We decided that we would go do a bon-fire some place. We ended up with 5 Fiero's and one VW. We drove all the way out to Chilliwack only to find our campsite flooded. So that is when the fun started with me. I went to back up a gravel hill and I saw some smoke coming from my car. What the heck, but it went away and we just set it aside that it might have been dust from the gavel road. We decide to
drive out to Maple Ridge and look for a place there. By this time my
nitrous bottle was empty but I got to a light with a friend and he revved up the motor on his car and I did the same. Being the fun person, I was going to gun it just up to the speed limit. Not speeding but a rather quick
0-80kph run. I blew him away and got in front of him, just as I think all
is well I hear screaming over the radio PULL OVER PULL OVER PULL OVER, DAVID YOU BLEW SOMETHING, SOMETHING BAD. I looked and I still had oil pressure, and the car was running. Chris and Stu come running up telling me I am loosing OIL very quickly, I get down and I can see oil just streaming out of my car and onto the ground. I get up and check the dipstick and it is still full, but I dumped enough oil to cover 2 cars windshields with muck. I start looking around and it is not oil, it is GM Synchromesh. Yep, I blew another tranny. I got a jack so that I Could get under the car, and damn, I split another case wide open, this time the crack was so big I could run my fingernail through it. Crap Crap Crap. So me being the guy I tell Lisa to get into a Jims car because I don't want her in the car with me. I tell her I am going to try to drive this thing, from the Abby / Mission Hwy all the way to Surrey, about 50km with a dry tranny. The tranny howls a bit under load or decal, but it made it back. IT is now in the garage, I have 2 offers on replacement trannys already. I will get to work on it tomorrow and hopefully will have it ready to go to work Monday Morning. This makes the 5th tranny I have had to put into it. HeHe, it is the 3rd in 2 months. I must be having some bad luck. The car never seems to break when I am doing something really harsh like using the nitrous at the track or driving 130mph, it always breaks when I am only doing something a little hard or cruising around on the street normally.

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85GT 2.9 4spd
www.david.westcoastfieros.com

Man bad deal,
Hope you get everything sorted out.

SaskatoonFiero
SFOG

Good Luck!!

SmoothGT!!

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Said Hulki, "You had to look at the Fiero not as
a car, but as a process."

SmoothFieroGT@Yahoo.com

Well thanks to helpfull fiero owners in the club, I had two offers on replacment trannies. I got a rebuilt 3.65 4spd for 80$ we do not know the condition of it, all we know is that the case has been taken apart and put back together recently, there is still a large amount of goop around the casing joints. The shift linkage seems to move very nice and solid, no slop at all in the shift arms. It feels better than when I installed the Rodney Dickman shift improver kit in my old tranny.

I am starting on it now, I hope to have it done soon. We are going to paint the new tranny red this time. I probably wont get it done tonight as it usually takes about 6hrs to re and re with 2 people and I am working pretty much alone today.

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85GT 2.9 4spd
www.david.westcoastfieros.com

How does one destroy a transmission?

CaptFiero -- ???? What did you do to your transmission? (So I can NOT do the same!!)

245/50/16 tires. That is a 9.5" wide tire. Very big for a Fiero. Burning cookies is the big killer of 4spd trannys. But this time I was doing a straight line take off and cracked it. The big killer is when one tire has to spin faster than the other, it can happen even going straight when one tire looses traction. It is funny becuase I was doing NOS launches from 2000rpms in 1st gear and did not break anything. But I also did not spin the tires becuase I eased out of the hole and did not punch it till the clutch was totally engaged. Last night I was reving too about 4000 on launch, dumped the clutch and punched it. Tires spun and then I left a trail of synchromesh behind me, which coated 3 other cars and made the road very slippery as we were all acceleratiing pretty hard. I know have the tranny out of the car and I split the trans clean open, the crack goes 3/4 of the way around the case, about .040 thick gap. I bet when it is under load that opens up to like 1/4". Oh well I am now putting in my 5th tranny since I built this motor 2 years ago.

