The angry t-19

[Chuckdiesel]

Well my tranny has a very loud roar in the first 3 gears and some in 4th, but the thing is the roar is louder than the motor. Third gear is real loud, not just a slight gear whine but like the truck will blow up if i don't shift before 2500rpms.
the truck is an 86' with only 98K. theres some slop in the drivetrain and first and secoend is hard to get unless im rolling. I know its old but it really has low miles on the transmission. So any ideas? how hard is it to rebuild or is it worth it to get another, say from jasper?

Also i have noticed that the guy i work for has a 89 250 c-6 6.9L and his truck shifts at 27 or 2800rpms, I'm sure theres a difference between a standard and an automatic but when are you standard guys shifting when empty? I carry out 2nd to about 20mph or 2,000 rpms and third till 35mph and also to 2,000rpms because the transmission sounds like its going to blow. I think i can shift at higher rpms and accelerate faster if I shift at say 2,500rpms and how much will the shift points affect mpg. I do mostly in town driving so i do a lot of shifting.

 

[tonkadoctor]

I shift around 1500 running empty and the truck rarely sees above 1800 - 1900 RPM in any gear. The only time I'm above 2000 is if I am trying to get a heavy load moving in a hurry. Ya gotta drive like granny to get really good fuel milage numbers. I get around 18 - 22 mpg on the "All American" empty and 15 - 17 pulling about 5000 lbs and it usually depends on how hard and fast I am driving it.

Running to higher RPM shift points will cause your fuel milage to go down, usually considerably.

Truckers used to wind the old diesels out to get them going and are now taught to shift as early as possible without lugging to increase fuel economy...Some companies even govern the engines to 1400 - 1500 rpm in the first 4 or 5 gears to force their drivers to shift early.....I can tell you from experience it sucks to drive a truck like that when you get into a situation like starting on a grade where you need to wind it up a bit more.

 

[82F100SWB]

It depends entirely on how I'm driving... about 85% of the time, just running around town, my truck is in 4th gear before 30 mph, and I shift at about 1200. Some times, it' gets shifted at 3500.. Depends entirely on how I'm driving it and whether it's loaded or empty etc...
Strangely, I find my fuel mileage is best if I cruise at 2500 rpm, rather than 2000....
As for your T19 being noisy, does it sound anything like this?
http://www.bigblocksix.com/f100swb/f250/may03/0-90.wav
That's the one behind my 460... I've ran it over 60K miles like that... It's just annoying...Apparently it got ran dry at one point, the truck was rolled, and sat upside down for a couple hours from what I'm told... They topped up all the fluids but the trans, which was bone dry, and drove it a good 60 miles like that...

 

[tonkadoctor]

Damn......that sounds like an old Duece or willy's jeep....I can't comment on the T-19 noise as I have a ZF-5 and it's very quiet, which is why I commented only on driving habits. I had an '82 F-150 with the 4 speed granny and it only made the whine in granny.

4th gear for me at 30 is about 1000 rpm, I'm just barely over idle while cruising through town, I can't even get into 5th below 35 - 40 as it would lug.....3300 rpm is 130 mph with these 3.08 gears I put in..

 

[Mr_Roboto]

What oil does it have in the trans? Does it have oil in the trans? Avoid using oils with limited slip additive in them, they make the synchro's slip and make it harder to shift. Too heavy or too light of an oil will result in lack of lube to the gears and bearings.

Also you can "overfill" the trans by filling though the shift tower hole, this may help quiet things down. This is fairly common practice with the ZF-5.

Borrowed from Novak Conversions website:

"When filling your T18 / T19 with gear oil, we recommend that you select a conventional mineral oil or a para-synthetic in lieu of a full synthetic oil. Properly assembled manual gearboxes do not have the thermal strains seen by combustion engines or hypoid gears. Synthetic fluid in these gearboxes, while not harmful, is probably an economic waste.

Hypoid gear oil is sulphurized higher than transmission oil and can be mildly corrosive to the non-ferrous alloys used for synchros, bushings and thrust washers in these transmissions.

An 80W-90, API-GL5 or MT-1 rated fluid is very good. Some claim faster shifts from using a 50W engine oil in their transmission and we do not consider this to be contraindicated. "

 

[Exekiel69]

Also you can "overfill" the trans by filling though the shift tower hole, this may help quiet things down. This is fairly common practice with the ZF-5.

I tried this on My tranny and it was very hard to shift so I had to take some of the fluid out of it.

 

[Chuckdiesel]

As for your T19 being noisy, does it sound anything like this?
http://www.bigblocksix.com/f100swb/f250/may03/0-90.wav
That's the one behind my 460... I've ran it over 60K miles like that... It's just annoying...Apparently it got ran dry at one point, the truck was rolled, and sat upside down for a couple hours from what I'm told... They topped up all the fluids but the trans, which was bone dry, and drove it a good 60 miles like that...[/QUOTE]

Well mine sounds similar just a lower tone. i've had the truck about 2 or 3 months and i dont really know any history. I have replaced the gear oil with some Lucas 80w90 so the oil is good. but why its so loud i dont know. Does anyone have a 5speed laying around

I usually get about 13mpg so maybe i can get 15 if i lower my shift points.