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Manual Trans / TR6060 - hard to find gears, or having to force it into a gate?

37K views 61 replies 21 participants last post by  subaru335i 
#1 · (Edited)
I started having issues finding Reverse a few weeks ago; typically only when cold. A few days ago I started having issues with 1st as well, and would have to do a variety of things such as pushing the clutch several times, going through 1-3-5 to get Reverse, etc and it became progressively worse - eventually almost leaving me stuck at a stop light unable to get 1st and struggling to get 2nd! If I was in 1st gear and let off the brake pedal, the car would even start to inch forward showing partial clutch engagement (no bueno).

Turns out, the shifter assembly clamp had loosened over time - exacerbated by my having to force Reverse over the past few weeks - eventually causing the shifter out of alignment.

This is a relatively easy fix, and should be on the short list of differential diagnoses whenever you think you are having "clutch" problems!

The differential list includes:
* Contaminated fluid: Always start by doing the "Ranger Method" of using a syringe to remove fluid from the clutch reservoir and refilling with clean fluid. Pump the clutch pedal 30-40 times with full travel. Again remove old fluid and replace. Do this 3-4 times or until your calf muscle cramps!

* Check the rear of the shifter housing to ensure the black plastic alignment grommet is in place: it is held in place by two small screws, best seen from under the car. Locate the shifter housing (a cast aluminum A-arm looking piece at the forward top portion of the transmission - with a good light you can verify that both screws are in place, and with a little macgyvering you may be able to tighten them further. Note: See my second post below that illustrates this cap at the end of the shifter housing.

* Check to make sure the shifter housing (the cast A-arm looking piece) is not cracked, also from under the car for best visualization; but this can also be viewed from the cabin if you remove the upper portion of the shifter mechanism (more involved). Note: See my second post below that illustrates this cap at the end of the shifter housing.

* Verifying that the shifter assembly clamp is aligned properly and very snug: this single bolt (explained further below) should be torqued to 22 foot-pounds.

In my case, having an aftermarket clutch, all of these pieces have been removed and reinstalled previously. my installer had issues with the shifter assembly clamp and apparently stripped the bolt somehow, likely contributing to my issues - but this can certainly happen to anyone.

Tools needed:
* A plastic body panel removal or srewdriver covered in tape
* a 10mm deep socket, a 12" extension and ratchet
* a 1/2" socket
* a good light

Link to Creative Steel install thread, outlining similar removal and reinstall: http://www.ctsvowners.com/forum/5-transmission/31110-creative-steel-shifter-install-instructions.html


Step 1: Sitting in the driver seat, take your trim removal tool to the wood grain or carbon fiber plastic panels on the side of the center console.
Step 2: Remove the two 10mm bolts under the trim pieces, at the front of the console
Step 3: Pull down/out the carpet next to the console revealing the 10mm screws holding the front of the console in, both at the front of the console on the bottom AND at the rear of the console on each side. You will have to move each seat all the way back and then all the way forward to reach these four bolts.

Step 4: Remove the E-Brake trim piece (the shifter boot): Pull up on both sides of the E-Brake trim piece from either the front or rear, using care to not break the tabs. There is a harness attached; press in on the harness clip to remove.
Step 5: Remove the shifter knob: Pulling of shift knob will take some force. Pull up while not having your face close to your hands so you don't hurt yourself. Twisting the shifter knob side to side will help move the spring-clip that keeps it in place via a notch in the shifter arm.
Step 6: Lift up on the center console - there is another wiring harness on the passenger side that can be partially unclipped, allowing you to CAREFULLY place the center console onto the passenger seat. Take care as to not scratch your center stack or damage the seat from sharp edges.

Step 7: You will see this: these 8 10mm bolts will need to be removed (I have an aftermarket shifter); removing the OEM shifter may vary slightly; alternative removal link here: http://www.ctsvowners.com/forum/5-transmission/31110-creative-steel-shifter-install-instructions.html


This is the little bastard that causes all of my problems:


Step 8: You can either remove the upper shifter assembly (if changing to aftermarket shifters) - in my case, I just rotated it out of the way as shown above. This is a 1/2" bolt - loosen it but there is no need to remove it.


Step 9: ALIGN THE SHIFTER: The factory shifter has a little 4mm L-shaped pin stowed in the front of the shifter assembly. Retrieve it, or use a 4mm hex wrench in its place. The alignment pin:


You will see an alignment hole at the REAR of the shifter housing, this is what sets the alignment:


NOTE: you can see a similar hole in the shifter rod inside the shifter housing in the above photo, slightly offset. Line up the holes so that you can place the guide rod into both - you will have to simultaneously hold up the shifter housing and wigging the shifter around to get the alignment pin to seat; this locks the shifter in place. Make sure you rotate the pin in such a way that it doesn't pull out when you let go of the housing, as the entire assembly will drop down (possibly pulling your pin back out). The shifter should still be "locked" in place.

