How to Tell if a Transmission is Good: A Step-by-Step Guide

If you're looking to inspect a transmission and determine its quality, there are several key things to look for. In this guide, we'll walk through the process of checking a transmission's synchros and gear, and provide tips on how to identify good versus bad transmissions.

First, let's take a closer look at the synchro. The synchro is responsible for engaging and disengaging gears, and it's located on top of the transmission case. When inspecting the synchro, you'll want to check if the little gold tabs are shaped like houses with a pointed end. If they're flat and even, it may indicate that the transmission has been over-grinding or has worn out due to excessive use.

On the other hand, if the synchros have the characteristic "house" shape, it's a good sign. The gear itself is also important to inspect, as a flat or uneven gear can cause problems with shifting and overall transmission performance. In this particular transmission, we see that the synchro tabs are indeed shaped like houses, which suggests that it has been well-maintained.

It's worth noting that even if the synchros and gear look good, other factors such as oil condition and mileage can still affect transmission performance. However, in general, a transmission with well-shaped synchros and gear is a good indication of its overall quality.

As we continue to inspect this transmission, we notice that it has been treated fairly well over the years. The magnet on top of the transmission case shows minimal wear, which suggests that the transmission has not been subjected to excessive heat or friction. This is a good sign for a transmission's lifespan and performance.

In contrast, the first transmission we pulled apart had a very different story to tell. With over 220,000 miles on it, this transmission showed significant signs of wear and tear, including flattened synchros and gear. However, by swapping out this transmission with a new one, we're able to give our vehicle a fresh start and avoid any potential issues.

Our current transmission has been treated well too, despite being used in a high-performance application. With over 250,000 miles on it, this transmission shows minimal signs of wear and tear, suggesting that it's held up well under heavy use. The fact that it was installed in an Accord at just over 220,000 miles on its original engine is a testament to the quality of this transmission.

One key benefit of using this transmission is its ability to withstand high levels of power output. With some modifications and upgrades, our vehicle's horsepower output has increased significantly, and this transmission has performed flawlessly despite being subjected to heavy loads. By using high-quality parts like this transmission, we're able to build a vehicle that can handle demanding driving conditions.

As the weather starts to cool down, it's time to think about preparing for winter. Our Wagoneer will soon be sporting new snow tires, and we'll need to make sure everything is ready for the cold months ahead. With winter just around the corner, now is the perfect time to get our vehicles in top condition.

