drossiter

1987 Toyota Pickup 5 Spd W56 with RF1A transfer case. 2.4L EFI. 241k on the clock. Rebuilt engine by me, suspect the transmission is original.










I recently posted about brakes and received the answers I needed and subsequently resolved that issue. I have driven the beast and have discovered a new issue. While driving and at random, I hear what sounds to be gears grinding. I also get some strong vibrations from what appear to be from the transmission. These do not happen often and usually happens above 30MPH, so 3rd gear and up. They do appear to be related to bumps in the road. For example, while driving if I hit a pot hole and it sends a shock through the vehicle, I will get the grind for a bit until I hit another bump and it re-shocks it. It does not happen when switching gears. Fifth gear will sometimes have a hard time going in. If I'm not careful and ensure it slipped in gear and release the clutch, it will scream at me (like my wife does) until I depress the clutch, pull it out of gear and reinsert. After noticing this, I drained the fluid. The fluid was black and burnt. Clearly hadn't been changed since new or for a very long time. The drain plug had the usual metal shavings, nothing excessive and no large chunks. There were fine particles of brass pieces floating around in the fluid. I know this to be from the synchros. If I had to guess, it will likely be the fifth gear synchro given the way it doesn't like to go in to gear at times. Long story short, I'm thinking I need to do a complete rebuild on the transmission or replace it all together. Is this an accurate assessment? Replacing it is easy; is rebuilding the W56 easy? I've never done anything more than replacing a transmission with another. Also, while under the truck, I did notice my U-Joint at the rear was toast. Surprised it hasn't snapped yet. This, I found, was the cause of a clanking noise when clutch engaged. Not sure if related to the grinding and vibrations or not. Any helpful advice will be greatly appreciated.