Kormex Tranny Issues !!!

[driver17]

I recently just spent around 4000 for a reman tranny/xcase combo from Kormex, new clutch & clutch master cylinder, and BG syncroshift II. Then the labor to put it in.

I have never driven a new vr4 or one with less than 80K on it but for spending that much on a tranny I expected a night and day difference and the ability to shift normal!!!

With this new Kormex transmission I cannot shift normal except for 3rd to 4th. Every other gear is notchy and you have to apply light pressure so it can work its way in. If I slowly accelerate in 1st then push the clutch all the way in and try to shift from 1st to 2nd at a normal pace it clunks and sounds like the syncros are bad. WTF???

I spend all this money on a transmission expecting results and I am in the same place as where I started.

I would think that with a reman trans you should be able to push the clutch in and shift as fast as you can pull the shifter from 1st to 2nd, please someone tell me if I am wrong! At any acceleration rate it clunks and feels like it metal touches metal. I can shift really slowly pausing in neutral then engage the next gear and it doesn't clunk but is really notchy and it feels like it has to work its way in. I am very dissapointed!!!

I called Jeff in Milwaukee(he did the work) and he told me to move my blow off valve, check shifter cable alignment and raise the clutch pedal engagement off the floor. I did all three and notice slightly better shifting, but not what I expected for spending all this. I mean my old tranny wasn't a whole lot worse than this one when I paid 2800 for just the reman tranny!!!

Someone please advise. I would like someone else who has driven kormex rebuilds and let me know if mine is a fluke or what. Thanks

[Bret Brinkmann]

First I would try giving Kormex a call and explaining things to them. They have been willing to help people in the past but not if it sounds like they under attack. Your post does sound a little agressive towards them.

But anyway, you sound give the tranny about 500 miles of normal driving (like your grandma would shift) before you go slapping through the gears. This will give your rings a chance to develope a wear pattern (or brake in) and sinse I am pretty sure that tranny never saw BG synchroshift fluid before, it will take a while before the fluids full benifits can be realized. It it is still a little chilly in your area, your shifting may be a little bit notchy untill the fluid warms up. This usually takes about 15 minutes of driving on a cold day.

Still, a newly rebuilt tranny should not clunk when shifted. It could be a dragging clutch. Here is how to test for that. With the car idleing and the parking brake on, put the tranny in neutral with your foot off of the clutch pedal for a few seconds. Then hold down the clutch pedal while shifting back and forth between 1st and reverse (do not let the clutch pedal up, keep it held down). You may hear a cluck the first one or two times which is normal. It if clunks EVERY TIME, then your clutch is dragging. A dragging clutch is usually due to installation error. These trannys can be a pain to install some times and if handled to roughly, the input shaft of the tranny beats on the clutch disk perminately warping it. By far the easyest and safest way to install the tranny is to hook it up to a cherry picker at the holds for the shift cable bracket and lift it into postion. You will have to turn it and twist it a little to clear the sub-frame but it nothing that is difficult.

Other things to check are the cable adjustment under your shift boot in the car, the shift shaft on top of the tranny to make sure the arm that the cable attatches to doesn't have any play on the shaft, the shift lever (L shaped lever next to the shift shaft) doesn't have any more than about 1/8 inch left to right play, and that the rectangular plastic block between the shift shaft and the shift lever is still there and doesn't have more than about 1/8 inch play in it. The rubber bushings on the tranny side of the shift cables could be worn out also. If all of these things check out, then and only then, would I say it is internal.

[driver17]

Today I am going to try to back my clutch out even farther. I called Kormex and they said it sounds like the clutch is hanging. On the adjustment for the engagement there are only a few threads left to come up. I dont think thats going to help. Are there any other adjustments for the clutch other than engagement on the bracket under the dash?

The shifter cables when popped off the posts they line up exactly with the holes. (Thats how I was told to 'align the cables').

I do have a stainless line that needs to be installed that didn't arrive in time to go in with all my other parts. Should I try installing that, and then bleeding the clutch and see where I'm at?