Step 10: keeping everything more or less vertical and centered, tighten the Shifter assembly clamp bolt to 22 foot-pounds; or "three finger tight" with a small wratchet. You may initially fear that you've stripped the bolt - but I believe there is a compressive collar inside the clamp to help bite onto the shaft assembly, so you have to use common sense here.
Note: this clamp is cast aluminum, and only has ~3/8" of thread engagement (Thanks GM!) so take care not to over-torque it. If possible, degrease the shaft before lining everything up, taking care to focus on the correct portion of the shaft by moving the shifter around before inserting your guide pin.

Once you've tightened the bolt, remove the guide pin and put it back where you found it. Move the shifter around making sure the clamp is snug and working properly - then reinstall everything the same way you took it apart. I had to do this twice as I did not tighten the clamp bolt enough the first time, fearing I would strip the threads.

Worst case scenario: you strip the clamp bolt! Well, now you get to pull the exhaust and potentially remove the driveshaft to either drill out and re-tap the clamp, or use a through-bolt with a hex-relief on the end (the name escapes me); there may be other ways but that's what I plan on doing if I have to revisit this in the future.

Please feel free to add suggestions to this thread, as it was a bit frustrating for me to have the car disabled because of one freaking bolt on the shifter assembly!
 
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#2 · (Edited)
Manual pages for the above issue and reinstalling / aligning shifter:






GM Part Numbers (Just in case):
Assembly rod clamp: GM 19206520
Assembly rod clamp BOLT: GM 11515758 or 12553719 (Torx variant for corvettes). Tentativesizing: M8 x 1.25 x ~30mm
 
#3 ·
Great write up for the M6 guys. Thanks. Way to finally contribute to the forum. I kid, I kid
 
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#4 ·
Someday I'll start doing back-to-back comparisons of things, like headers and ported superchargers... maybe even test those damn phenolic spacers I hear so much about! :D
 
#6 ·
Awesome write up!
 
#9 ·
Fix it ASAP, you could potentially cause damage or at the least early clutch wear from interference if the misalignment is bad enough.

I am still having some occasional issues finding reverse and having "sticky" gears on start-up; but I'd say the symptoms are 60-70% improved and silky smooth once I get the car warmed up. It was an immediate improvement in shift effort and smoothness.

Still change your clutch fluid (Ranger method), consider verifying that the transmission is fully-topped off with the correct trans fluid (I would suggest staying with GM spec and just change every 30-40k miles), and keep an eye out for anything else weird....
 
#11 ·
Thanks random for this post. I semi-regularly have to slip the stock clutch a little to get reverse to engage. First gear is no problem but the other day was not wanting to go but after a couple tries it did. I will remember this post if it gets worse - looks like a PITA fix. 95K miles
 
#12 ·
Update:

So I adjusted it per the above and it helped. My tech looked at it also (after having some issues finding R) and adjusted it some more - it was perfect on the way home.

However today I got locked out of Reverse, as in "it just ain't gonna happen for you today" locked out of Reverse after fixing a slipped lower A-Arm bolt at the alignment shop....

And I have a misfire. ARG.
 
#13 ·
And it works again. Like butter.

I've had to realign three times now - fixes it each time, but I'm guessing the collet /bolt is just not tight enough as it keeps slipping.

I'm contemplating drilling and tapping a small hole through the top of the clamp into the shift linkage rod just to give it a little more grip. Only problem is that may affect alignment down the road after clutch replacements, etc.

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#14 · (Edited)
Another update:



My recommendation: get a fully threaded bolt, M8 x 1.25 x 40 (min) or 45mm long max and run it through from the bottom. There should be enough room to keep from hitting the tunnel with a 45 mm long bolt threaded through from the bottom - but I haven't tested it yet so buy both and keep them on hand. A m8 1.25 x 40 is the minimum to have enough room for the top nut, so use a single nylon or locking flange nut and skip washers that take up more room.

This allows you to use the threads on the clamp to keep the bolt in place - allowing much more clamping torque from the nut on the top as normally accessed through the cabin (the bolt carries the clamping force instead of the soft aluminum clamp itself). I'd use a locking or nylon nut on top and red locktite on the bolt you'll run through from the bottom to help keep it from turning when you tighten from the top side.

The only caveat? You'll have to disconnect the driveshaft at the trans to get enough room. You should be able to do that without dropping the exhaust. I wanted to do it this way after getting under there but the local stores don't carry fully threaded bolts in that size.

If my first try (a threaded stud with nuts on each end) doesn't work - that's my fall back.

Either way mitigates the potential of stripping the threads on the clamp itself- which are ridiculously small (maybe a 1/4 inch of total engagement! ). I really leaned on it this way so I think I'm good - but that clamp is really easy to strip so I'd honestly suggest doing it this way the first time around.


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#17 ·
Next time mine comes apart I intent to do this. I believe my clamp is about done...
 
#18 ·
My suggestion is to do it BEFORE the threads on the clamp strip out... will keep things a heck of a lot easier for you.
 
#19 ·
Looks like you need to update your Photobucket account or migrate the files somewhere. Good info, though!
 
#20 ·
Yeah... just got that email. One more thing to do! I tried another hosting site and it was a total pain to use.

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#21 · (Edited)
[Removed duplicate photos]
Hey @random84, I just got a tip from a member on Tech about getting the Photobucket images back. I just added ~original to the end of all the links.
 
