Internal Diagnosis

[fishbone79]

I have the guts of a 92 5MT sitting in front of me on my desk, drizzling and oozing hi pan in all their glory, as we speak. This tranny has over 200k on it, but I have never driven it, so I don’t know what (if anything) is wrong with it. Besides the obvious, does anyone have any tips about diagnosing potential problems from inspecting the bowels of the beast? I want to replace any worn out parts and fix all the problems so I can slap it in my car and forget about it. Any help would be great.

[BAC5.2]

If you want to not worry about it, just replace everything.

Definately replace the synchros, and look at the gears. If they look worn, scratched, or beat up, replace them as well. Replace the shift forks, and if everything else looks "normal" then you'll be good.

[fishbone79]

What about all the bearings, they go pretty often, no? I'm not worried about the layshaft (it looks recently rebuilt) so much as the mainshaft and the all the parts around the viscous coupling.... which parts are problematic?