This message may not be well received but after blowing up four sticks, why not try a modified automatic?. Been running one behind my 3.4L turbo engine for two years without problems and I do beat the crap out of it. What is remarkable is that I run the supposedly light duty TH-125H.
I'd venture to say that a 4T60 would last a very long time but then again you've got to get to like the "boring" automatic which nearly all bracket drag racers run.
Perhaps A/T's are not as much fun to drive as sticks but properly prepped and with a shift kit, it would take someone superhuman to keep up with the shift speed that you make with an auto. In a race, you still get to move the shifter with an automatic but the real beauty is that you mash your foot to the floor and keep it there.

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87GT 3.4 Turbo Best 0-60 5.2 seconds
http://www.turbochargerpower.com/turbo.htm

Screw the automatic, but maybe after 5 you might want to rethink your ability to drive a stick.

1 is understandable. 2 is bad luck. 5 is piss poor shifting.

quote Originally posted by 88GTNeverfinished: Screw the automatic, but maybe after 5 you might want to rethink your ability to drive a stick. 1 is understandable. 2 is bad luck. 5 is piss poor shifting.

Ok let me elaborate (sp)

Tranny number 1, was my auto that was still working but was starting to get weak on the 2nd to drive shift, so I pulled it and installed a 4spd.

Tranny number 2, I split the case open doing a 2 wheel drift at WOT around a freeway off ramp.

Tranny #3 was pulled becuase the 2nd gear synchro was poor from the day it was installed and I was really getting mad at it. I could not shift with any speed at all. Even a perfect shift would only get you 4/5 times.

Tranny Number 4 the one from last night, Just flat broke open. I am not blowing gears, I am not killing snychros the cases are spliting open from aggessive take-offs.

Tranny number 5 is now in, but I found my front trans mount is broken in 2, and my exhaust leak was not caused by a gasket, but the flange that bolts to the head, was no longer connected to the manifold pipe. The only thing holding the 2 together was the preassure from the other manifold bolts. So I am going to get a spare manifold ported and then install it tomorow. I am going to have to take a day off of work to fix all this.

Try the getrag. Gearing might not be as good but it holds up. I blew a 1st 2nd gear synchro on a 4sp with a stock motor. Not the strongest box out there.

Might want to lay off the nos a bit too. Fiero transes are getting hard to come by. You've eaten your share. Think about the rest of us who may someday be in need.

[This message has been edited by 88GTNeverfinished (edited 07-20-2003).]

If you want cheap trans, start pulling 282's from J-bodies. If you pick the right year the fiero speed sensor drops in without splitting the case to add the plastic speedo ring..

Here are the things I found busted. The crack in the tranny covers 3/4 of the case. The mount was in 2 pieces and the exhaust manifold being broken like that is a first for me. I could get it repaired, but I am just going to have a spare one ported out and replace it.

New Tranny. We decided to spruce it up a bit before we installed it.

Why didnt you install WCF Poly tranny mounts? From the sound of how you drive they would benifit you.

Kyle

The west coast fiero mounts are so stiff that I would end up braking more trannys. They transmit to much shock load. They are great if you want your motor and trans to be solid as a rock but for me I need a bit of give.

quote Originally posted by Capt Fiero: Well I went to the local parts store and using our West Coast Fiero's of B.C. club account, the forward trans mount was 9.61 CDN the rear mount was 12$ CDN and the right side mount was 25$ CDN. The parts man says that any part that is Fiero related we are getting an awesome deal on. So I am very happy.

How much is the club discount? I'm assuming its with Lordco?

I'm no expert, but by looking at your photos with the crack, and the fact that you broke a transmission mount as well tells me this unit cracked due to the transmission mount being weak & breaking, allowing way too much flex to occur.

That, and my guess is you like to peel rubber now and then. If you do, learn not to - your parts will last you a lot longer, and it'll cost you less (tires, broken gearboxes, etc.).

This isn't meant as a flame, so please don't take it that way. Anytime I've seen a cracked gearbox, it's been due to very extreme/adverse conditions. Just ease up a little, and you'll have these things last for years & years...

quote Originally posted by Gridlock: How much is the club discount? I'm assuming its with Lordco?

Our discount is not a flat rate, but anything fiero related we get a really good deal on, as well as anything bosch. Our account is good for anything you buy but the best prices are on Fiero related parts. When you sighn up with the club you are given a Lordco account card and number.

