NFB- 02 Z24 help

[Trash man]

i need to know the capacity and where to check the tranny fluid level on a 2002 Cavalier Z24 2.4L twin cam and the manual 5spd. over night the car has decided that it wants to grind 5th gear and only 5th gear, no matter how you try to shift into it, the clutch fluid is full and the clutch doesnt slip, its just 5th gear, be it at a stand still or driving down the road. only way it wont grind is if you shift painfully slow or when stoped, put it in another gear. im hoping its something stupid cuz i really dont want to tear down this tranny

[Joe 1320]

i need to know the capacity and where to check the tranny fluid level on a 2002 Cavalier Z24 2.4L twin cam and the manual 5spd. over night the car has decided that it wants to grind 5th gear and only 5th gear, no matter how you try to shift into it, the clutch fluid is full and the clutch doesnt slip, its just 5th gear, be it at a stand still or driving down the road. only way it wont grind is if you shift painfully slow or when stoped, put it in another gear. im hoping its something stupid cuz i really dont want to tear down this tranny

IMHO, I think you're dealing with a bad syncro and it's not fluid level related. i hope I'm wrong. Look for a pipe plug in the side of the transmission, that is your fill plug. The fluid should be topped off to where it just starts to drip out of the fill hole, then screw in the plug.

[Trash man]

joe - its got a tranny fill plug on top of the transmission not on the side and i just doubled checked and cant find where there is a dip stick per say. and im not sure if its suppose to be filled to the top of the fill or not.

a syncro going bad over night though?

[Joe 1320]

joe - its got a tranny fill plug on top of the transmission not on the side and i just doubled checked and cant find where there is a dip stick per say. and im not sure if its suppose to be filled to the top of the fill or not.

a syncro going bad over night though?

Anything can happen. many times they work right up to the point that don't. There won't be a dipstick.......

[Trash man]

yea i just found what looks like a plug where u check but the fill at the top has me all confused, i hate FWD cars haha

my neighboor works at a GM dealership, he looked into it and said that on certain trannys a nut comes loose that holds the OD gear in place and might cause what i have now. but hes not sure if i have that tranny or not. im gonna rip the side cover off tomorrow after work and see what i got, i may get lucky and can fix it without having to remove the thing from the car

[FTA1995]

You're most likely going to be filling that trans until you can poke your little finger in and feel the fluid just at the bottom of the opening, I would go with what Joe said, your primary concern with those symptoms should be a bad syncro. what happened before 5th started givin you trouble?

[Trash man]

absolutly nothing, its like my focus all over again, i junked my focus becuz i turned off the engine, put gas in it, started it back up and it dropped a valve into the piston

[FTA1995]

that sucks sorry to hear that.....
Best quote ever can be applied here: I'd rather push a chevy than drive a ford.

Check your shift linkage, it might be just tight enough for you to get comfortably into 1-4, but then when that shifter goes into the third column all the ay over, it might be off just enough to where the gears barely even mesh up. That fits the problem.

[Trash man]

shift linkage is all good, and from what i read these trannys, 1-2 share a fork, 3-4, and 5-R, so if it was the linkage reverse should be grinding, i got a funny feeling tonight after work(yes its 4:30 in the morn, gotta be at work at 5) that im going to find out that im pulling this tranny out. really dont have the money for a new/rebuilt one

[Trash man]

yep, gotta yank the transmission outta the car and rebuild it the one car i take car of(wash, wax, mobil oil every 3K) dont beat on at all and the tranny takes a dump.

i found the drain plug, its under the drivers side axel 2inchs from the frame and the plug on the backside is to check the level but u fill it from the top