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#22 ·
Hey @random84, I just got a tip from a member on Tech about getting the Photobucket images back. I just added ~original to the end of all the links.
Thanks! Posts updated!
 
#26 ·
Clearly Cadillac designed the V2 and then they remembered they were supposed to offer a manual version 20 days before release. The way they placed the master cylinder reservoir seriously looks like a guy walked out with a rivet gun and chose a spot near the brake master. It's about 20 times better than the V1, but you can still tell they didn't care as much about it.
 
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#28 · (Edited)
Yeah I'm definitely not complaining about the setup overall. The TR6060 is so much better than the T56 to begin with that the other oddities aren't as bad.
 
#29 ·
Did the mod today! I decided I wanted to be lazy and try doing this without touching the driveshaft. I used a 13mm box wrench to tighten the bottom nut as much as I could until I could feel my palm splitting. It's not a ton of torque, but it will help. A 40mm bolt has tons of thread and a 45mm bolt would have actually made this impossible with leaving the driveshaft in because it's pretty close to it as-is. Here are the steps I took:

1. Removed center console and top of shifter (I have a Creative Steel) as usual.
2. Lowered the transmission about 1/2" by loosening the 4 bolt bolts (15mm) holding the brace to the chassis in order to get more room for the collar bolt.
3. Removed collar bolt, lined up shifter hole with the base, inserted alignment pin, installed 40mm bolt.
4. Torqued new collar bolt to 22 ft-lbs, which was nerve-wracking because it felt like it was going to strip. **Tighten transmission brace back up** <-- do AFTER you install new bolt
5. Installed the top plastic shift plate using just two bolts to hold the bottom in place.
6. Got under the car and threaded the nylon lock nut on, then slowly tightened it with 13mm wrench (I have long arms and fingers, and I'm kinda thin, so that helps a ton)
7. Once it became difficult to tighten the nut any further, I went back into the car, removed the top shift plate, removed the alignment pin, then reinstalled the shift plate.
8. Put the car in 1st gear, which angles the bolt/nut toward the passenger side, allowing for a better angle with a wrench.
9. Got under car and tightened the nylon nut as much as I could until my hands were as scraped up and bruised as I could take.
10. Checked that the alignment pin still fit (after putting car back in neutral)
11. Reinstall everything as usual.



 
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#30 ·
I believe the pin thru the black end cap is just so you can be sure the bolt goes thru at the shaft cutout. I didn't line my hole up with a pin but made sure the bolt went in at the cutout.

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#31 ·
The whole point of the pin is to ensure proper alignment with the transmission.

Otherwise you could move the shifter to 3rd with the trans in 1st and tighten everything down before you realized it.

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#33 ·
Caddy is replacing my shifter stuff due to excessive play. Although I'm having a core shifter installed

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#34 ·
#35 ·
Those are for the base model manual - V series is different.

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#38 · (Edited)
Sorry to resurrect this, but I my '12 v tr6060 is having diffiuclty getting into reverse and it is becoming frequent. When it does not engage, it'll act as if were still in 5th. Did you try the reverse lock out selnoid or was this the root cause of your problem?

Many thanks!
P
This was the source of the problem.

The shifter rod bolt requires a decent amount of torque to secure the clamp to the shifter rod - and that clamp assembly is soft aluminum so I'd say 90% of the issues I've had with getting R have been that bolt not being tight enough and allowing slop in the gear shift mechanism. ANY grease or lubricant that finds its way onto that shifter rod will allow slight movement as well. That is why I switched to a through-bolt with nut to capture the clamp itself and provide greater torque capability. I also decreased the shifter rod and even then, with more torque than required, I once found it was not clamping enough.

With all that said, even with this adjustment, clean clutch fluid, and brand new master/slave and quality transmission fluid... every once in a while I won't get reverse anyway. That's just the way the cookie crumbles! lol I feel like it's one of those things that it's great from the factory, but once you break the seal it's just never perfect. I would even consider a little blue locktite on the shifter shaft itself to help the clamping components "grab" more.

The reverse lock out solenoid is always a potential but if that were the case I would check wiring / harness / plug / fuses before the solenoid itself; IMHO it's far more likely the shifter is out of alignment and/or the two small screws at the rear of the shifter housing are loose, etc.
 
#39 ·
Thank you for giving us such detailed diagnostic. I'm going to get the short throw and have the installer take a look at what you've described to see if he could verify the issue. It's interesting you brought up the slop, before getting my V, I had a Pontiac G8 GXP m6 with a shifter that shifted with such precision. I was realy surprised at how much play there was in the V's shifting.
 
#41 ·
#42 ·
Hey Random,

Do you know if a misaligned shift linkage pin can cause intermittent grinding when shifting (mainly 2nd)? I do have issues going into reverse and first occasionally. FYI - my trans was rebuilt by tick with all new carbon blocker rings, brand new 2nd gear, bronze fork pads, etc, new mantic clutch (same as you with shuddering issues and will most likely go with another clutch), and a CS shirt throw shifter. Tick says it's not the trans and mechanic says it's not master or slave cylinder issue. Not sure what to do here.


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