Dude that is just sick

quote Originally posted by Lambykin: That, and my guess is you like to peel rubber now and then. . .

http://www.david.westcoastfieros.com/hooked.avi

Leper: Maybe I'm getting old, but gone are the days when I thought that was impressive. Don't get me wrong, I use to do the same thing when I was 16 & 17. I started to learn when tires got costly.

Capt: Admitting it is the first step - cooling it down is the next. Sort of like AA. As for the size of tires - it won't make a bit of difference if you don't change your style. After I posted I went back & re-read the entire thread. Nitrous or no nitrous, you'll break something eventually - and you did. I've never worn out a clutch in any standard car I've owned, and I drive hard. Guess it all depends on how much slip you allow the clutch to handle.

On a more positive note, if you eliminate the wheelspin and the overly-excessive hard take-offs, I guarantee you'll notice parts will start to last longer.

Sounds to me like you might want to try one of DKOV's new transmissions

I hope I'll be able to afford it when the 6 speeds go on sale..

don't know how you do it man - i've had 4 speeds and 5 speed isuzus... i had a sincro go on my 4 speed - upgraded to 5 speed al the time tearing rubber mounts in half - upgraded to poly trans mounts and ripped a stamped metal transmission mount bracket in half resulting in tearing a half shaft apart from excessive movement (all happened at once)- welded it back together with double material - tried the isuzu 5 speed from a cavalier out for its higher final drive and it must have been high mile because a bearing went inside shredding the gears - but i never broke a transmission casing so went back to the fiero isuzu trans and kept running it no problems- i was running a 3.4 with high lift rockers porting and polishing, shaved heads etc - and also runnign 245 tires - I would be tempted to say its your nitrous use and style of driving combined that are creating fatigue in the transmissions and they just tend to go at the wrong times.

hey if you still have access to the trannys i really need on o live just on the illinois side of the wisconson border and i need an inexpensive tranny 5 speed for a gt if possible and i have a limited time to get stuff organized so any help you can get me would be much apprciated

In most of the stories I hear of people blowing up transmissions, the trannies involved are high mileage units of unknown condition.
If you swap a transmission that's already worn out into your car, expect it to break.

Personally, I'd rather put a few extra dollars and a little more time into overhauling a transmission before I put it in instead of having to swap it out in a hurry because my daily transportation is down. I overhauled my Getrag last winter. It cost ~$800 in parts, including replacing 3rd gear input and 2 synchro assemblies (not blocker rings), which normally would not be replaced. I have the peace of mind of knowing I have a 100% transmission behind my Northstar. It's been a total of 15,000 miles and I haven't had any transmission troubles.

Clutch troubles are another matter...

I am trying to slow down, but speed is an addiction. LOL. In my own defense, I have only pulled 2 trannis out of 4 that were catastrophic falure, all the others were pulled becuase I did not like the way they shifted. Oh and one that had had a 50cent pin come loose and prevented me from shifting it. The nitrous has only been used for about 2 weeks, and my clutch that lasted 2 years, could have been used for a lot longer, but could no longer handle WOT clutch dumps without some slipping. (in retrospect that might have been a good thing hehe)

Well I am going to make this statment, I am a hard driver and I am trying to stop, I will do my best to quit doing burnouts and blowing trannys. (I am still going to drive fast I am just not going ot dump the clutch to do it)

P.S. anyone know what the top speed of a 3.65 4spd would be at 6000rpms in 4th gear with stock 15" wheels and tires. (215/60/15) My tires are almost the same height as those.

Dont worry guys I am going to try to keep him in line as much as possible, I even warned him that he was going to blow smething up running the NOS, that and he was shifting to hard on his tranny. Personally I like my automatic. I have had only one problem with my auto and that was the TCC - easy Fix.
I still miss being able to drive his when it was an auto, sniff, sniff.

( If you did not know I am Davids other Half, the better half .... lol )

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85 Fiero SE V6 with 85GT Bumpers and 86GT Interior Wants Nitrous to keep up with Capt Fiero.

[This message has been edited by Fiero Chick (edited 07-24-2003).]