift and the linkage getting stuck behind the teeth on the selector shafts but maybe someone has had this problem too.

[evildky]

this is an unusual problem, so the clutch works? shifter will or will not move? but simply won't get out of 3rd? I'd think a selector shaft is broken, in which case the easiest fix is to simply replace the trans, on the plus side if oyu can't locate a z31 donor oyu can use an s13/s14 donor and swap over the front case

[nismo silvia]

The clutch works and everything shifter is just stuck now i have the shifter out and still stuck and driving. It doesnt seem to me like a broken shaft since the shaft doesnt move. I'm going to try and pull the trans today if it ever stops raining and see. I thought it looked similar to a s13 trans the good thing about that is I have several s13 KA and SR trans lying arround. Thanks for the info

[AZ-ZBum]

If it is a stock transmission, it is nothing like the 240SX transmission. The stock 86turbo transmission is a Borg Warner T5.

However, it's possible that some time in the past someone swapped an NA transmission into the car. If that's the case, the transmission is exactly the same as the 240SX transmissions. You'd just have to swap the front bell housing and away you go.

[evildky]

sorry I missed it being a turbo, I just went brain dead for a bit I guess, az is of course correct, if it's the T5 it's unique, quite unique in fact, the imputshaft and dog gear are single application to the best of my knowledge

[nismo silvia]

Well if it is a c5 i will just have to rebuild it I just wish the weather would clear up so I can pull it and get this thing going again

[evildky]

or repace it, there are lots of T5's out there and the n/a trans is a bolt in replacment

[nismo silvia]

Ya looks like it is the n/a trans must not of been able to handle the torque. I tore the trans down and found the 3rd and 4th gear syncroniser has split in two and somehow was stuck inbetween the syncronizer ring to hold it in gear. I'm very supprized the car still drove arround in 3rd gear. But on the plus side I do rebuilds on s13 trans alot for friends and have lots of spare replacement parts lying arround. I think I'm going to dogbox this trans just for the fun of it.

[AZ-ZBum]

Ya looks like it is the n/a trans must not of been able to handle the torque. I tore the trans down and found the 3rd and 4th gear syncroniser has split in two and somehow was stuck inbetween the syncronizer ring to hold it in gear. I'm very supprized the car still drove arround in 3rd gear. But on the plus side I do rebuilds on s13 trans alot for friends and have lots of spare replacement parts lying arround. I think I'm going to dogbox this trans just for the fun of it.

That sounds more like someone was beating on the transmission rather than a torque issue. I know people who've run 400hp through their NA transmissions for years with no issues.

[nismo silvia]

Ya I'm thinking the broken trans mount may have been the problem well with shifting hard but now it will never go bad since it is a solid pice of metal.