What the heck did I get into!?!

[TrevorH]

So I just drove the new bus home.  WOW!!  Talk about a learning curve with the art of shifting one of these beasts!  How durable are the 5 spd transmissions in the 102a3 in regaurds to grinding etc?  The clutch?  It seemed like the clutch was kind jerky and the pedal was really difficult to manipulate.  The shifter was also very loose and difficult to work with.  Are these things that one must get used to or?

[tekebird]

they are not your mom's mazdad 626.

I recommend you find someone to teach you.  it is not hard to ruin a clutch

[Stan]

It sounds like you have some maintenance to do. Loose joints in the shifter rods and maybe just lubrication or adjustment on the clutch linkage.

[Nick Badame Refrig/ACC]

Hi Trevor,

Congrats! and the learning has just begun....

An HT-740 auto shifts alot smoother! lol

Good Luck
Nick-

[gus]

You will probably discover that all the shift rod and clutch rod shackles and pins are badly worn plus the bell crank arms and pins. I found my clutch shackle pin worn more than 50% through at the bellcrank and all the bellcrank arm holes worn most of the way through.

All these worn parts in such a long system result in a lot of slack in the very long overall system so you may have as much as an inch or two total slack. The hard clutch shows this. Your clutch linkage arms should all be at 90* for max mechanical advantage when the clutch is fully depressed.

Same deal for the shift linkage which uses the same type connections.

[scanzel]

Fix what needs fixing like I did and you will get better. When I picked up my Prevost 6 speed spicer standard in Reno Nevada and drove it back to Connecticut for four days I had a chance to practice a lot. Yes I ground some metal, installed a new clutch and had everything adjusted and I am now shifting into gears with no clutch or very little. Practice will make you better as time goes by.

[Fredward]

Everything might be worn out or it may be simply a matter of getting used to it. When I bought my MC-5 I used the clutch for every shift and didn't pay much attention to how hard it was to push. After a few thousand miles, I quit using it except for starting out and some downshifts.

Now I'm replacing it because I have been shown the clutch is shot. The point is, you will get accustomed to driving and shifting the beast. Its not like driving a synchromesh pickup that's for sure.

Search on shifting, clutching, etc. Its quite an education. There are lots of good posts here.

Fred

[bobofthenorth]

Its really important to get the edges of the gears rounded off so they slide together easier.  That's the grinding sound you hear - its just the sharp edges on the gears wearing off.  Don't worry about it.  After three or four years you will still do it but you will hardly notice the noise anymore.

[Busted Knuckle]

Trevor,
Those trans are purty dog gone durable! As Doug mentions the clutches are not as much. We had an '85 102A3 6V92TA 5spd in the fleet once. I'd just put a clutch in it when my uncle sent a driver out in it to New Orleans. The driver ground it so bad getting it into gear on the lot he killed the engine. I went out and told him (he was new to the company) that there was a 3rd pedal on the left he needed to push b4 moving the shifter. He called me a smart @$#, (and I am!) and told me he had been around buses longer than I'd been alive. (this is the same driver that told mr.g & I that several yrs later when he had the door to a Setra open and it wouldn't go!) I told him he "might been around buses that long but he musta missed it when they put clutch pedals in 'm & I just put a clutch in this one and I'd appreciate it if you'd use it!" He mumbled some crap under his breath and got out of the bus and went over to his car, and I went over to my shop. He left a minute later and as he went down the street I could hear him BANG each gear. 2 blocks up the street I heard him hit 4th or 5th (way too soon) and it stalled the engine! I called my uncle and told him he'd better "either send a different bus or driver because there was no way that combination was going to make it to N.O. & back in one piece!" He just laffed and said "it'll be alright, I seen worse." Well it made it home and I was surprised that it wasn't on the back of a wrecker! Well it sat on the lot all week and I didn't do anything to it because the trip sheet didn't have any write ups & Ben even left a note at the bottom that said trip went fine! Well along came Thursday and my uncle came over to my shop and told me "Bryce, I need you to drive for me this weekend 'cause Ben can't make it" I told no problem just get the info together and bring it over and let me know when I need to leave! He said "you need to leave in 2 hrs going over to Murray State and take the Baseball team to Charleston, IL for the weekend" Wow I was floored! Nothing like a little notice! As I scrambled from what I was doing I told him that too! I went and took a quick shower and got packed, and Robert (my uncle) got my bus ready. I took off and heard a clunking start as soon as I did, but I tried to think what ever it was would go away. Well it didn't, and I didn't even make it out to the hiway and called and told Robert to fire me up another bus as this one didn't need to be going anywhere like this! When he asked me what was wrong, I told him the rear end is about to fall out of it! He said noway Ben didn't write it up or anything. I told maybe not, but it's awful strange how Ben couldn't go at the last minute when he found out that this was the bus he was supposed to take! Well Robert did fire up another bus, and we hurried and threw my stuff from one to the other as I pulled it up in front of my shop and bailed out. Robert & Woody took it for a drive and called me Robert said he wasn't sure it was the rear end, maybe the trans, and Woody didn't even think it was in the drivetrain but in the suspension! I told them I guaranteed it was the rearend missing teeth and if they'd drain the rearend I would bet the weekend's pay that chunks of teeth would fall out! Well a little while later Woody called me and "asked if he got a bonus if I was right!" Now why should he get a bonus for me being right? He said "well I could not tell Robert about all these chunks in the rearend and drag this thing out and drain & drop the trans like he wants me to!" And I told him yeah and I can wait until I get home to pay you this week too! He said "what, wait a minute didn't you leave me a check like you usually do?" I told him "sorry didn't have time on such short notice! I was going to have Robert give you an advance and straighten it out when I got home." Well they pulled the rearend that afternoon! And it had 3 spots on the ring gear where the teeth were either completely missing (about 5-7 of them) or very badly broken/chewed up, and the pinion was missing 2 also! I told Robert I'd called and warned him! He said but there wasn't anything I could've done! So in short yes those trans are tough! But if ya bang 'm be ready to change out a rear end! FWIW
  BK