formula
07-20-2005, 06:33 AM
finished up my tko swap two days ago, and i'm beginning to notice a lot of vibration in the shifter whenever a gear is engaged. it also kinda "bumps" forward whenever you give it any gas in second, and "bumps" back when you let off. I'm running a centerforce DF clutch, centerforce throwout, bellhousing within .005 spec, no other vibrations or misbehavior, but i did leave my pilot bushing in there as i was under a time deadline at that point (which i ended up missing, but that's another story.) and could not for the life of me get it out.
so, does this sound like a pilot bushing issue? or could it be something else? it grabs every gear smooth as silk usually, but i did bind on third one time...i think that may have been because i was used to it being about an inch further to the right though.
GMJim
07-20-2005, 03:10 PM
Formula
The shifter bumping as you say is normal. Tremec doesn't want you to hold the shifter tight in gear. (you will wear out the shifter internal stops) I have a bad habit of resting my wrist on the shifter while in second gear and every time I apply power the shifter moves toward neutral and when I let off power the shifter moves the other way. I have driven several Tremec TKO equipped cars and can say they all do this in first, second, third and fourth. As for the vibration......... The pilot bushing or bearing is what holds the input shaft in the center of the crankshaft. When you release the clutch the disc is now in the center of the pressure plate and balanced. If the pressure plate is allowed to clamp down on the disc while the disc is not centered there will be a vibration. The vibration will worsen as the input shaft bearing wears. The input shaft bearing will wear quicker if not held centered by the pilot bearing. This is what MAY be causing the vibration you feel. I know you don't want to hear this but I recommend you pull it apart and install the pilot bearing supplied with the kit. You'll feel better when it's done. And hopefully the vibration will be gone. One point to remember is that if you installed the urethane transmission mount, it WILL transmit a little more vibration and noise than the stock mount. I've cured some vibration and noise problems by putting in the stock mount.
Jim