This '89 D250 is my third Dodge Cummins, and my first with a manual transmission. The truck has only 93,000 miles on it, and the original owner said Dodge recalled it when it had
4x,xxx miles to replace transmission, clutch and pressure plate. I'm ignorant as to why the recall occurred. Anyway, having no experience with these manual transmissions, it seems that this one is pretty hard shifting - you can shift easily from 4th to 5th, but 2-3 is very slow and often will either grind or bump hard if I try to shift with what I'd consider a normal speed, and 3-4 is slow, but a bit faster than 2-3. Am I expecting too much, or is there something that needs to be done to make shifting a little faster and easier? I'll appreciate any help.

 

2 3 is a harder shift on mine too.

 

Is there a different fluid you could run for a better shift Richie? I dont know much about teh rags...

 

over fill by one quart and a good synthetic 5w 30

 

do they use 5w-30 or gear oil?

 

I Know the shop manual calls for 10w-30 for what its worth.

 

5-30 no gear oil to thick

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same idea the 5 just flows better when its cold

 

Synchromesh makes them shift much better. It's close to the same viscosity as 5-30 motor oil but with the necessary FM formulation to let the synchros do their job better. In any case, the Getrag does not like to shift quickly. At least half your problem is probably technique.

The recall was probably for one of the the runs that came shimmed too tight from the factory.

 

so 5-30 synthetic is the way to go on these huh?

 

Thanks for all the input; by the way, what is 'Synchromesh', and where do you get it? That is a product that I'm not familiar with. And how do you overfill the transmission by one quart?