In conclusion, inspecting a transmission can seem like a daunting task, but by following these simple steps, you can determine whether it's good or not. By checking the synchros and gear, looking for signs of wear and tear, and taking into account other factors such as oil condition and mileage, you'll be able to get a better understanding of your transmission's quality. Whether you're a seasoned mechanic or just starting out, this guide should provide valuable insight into how to inspect a transmission and make informed decisions about its maintenance and repair.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enso a couple of you have been asking to show me tearing this transmission apart cuz you want to know how to do it uh I've only torn apart a f and H series style transmission so I'm not sure if this applies to like B and D series series as well I'm sure it's similar but they have like the push rod style and these are the cables so I'm not positive about that but I will show you guys how to pull this one apart so this is the traning we got from the up pull and pay this one has 250,000 Mi on it so I'm going to pull it apart and hopefully the synchros are good and I'm mainly just pulling it apart just to check it out right now I'm not going to be putting it into the hatch just yet cuz that train still has some more passes on it so I want to get the most use out of that one before I I swap it cuz it's a lot of work and I'm lazy but for now I can at least pull this one apart because I will need the gear set out of this one because when I do drop the out of the hatch uh I need to pull out my LSD out of that transmission and then put it into here cuz I want to keep the LSD obviously so yeah so that's it for that so I'm just going to go ahead and start by pulling this cover off right here it's got four bolts and yeah that's just where I start so I'll take it from there I'm going to go grab a 10 mm and pop this guy off right here all right so I got these four bolts out right here there's just the four on each corner and then right after you get those out you just got to tap it with a hammer there's a little tab up under here like I'm pretty sure that's what that's for but either way I smack it with the hammer to get it off so just take a hammer and get that off it's just how long with like gasket sealer and like these two little pins that are pressure fitted in there there you go okay so once you get that top part off uh you're going to want to take this bolt off right here there's a little Tab and you want to bend that out to get this bolt off and bolt holds this whole assembly to this shifter thing right here and then you're going to have to back out this Allen along the back as you can see that goes down in there and this catches on it right there that gold piece so you're going to want to back that out so it doesn't catch on there anymore and then once you get both of those out you'll be able to slide all of these pieces out you'll pull this straight out and then just kind of collect all this stuff and just remember the order how it goes but it can only go back together one way anyway so it's not too big of a deal so don't be worried about that and yeah so I'm gonna go ahead and get this bolt out and back that out as well and then I'll show how to pull it apart okay so I got that Allen backed out enough to where it's out of the way and got this bolt all the way out to get this tab out of the way I just used a little Flathead so you just bend that guy out of the way then this comes right out like that all in one piece you can just leave that together I went ahead and got little cup too to keep all my bolts in and so then once you get those out this just slides right out just pull this and then kind of keep this stuff together just like that and then down in there's the shift forks and stuff but you don't need to worry about that just leave those in there and you're done with that and if you're wondering I forgot to mention this there is no gasket along right here uh you just use gasket sealer so when you put these back together you just have to scrape the old gasket maker off and just get some new gasket maker from like a hardware store or something and use that to put it back together all right now that I got that apart uh I went ahead and flipped the so it's facing down and now what we need to do is go ahead and take out all these 12 mm bolts right here around this top half of the casing so those guys go all the way around going to need to get all of those out don't worry about this bolt right here or this one right here here this one is to fill it and then this one is to drain it when it's on the car so you can leave those two in place and some other ones you're going to have to take out as well is these two 14s up here you're going to have to take these two side ones out as well and when you take these ones out they are going to have a little like a ball bearing and a spring that will come out with them so just make sure you don't lose that and you also need to take out this bolt right here on the side as well oh there's the little spring inside of there and then hold on a second tip this to get the ball out out there it is yeah so there's the little ball bearing so both of these will have that they'll just have this with the spring and the ball bearing right there so just make sure you don't lose those so like I said earlier I just get a little cup keeps it nice so you don't lose Parts okay so I went ahead and got all the bolts I needed to get out out and around the top half and I got all the bolts out of the side and everything so what you're going to need to do is take off this cover right here and I'm not sure where the cap to that went but all it is is a/2 in uh ratchet and you just shove that in there and break that free get that guy out and then under that is going to be you'll you'll see a bearing and then like this little uh there's a like a snap ring in there and I already went ahead and pulled it apart I wish I filmed it cuz I didn't realize that I won't be able to put it back into its original place to show you how to get it out but all you need is a pair of needle noose pliers and it's really easy all you do is get it in between those two little tabs and then just kind of pry it apart and then once you get it far enough you'll feel the set of Gears kind of drop just barely and then it'll stay open on its own and then once it does that uh you're good to go ahead and pry the case off so I just going to try to show you that it's kind of hard to see in there but you'll know what I mean if you actually try this yourself you just put some needle those pliers in there and then just Prime really far apart and you'll be good it's super easy now that I got that snap ring out of place all the bolts should be good to go so now I can go ahead and pry it apart uh there's a couple tabs on the outside if you want to use like a hammer if you don't have a pry bar or something but it's easiest if you just grab a pry bar and get it in between one of these t right here it's what it's made for and then just put some weight on it and try to pry it apart you might have to play with it a little bit but it's usually pretty easy yeah as you can see that already Pride right apart without any effort yeah and then once you get it free like that then you can just go ahead and pull it off just be gentle with it when you pull it off there you go it's aart now let's see here yeah be careful with this guy too this will fall off a lot so just leave that into place well I can tell you right now that these sink grills are in way better shaped than mine are that one H first gear looks a little rough but let's see third and fourth look good and that's the most important your first should be good anyway yeah that other transmission oh yeah you shouldn't even need that okay are you still filming right now yeah so I'm going to try to explain how to tell if they're good at least this is what I was told which makes sense so if you look right here is it pretty focused yeah so there's this little gold piece right here this is the Synchro right here and then the piece right above that is the gear itself and what you want is you want these little gold tabs to look like houses pretty much so it'll be a square with a little pointed end so be like little houses and you'll know they're bad because they're just completely flattened off and ground from grinding gears and stuff so I guarantee when we pull my other transmission I bet all these synchros are going to be flat and even the gear I bet is going to be flat up here the gear two is a big one because when I messed up my other transmission all these on the like they're dark gray right in here as you can see on this one they look like little houses they have a little point to them they almost look like little arrows and on my first one I pulled apart these were completely flattened off and it would like not go into gear pretty much at all so this one looks definitely way better I mean it's pretty worn out but this one will last for a while so that'll be good so I guess in the next one whenever I get to it I'll show you guys how to actually pull this apart and pull it out of there but for now this is all I'm going to do to it but yeah for 250,000 Mi this training looks pretty good it's nice and clean in there uh where's the magnet at actually too yeah there's this little magnet right here no significant amount of shavings this collects little bits that will wear off it'll always have some stuff on there but I'm definitely happy with this one this is what actually will hold an LSD so like I said what I'm gonna have to do when I pull the transmission out of my hatch eventually is I'm going to have to swap this whole gear right here so and take all this apart and I'll show you guys all that once I actually do it but for those of you who are wondering how to pull the apart that's how you do it not sure how in-depth that was but hopefully that answered any of your questions so yeah so now this train is just going to sit there for a bit because I'm going to probably do few more pulls in the hatch we might take it out to a couple more meets before I worry about that and it is starting to get cold out so snow's going to be coming soon so honestly I'm thinking we should just wait on the hatch and get this in like while it's cold out cuz I don't want it to be down while there's still some nice days left yeah and I'm also really impressed with this transmission this one also had over 220,000 M on it out of the Accord I pulled it out of and that was almost a year ago just about a year ago and it's held up this long and this trans has seen nothing but at least 450 horsepower and up and I go hard on it every time I take the car car out I mean I'm slamming it into gear so that was a $100 transmission and it's almost lasted a year completely stock so I'll take it and so this one should last quite a while as well and my plan is once this one does eventually go out then I'm going to put some money into the transmission and start building it but until then this one should be good enough for now and yeah got to get Charlie's Wago done too M got to get that back on the road it's his only car right now you can't even can't even leave the house just fing s around all day just look at memes yeah pretty much yeah so also pretty soon I'm probably going to be fixing to put the snow tires back on my waggo get it ready for winter might have our snow first snow tomorrow actually up to an inch even though today was like 80° but there you go guys this video is mainly just for the couple people that were asking how to pull it apart so kind of boring but I wanted to show them how to do it just in case they needed help with that but yeah it's really not hard at all just make sure all the bolts are out and make sure you just collect everything in a little cup or something like that and you'll be fine cuz I remember the first time I did it I was a little worried about it like losing it and it's kind of scary to pull a training apart for the first time cuz I mean it looks pretty complicated but it's really not that bad so only way to learn is to do it and that's how I learned\n"