Manual Transmission Archives - Page 3 of 3 - Transmission Digest
2011-Up Ford Mustang’s Getrag MT82 6-Speed Manual Transmission

Most of the manual-transmission business in the light-duty market is concentrated in the sports or muscle-car vehicles. Ford Motor Co. has had a highly successful run with the Mustang.

For many years Tremec, a world-class transmission manufacturer based in Mexico, supplied the transmission products for the Mustang. We have seen the T5, T45 and TR3650 five-speeds and the TR6060 six-speed. These are all quality transmissions that are still finding their way into our shops today.

Identifying Aisin Manual Transmissions and Transfer Cases

One of the major problems associated with buying and selling units and parts in our industry is the need to properly identify the unit you are working on. This article is devoted to identifying current-production models of manual transmissions and transfer cases produced by Aisin AI, with the hope of making it easier for you to obtain parts in the aftermarket. Past production is not listed but includes the familiar AX5, AX15 and R151 Toyota transmissions.

Advanced Manual-Transmission Diagnostics

In last month’s article we started this series on manual-transmission diagnostics. We continue here with a more-advanced discussion. We covered the absolute need for all technicians to understand the theory of operations and power flow of the units they are working on so they can successfully diagnose problems. The topic addressed in this month’s article is shift problems, their causes and fixes. The next chapter will deal with diagnosing noises, and we will close the series with advanced electronic and function diagnosis of electronic and active transfer cases.

Manual-Transmission Theory: Back to Basics

On automatic transmissions, engine-related computer problems can affect transmission operation. Computer-controlled vehicles have very complex electronic circuits and multiple computers, all of which need to work together. That being the case, we will start with the basics of rear-wheel-drive manual-transmission function and proceed to more-complex diagnostic issues with transfer cases and front-wheel-drive manual transmissions in the next series of articles. Transmission designs may vary in size, shape and appearance, but all the units function in the same manner.

Why Doesn’t It Shift Correctly?

The first step to any diagnostic solution is to understand the theory of operation of the components involved in the problem and how they relate to each other. What is involved in making a shift with a manual transmission? The clutch set and related components (hydraulics, pilot bearing, release bearing, motor and body mounts etc.) and the transmission internal components and shift mechanism.

The State of the Union on Standard Transmissions

In days gone by, cars were built with manually shifted transmissions as standard equipment, and automatic transmissions were an extra-cost option. This gave rise to the term “standard” as a reference to the stick-shift transmission. Along the way, automatics have steadily gained market share and now make up about 80% of the market in the United States. In Europe the opposite is true. Automatics are slowly gaining popularity, but just a fraction of the cars on the road are self-shifting.