I'm just so frustrated spending that kind of cash and not seeing an improvement!!! Any ideas?

[driver17]

THANKS BRET! I will double check everything today. Kormex thought it was the clutch dragging as well. I will let you know what I find after running through the tests.

[Bret Brinkmann]

Originally Posted by driver17

Today I am going to try to back my clutch out even farther. I called Kormex and they said it sounds like the clutch is hanging. On the adjustment for the engagement there are only a few threads left to come up. I dont think thats going to help. Are there any other adjustments for the clutch other than engagement on the bracket under the dash?

The shifter cables when popped off the posts they line up exactly with the holes. (Thats how I was told to 'align the cables').

I do have a stainless line that needs to be installed that didn't arrive in time to go in with all my other parts. Should I try installing that, and then bleeding the clutch and see where I'm at?

I'm just so frustrated spending that kind of cash and not seeing an improvement!!! Any ideas?

If your lines have air in them, then you will be lucky to get into gear at all. But it is still a good idea to double check that it is properly bleed. If the clutch is dragging after it has been bleed, then adjusting the pedal will not help. The only cure for a warped disk is a new disk.

Aligning the cables over the pins on the arms is a good start, but if you pull up your shift boot in the car, you will see the left side cable has a turn buckle on it. Play around with the adjustment on that and see if it gets any better. Just make sure you don't keep trying to shift into gear if it grinds. That is result in accelerated synchro wear. Not just the rings, but the dog teeth on the $300 gear and $350 hub&sleeve assembly as well.

[driver17]

What is that turnbuckle you mentioned? My two shifter cables under my shift boot look the same. They both only have the adjusting nut. Its an adjusting nut about 1" long with a regular nut on either side to lock it in place. I dont see any other adjustment on the left side cable?

[Phattlard]

I just rebuild my tranny as well, and its a little notchy. Not bad at all, I'm expecting it to clear up after it all breaks in and what not. But the cold definatly effects them. Even my NA is notchy when its cold. I say be easy on it for a few hundred miles and check all your clutch related stuff. good luck.

[driver17]

I did the clutch hanging test...

When idling in neutral for awhile with the ebrake on then putting it in first it goes in very stiff and kinda hard, then going into reverse is really notchy and it is like this for the first one or two times then it smoothes out. But at no time does it clunk. So from these results would you still think the clutch is hanging?

I am going to make a few more adjustments and test drives and see how it feels. Also this only has about 350 since the reman tranny went in. Like mentioned above I might wait till my clutch is fully broke in and then I can see how it is under more acceleration, and if it still is like it is now.

P.S. The noise right now isn't so much a loud clunk as its more of a low pitch metal zip when going form 1st to 2nd. There is a slight clunk at the end of the low pitch metal zip noise though.

[driver17]

I guess I'm going to wait until my clutch is fully broke in to see what its like then. Right now I am just granny driving and its still notchy. It pauses for a second in neutral before going into any gear.

[phantomrt]

Mine has a "clunk" going into 2nd and 3rd gear. This spring is the first time I ever got to drive the car to see what the transmission is like. I have 80W90 gear oil in the transmission now--I was thinking of going with something much lighter and see what that does. With 80W 90, there is a lot of fluid viscosity to overcome in order to get the gear sets to match speed properly, hence the reason transmissions work better when they're warm. Thats my opinion anyway. I'm thinking some old type F transmission fluid may work really well.

One other thing is that with my car, when I try to coast when the engine/transmission is cold, it feels like the parking brake is dragging. Literally two miles down the road, and the car starts to coast almost as well as any other car. With everything cold, I can raise all 4 wheels, grab one of the rear wheels, and spin it by hand which also spins the other three wheels of the car with no unusual amounts of force. Its like it is a viscous drag--the faster you spin it, the more effort it takes. Weird. I hope I don't have anything F'ed up. But I've put over 800 miles on it like this, and not a bit of troubles or abnormal noises from the drivetrain.