New member to the forum, and having a problem with my truck. Whenever I shift into 3rd gear, it's almost like the clutch isn't fully disengaging and it grinds a little bit. All the other gears are fine though. Any suggestions on possible problems? Oh, and the truck is an '02 5-speed with the 3.9 V-6 and 58,000 miles. Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions!

 

syncromesh might be off or broken or something. mine does that a little too but only sometimes when i float the gear (shift w/out the clutch and match the revs, like the semi truck drivers do,) anybody else have any ideas cuz the only thing i can think of for you is to take it to the dealership

 

I have an 01 with NV 3500 5 speed. I bought it used with 42K, since about 50K it has had a little crunch going from 2nd to 3rd. I have 96K now and still doing OK. It could be normal wear on the synchro's. If you have not done it yet drain and refill the transmission lube and see if it does any better.

Jimmy

 

sounds like the syncro is taking a dump

 

f0x672, you are a mechanic right? do you (or anybody else) know if it is bad to "float" the shifter if you have syncromesh? i have heard that it doesn't matter by some people then there are others that say it is horrible for your truck. anybody know?

 

ive heard its bad regardless on dodge transmissions but in reality, if you match your engine speed with you're road speed ( through trail and error shifting through all the gears) then you'll be fine. but like i said, ive heard dodge trans are not very tolerant. you're supposed to clutch every time you shift but a lot of truck drivers do power shift. they only use the clutch to stop or move the truck, low low/low/first or reverse.

 

yeah thanks, that's what i had thought and yeah i do match the engine speed but there comes a time when i am just too lazy to move my left foot.

pigpen78, did you end up taking your truck to the dealership?

 

Well, changed the transmission lube yesterday, had a few small pieces of teeth in there, so that can't be good. Still having troubles, so looks like the synchros or something else inside is bad. But, since it only does it in 3rd gear, and I usually only use it for work, I probably won't worry about it too much for now. I usually just shift from 2nd to 4th now and avoid 3rd.

 

o ok. yeah let us know how it goes and if you do take it into the service center.
good luck

 

teeth in the fluid is never good. Good luck.