Transmission questions

[notso556]

Spotted an ad for a car that caught my eye. But the guy says there is an issue with it that is beyond my limited mechanical knowledge.

This is a Fiat Spyder and the issue is that "it will pop out of 4th gear unless you hold it in gear" (his words).

So I have 2 questions........... #1, what would cause this and #2, what would it take to fix it? Keeping in mind that fixing it would not be something I would do myself.

I have to assume if it would be a relatively easy / cheap fix the guy would have already done it. If it's not, then I probably don't want to chase this deal at all. So looking for some guidance here.

Thanks in advance.

 

[RacerX]

If it’s popping out of gear, there’s an internal issue with the trans. Whether the parts are cheap or expensive, labor will be $$$ as the trans most likely needs to get dropped for the repair.

Once the trans is out, you’ll want to also replace the clutch, pressure plate and throw out bearing.

I’m thinking it’s a bad synchronizer or worn gears (less likely).

 

[Cowboy]

If it’s popping out of gear, there’s an internal issue with the trans. Whether the parts are cheap or expensive, labor will be $$$ as the trans most likely needs to get dropped for the repair.

Once the trans is out, you’ll want to also replace the clutch, pressure plate and throw out bearing.

I’m thinking it’s a bad synchronizer or worn gears (less likely).

Are repairing a bad synchronizer besides the labor bad?

 

[RacerX]

The repair is essentially the same if its the same trans design as those I’ve worked on in the past...

Typically, the main gear set is a complete assembly - labor for replacing a synch is the same as it is for rebuilding the trans. The whole gear set is removed and disassembled to access and replace the bad synch.

A manual trans rebuild consists of new synchronizes, bearing, bushings and seals. Not much more to it other than time and those parts.

 

[notso556]

@Jeffncs

Thanks for the info. I assumed a rebuild would be needed and you have helped confirm this.

I shot the guy a message asking if he had looked into having the transmission repaired and what cost he got quoted. We'll see what he says. Like I said, there's gotta be a reason he has not already fixed this.

98,000 miles. Priced below NADA low retail (and 1/3 of "average retail" and "high retail" is just freaking scary). So some alarm bells ringing in the background for me.