Trans issues in Galant.

[Perkul8r]

Ok, so when I picked up my Galant I was told it may have 1st gear issues and it also needed a clutch. So far i have not switched the clutch, didn't have time to this weekend. But i did tighten up some of the brackets on the trans that where holding the cables. I also tried to readjust the cables at the shifter itself.

well, it still pops out of first gear. And from what i have read that means bad trans. So i was gonna get another 5 speed tans locally, but had one question.

When switching to a T/L/E trans, do i need to switch out any Diff gears? Or are they all the same in these cars?

I found a trans here in town for $250 that has no grinds and is in good working order. BUt wanted to make sure first.

Thanks.

[GsXtUrBo98]

Do it right the first time and send it to shep for a rebuild

[Perkul8r]

I would love to but don't have that kinda money just laying around. I am trying to get it going again cause I gotta have the GF's Subaru serviced also. So I dont have much money to spend on a different trans if that is what i need.

[Pushit2.0]

The Galant VR4 uses the same tranny as the DSM. You will need to make sure they are from the same year though, as transfer case output shaft will be a 22 or 23 spline and the shifter levers on the tranny can be different.

All these can be swapped off you bad tranny if needbe.

~John

[Perkul8r]

Also in the searching I have done, people are saying that the Galant has a taller first gear, but that the T/L/E first gear is stronger. Is that true?

And i know i can swap over the trans levers and shift cable bracket also. I read that awhile ago. I am just waiting on the guys reply on what year the trans is. He did say he thought it was a 22 spline count for the transfer output shaft. And i am unsure of what mine is yet, I am still in the process of pulling the trans.

[Kevin 1G Drummer]

The Galant trans does have a taller first gear, though I'm not sure if there's any difference in strength.

[goodhart]

Is your 5th gear popping out? If so, there is a nut on the end of one of the shafts that holds the gears on (I know nothing about tranny internals, if this makes no sense please say something) and this nut comes loose. I have heard of people having problems with other gears popping out also though.

If you take the end cap off your tranny (the one behind the passenger's side wheel) that end cap is right where you need to look. There are a few threads on this on DSMTuners, and a write up on vfaq. If you can catch it before it trashed the transmission, you can save yourself a good amount of money and labor. I wasn't so lucky with my first transmission.

This happened to my 1st tranny in my 1g, except the nut in mine just sheared right off. Every time I show the nut to people and tell them what it is, they just look baffled and say they have never seen such a thing happen, so that was apparently a pretty rare occurrence.

DSMTuners thread: http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/newbie-forum/248825-5th-gear-pop-out-i-searched-already.html

VFAQ: http://www.vfaq.com/index-main.html (click 'shifter' > 'Shifter movement fix')



Side note: When I talked to TRE about the 11% taller Galant 1st gear, he did say it was physically thinner in diameter, I don't remember if he said anything about it being weaker though. 11% equates to about 4mph in 1st gear at stock redline of 7k by my math though if you were wondering how big of a difference it makes speed wise. (34.4mph vs 38.184mph in 1st gear with 7k redline) I used this (http://www.mitsustyle.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23666) thread for my calculations.

[Perkul8r]

5th never popped out. I drove it home from my hometown which was about 250 miles and it never had an issue in 5th. It did feel like it would hesitate going into 3rd when shifting, and i think it was like that in 5th also. But i can remember for sure.

I checked all the nuts and bolts i could on the outside of the trans. so far everything was tight, and if it wasn't i tightened it back up and tested. Granted I did not get to drive it a long distance. Just tried moving it back and forth in the garage. I would have taken it out and down the road, but with an already slipping clutch it was a pain in the ass getting up the incline at my father in laws place into the garage.

[goodhart]

It would definitely be worth checking into before tearing the transmission out though. I have not done it myself with a trans in the car, but it looks like an easy enough weekend job. Just need to jack some jackstands, simple tools and RTV. Tom might be able to show you how to RTV things :p

[trunks11]

Here's thread from vr4.org. If you decide to buy that tranny just make sure it's not an early 90's / 89 version:

http://www.galantvr4.org/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Board=UBB11&Number=45906&page=1&fpart=1