No 4th gear?

[Njbimmer]

Question run through out the relpys please look at last few replys fir lastest questions and discussions
I just did a 5spd swap and now all the gears but 4th are working correctly.

Keep in mind that i installed a e36 m3 short shifter and i have not yet put new trans fluid in so i dont know exactly how much is in there.

Ok so i shift smoothly up to 3rd then when i put it into 4th i hear the gears grind and it wont go in. After fidgiting with it it sometimes goes in any ideas?

[Kershaw]

maybe the trans is out of alignment. can you put the car in 4th gear when the car is off?

do you have 5th gear?

do the gears pop out of gear?

did you verify that the trans was in good condition before you installed it?

[Robotin]

a friend of mine was having the same problem in his 535i.. car goes into 4th, but when u release the clutch to engage the gear, it grinds and pops out of gear...

[Njbimmer]

When the car is off it goes into 4th

I do have 5th

When i put it into 4th when driving the stick goes in but when i release the cluth the gears grind and it pops out of gear but i have been able to get into 4th a few times

I bought the trans from someone on the forum who does these swaps for a living and said it was good.

[Njbimmer]

M20 feind what did he do

[jlevie]

Check to see which way the shift rod has been put in. If it is in from the wrong side it can hit a bolt on the transmission when trying to select 4th gear.

[s14pwd]

Did you check to make sure the syncro's were not worn?

[jeffnhiscars]

Keep in mind that i installed a e36 m3 short shifter and i have not yet put new trans fluid in so i dont know exactly how much is in there.

You swapped in a 5spd and havent checked the fluid level ?

[Jables]

I just did a 5spd swap and now all the gears but 4th are working correctly.

Keep in mind that i installed a e36 m3 short shifter and i have not yet put new trans fluid in so i dont know exactly how much is in there.

Ok so i shift smoothly up to 3rd then when i put it into 4th i hear the gears grind and it wont go in. After fidgiting with it it sometimes goes in any ideas?

Oh god.. Really..? Should be the first thing you check, nincompoop.

Now no matter the damage the seller isn't liable because he can just claim you didn't put fluid in it and as a result lunched it. Herpaderpderp

Anyway surely it wouldn't be synchros if it goes into gear fine before the clutch is put in? As the gear/selector are already synchronised/meshed before the clutch is popped (all the clutch is doing is connecting it to the engine - the gearset and selector/shaft are spinning regardless of what goes on with the clutch)

Correct?

[s14pwd]

^^^

From what I remember taking a manual box apart, the purpose of the syncro is to match the speed of the 2 gears to ensure a smooth, grind free shift. Its like an intermediate step.

I would rule out anything with the actual assembly of the box because there are multiple gears per shaft inside the box. Therefore, if it was an assembly issue, the OP should be having problems with more than just one gear. That is unless just the one gear set was installed incorrect, but that's hard to do because then the other gears on that shaft get screwed up as well.

From the OPs statement that it grinds when going to 4th, and it goes in occasionally, makes me think the syncro is messed up. This is because if the car CAN go into 4th and runs fine, then the assembly is fine. If all the other gears work fine, the syncro is the only problem I can think of, as his issues seems to be with the transition of gears.

Although I have never had any experience with a e36 gearbox,my experience is from old Datsun/Toyota and a few GM gearboxes, so I could be wrong.

[Njbimmer]

Whats the syncro and where is it

[Njbimmer]

Btw its an e30 with e36 m3 short shifter

[Njbimmer]

The reason i have not checked fluid is cause i only had 7 hours for the lift i rented and didnt have enought time to do the reverse wiring so i uhauled it home and did the rest at hkme and its hard to add fluid on the ramps

[Njbimmer]

Fluid flush bump

[u3b3rg33k]

meaning you changed the oil?