how to check manual tranny when its out of the car?

[PУCCKAЯ_e30ka]

first of all, I've searched.
How to check the tranny when its out of the car?
I understand that it wouldn't be that productive, but it is something rather then do nothing.

When you spin the main shaft:
-there should be no play?
-it should not move even a micrometer from side to side,
-there should be no play/what's allowable?
-when you start to spin it/\/\
-when you spin it, it should sound even...

Any additions/corrections to that? Thanks for your help guys!

[AndrewBird]

Do you have a Bentley manual? There should be steps in it to check its condition.

[jlevie]

Checks on a transmission when it is out of the car are pretty limited. There should not be gross wobble to the input or output shaft and when turning the input shaft it should feel smooth in all gears.

The most common failure modes for a transmission are:

1) Excessive noise in a gear at speed and under load (worn gears/bearings)
2) Hard to get into a gear when the car is moving or grinding when shifting (worn syncros)
3) Can't shift into a gear or it pops out under load (work fork or dog ring)

Unless really bad you can't diagnose those faults without driving the car.