Looking for some advice and guidance from anyone who has rebuilt or refurbished an S130 5 speed gearbox.

I’m looking to overhaul mine, I have an early 1979 5 speed in my 280ZX that has developed a very loud whine when in 3rd and 5th gear. The whine gets worse the longer you drive the car when either gear is selected. The rest of the gears are fine and quiet. There is no problems selecting gears and I have replaced the oil and it’s toped up correctly.

I have approached several local gearbox repair companies, but they do not want to take up the challenge due to so say availability of parts. I have spoken to MJP and it would appear most parts needed are available with the exception of the 5th gear synchromesh for the 1979 box.

I would like to continue driving the car through the summer and look to drop the box and strip it over the winter. Do I risk damaging the box more by doing this?

Any advice or rebuild tips on doing this job would be greatly received.

Cheers

Huw

 

On the trip back from the Simply Japanese day at Beaulieu, the gearbox whine from 3rd and 5th is now almost deafening under acceleration. Could this be the bearings, anyone experienced similar, how to fix/what to replace etc?

Looks like the box wont last till winter (my ears wont from the noise) as I hoped so this weekends trip may well be the last.

Looking for some advice or even better a replacement box, but no luck with my advert on here so far.

Anyone here can offer some help??

Huw

 

If it's whining that bad, don't use it !! It probably has worn bearings, which are letting the gears run slightly out of mesh, which not only knackers the bearings, but will also enduce wear on the gear teeth.

So I would get it out and have a look inside, post pics here and get an opinion on what you find.

 

Thats what Im hoping Mike. Going to drop the box out in the next couple of week. But its a job Im not looking froward to doing as never done a full gearbox strip.

 

Hi Huw

Sorry I didn't get chance to talk to you at Beaulieu yesterday.

I have a Haynes manual which shows the 5 speed box for a S30 which you can borrow if needed although I'm not sure it would be the same gearbox layout.

I had a similar problem on an old Toyota 5-speed box quite a few years back and it was the main shaft bearing worn. Boy did it scream!!!

You should be able to pick up new bearing races on line fairly easily if you know the inner and outer diameters & I can't understand why no gearbox repair companies will take it on. getting a syncro cone or a selector fork would be a problem but not bearing races and they ought to know how to strip and reassemble a gearbox. Selectors or syncro would not make that sort of noise.

I can drop the manual round if needed and I don't mind giving you a hand if you need some help getting the box out. From then on, I would advise plenty of photos!!

PM me if you need anything.

Cheers

Paul

 

Hi Paul

That's a very kind offer mate, might just take you up on that! I've got a workshop manual so should be ok for instruction material.

Cheers
Huw

 

You have the same box as the '77/'78 euro 260Zs and 5spd (late) 280Zs.

The parts will be available :https://www.californiadatsun.com/transmission/transmission-accessories/

 

No probs!

Whilst at Beaulieu we were talking to a chap that wanted to swap out an auto box for a manual in his 240Z (the gulf blue one).

The general consensus was to look for a 200SX box rather than go for one out of an S30. I have also seen previous posts that point in that direction. I wonder if one of those would fit in yours as there seem to be a few advertised on e-Bay.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Nissan-20...562?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item33a660103a

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Nissan-200-sx-turbo-gearbox-/201396985816?hash=item2ee4321fd8

Perhaps someone on here could advise whether that would be an option. There seems to be a few versions of them though and I don't know which one could apply.

 

Best insight on it all is from a non tech guy would be to contact Pmac or Steve Kiddell as they were the people who did mine I believew they are not doing them any more but sure they would point you in the right direction

 

Rebuilding a stock Z box is a bit of a pain, the end bearings come off fine once the bell housing is off (a few bolts and a fiddly C clip) but if you need to go further then you'll need some really long bearing pullers and be prepared to strip the entire gear cluster out.

Much easier to find a box from a 200sx (S14 or S14a or indeed the S13) and fit a modified bell housing and prop, Pete and I used to do it (did loads including Mr Burns) but have moved onto doing our own cars for now, they are still to be found but the prices for good used ones have upped significantly over the years, inspection is key, look for wear on the gear teeth faces, bearing and excessive synchro wear/missing teeth etc.

 

Thanks everyone for the information, much appreciated. Thanks also Sean for link. At least I know now there is an alternative to the standard box I can pursue.

Going to drop the box when I get back from working away and see what's what anyway. Probably have a go at replacing the bearings in the meantime so I can enjoy the rest of the summer but start looking for a suitable 200SX gearbox for the longer term.

I may have more questions for you Steve and for Pmac on this subject in the near future!

Thanks again

Huw

 

I used to be in the SXOC, you could keep an eye on: http://www.sxoc.com, there is bound to be some useful info on there, and you may hear of one for sale there too.

 

I just bought a bearing and seal set for my 1973 5-speed gearbox from SW Motorsport in Australia. Take a look at swmotorsport.com.au
He also sold me a 1st & 2nd gear synchro sleeve (used) and a synchro ring (new).
Tell Stewart at SW what you need and he might be able to help.

 

Yes but in the end your still left with a fairly poor item with new bits in it, where as the S14 conversion transforms the car.

 

.....you're....

For the rest - Skiddys' exactly right and you have to drive one with that box to believe it !

 

It is a no brainer as it makes the car a delight to drive

 

Don't be lazy. Use the 'search' function!