Grinding while trying to shift...synchros?

I just bought an '87 w/ the puegot 5-spd, sight unseen, & on the PICK-IT-UP ride home I found a large problem shifting. While in motion and trying to downshift from 3rd to 2nd, there is obvious gear clash, it grinds really loud & it very hard to get into 2nd. It does this a little bit at other shift points too. From a dead start it has no problem getting into 1st or reverse, but I'm still hoping it could be the clutch. It's probably the synchros though, huh?

I once made a 1000km trip with my peugeout with no hydraulics to the clutch (all highway of course only had to start it in gear a few times). Shifted pretty easily so if yours is grinding I'd say yeah you've got some bad synchros or worse. Too bad about the peugeout's reliability actually, I found it to be one of the nicest shifting trannys I've had. I haven't had that many 5spds though (5,2 peugeouts).

Yeah, sounds about right. What I am hoping for is a response from someone who's had success bringing a manual back to life, even just for a little while. I recall someone saying they replaced the old lube with a certain type of gear oil (maybe synthetic), & it helped a lot. It's really cold out here tonight, but I really oughtta check the level before tearing my hair out. I suppose it's possible that I'm just low, & the damage is minimal. I'll check when the sun comes out.

ive been living with the peugeot for a long time...done the 500mile trip with no clutch...had the clutch done like 5 or 6 times...lost count...had it opened and some syncros replaced/leaks fixed for a lot of money. no matter what, when the temps get low (0-30F), the thing shifts hard. in the summer, the clutch slave goes bad. keep in mind this was during high school and now that im older, i baby it much more and havent done a clutch in a while. I plan on swaping it with the ax15 in the garage as soon as i can find the rest of the parts for the swap.

good luck

2nd gear on the Peugeot tranny is horrible. Hard to shift into 2nd going up or down. Search the Internet for "Mr. Moly" -- buy a couple of tubes of molydenum disulphide gear oil additive from him, put in one whole tube, and it should smooth out a lot.

That tranny will NEVER be good for Big Daddy Don Garlits type drag race power shifts, though. Upshifts should be at about 1800 - 2100 RPM, and don't try to rush the shift.

I used to have a grinding syncro while downshifting from 3rd to 2nd on a Suzuki I used to have. Double clutching it at that shiftpoint would eliminate it 99% of the time.
Try that.
Anyone here remember how to double clutch? LOL.

bustednutz said:

Anyone here remember how to double clutch? LOL.

Click to expand...

yup, do it everyday. No 2nd gear synchro in my car.

It sounds like everyone's in agreement...deal with it or spend some $$. Day number 2 w/ this cherokee, driving in-town, reveals a few more shifting probs than I initially thought. It will upshift acceptably, just a little gear chatter & delay in reaching it's gear, but pretty much all downshifts are slow & GRINDY. I can't get it smoothly into 1st if I'm slowing down & going above 2 mph. I drained the lube (it was goldish, SYNCHRO COLORED) & replaced w/ 75-90 & a tube of BG MGC additive, no difference yet w/ just a mile or 2 of driving. God I hope someone has a snake oil for this thing, it's for my girl & she can't simply adapt her driving style the way I would. This is my 5th Cherokee, but 1st manual. For years I've heard of this danged Puegot & sighed in relief because my current baby of the day didn't have one. Mr. Moly? 10-30 Motor Oil? Astroglide? Any informed ideas to smooth it out for now would be GREATLY appreciated. BTW, current DD is an '87, '91 HO, 5" lift, 33's, 44 rear, non-disco '90 front, leather & power too. I found this site last night, & spent hours today just cruising the threads, it's incredible to find other people who care about unfortunate unibody buckets!

My son has a 5 sp 89 and we cured most of the second gear problem by first draining a quart of the grease and replacing it with a quart of Dexron to flush it out. We drove it for a few miles then completly drained and refilled with Mobil-1 75-90 synthetic gear oil. You also might try bleeding the clutch release hydrolics.

Made a big difference. By the way you'll need almost 3 quarts.

JoBo

Allright, junkyard tranny, come to your new home...