How-to: Taller 5th gear using PSE/Escort gears

[yellowrob]

Lock nut on my tans was a 32 mm and the small one was a 26 mm..... if your going to the yard.

[mac1]

I think both mine are 30mm, weird.

[Whitefinish]

I had to use the 32mm and 26mm as well

[crazycanadian]

There are 2 different types of 5th gear set ups... what one you have will determine what size sockets you need... I will try and take some pictures this weekend...

Some of the transmissions even come with steel shift forks rather then aluminum ones...

[morkys]

So after reading three of these related threads, I am still a bit confused.

For 96-96 PGT's:

1) Can you swap a 96-97 PGT with a 93-95 PGT or MX-6 transmission AND install a Probe SE 5th gear to get taller gears 1-5 or:

2) Could you just swap a Probe SE tranny?

So does the below mean you cannot swap a 96-97 PGT tranny for a 93-95 MX-6 or Probe SE if the final drives do not match?

Essentially, you CANNOT change your final drive or a taller one unless, what? You change more parts like the drive axles?

Basically, using some combination of Probe SE tranny and/or MX-6 tranny and/or Escort parts, can you get the taller 3,4 and 5th gears AND a taller final drive ratio?

Nothing on the MTX-75 is gonna work in our trans.

Some escorts came with the MTX-75 and some came with a G series, I think that's where these rumors started about things working.

Jeff Jeske swapped out the internals of A G series escort into his Probe GT case. This is 100% doable but no stronger then what we have. The only reason it's better is you can find newer escorts with less miles then Probes, so you are more likely to get a lower mileage tranny with better syncro's but it's not gonna be any stronger.

As far a gear ratio's, if you want a taller 5th I know the 2.0 gear works, I ran one for several months. It's a pretty big drop in RPM though if you keep the GT 1-4 and just the 2.0 5th. When shifting from 4k rpm in 4th id drop to 3k in 5th. This worked out pretty well but I did get into some speeds where I'd like to shift up to 5th but if I did it was a bit low in rpm, so I'd have to just stay in 4th. If you went any lower for a 5th gear it would be even worse and eventually it would be irritating to drive.
It would be like driving with no 3rd gear, you would have to rev the hell out of 2nd or when you shift to 4th it would dog the engine.
I'm now running all 2.0 guts in my GT case, at first there was a pretty noticable difference when shifting to 3rd as it's a bit "taller" then the GT 3rd, but 4th and 5th fell in line pretty well, after driving it for a while I don't even notice 3rd anymore and it feels perfectly natural. Plus the Turbo more then makes up for the slight gearing loss of the "taller" 3rd - 5th.

Now I do have to say since switching to the complete 2.0 gear set that I haven't broken anymore gears. I'm not sure if it's actually any stronger or I'm just getting smoother/less abusive as I get older, but it seems to be working for me.

As a note for anyone thinking about swapping the entire gear set, you must make sure that the final drives match. There has been a lot of controversy over the years as to exactly what the final is/was in each car, but I believe this is accurate:
2.0:
Final Drive 3.850 (to '94)-----4.105 ('95+)
2.5L GT:
Final Drive 4.105 (to '94)-----4.388 ('95+)

If you have a GT with a 4.11 final you can swap both shafts from A PSE tranny that also has a 4.11 final and be OK, if you have a GT that came with a 4.38 final (like me) you MUST remove the ring gear and install one that matches, or find a diff from A GT or MX-6 with the correct ring gear. You can NOT simply use the diff from the PSE/Escort as the axles have different spline counts and will not fit into the diff.

[notso swift]

Crown wheel an pinion must match each other, is that what you mean?
All 5ths are interchangeable

[morkys]

Crown wheel an pinion must match each other, is that what you mean?
All 5ths are interchangeable

I guess if you have the 4.38 final drive and you wanted the 4.11 or a 4.105 you aren't going to be able to without matching axles.

[rabbit1]

5-sp tranny rebuild

Started to rebuild my tranny today and was planning to swap out the 5th gears with a taller gear set sourced from a 93 MX-6. After removing the gear cover noticed the end gears are missing as compared to the MX-6. A quick search seems to indicate other probes also had these gears. Tranny is originally from a 96 PGT wondering if there was a year change or has this tranny been modified? I suspect I can still use the 5th gears from the MX-6 but now I'm wondering if I need to add the other gears at the end or not.

[slideways3]

I need to do this

[mac1]

Started to rebuild my tranny today and was planning to swap out the 5th gears with a taller gear set sourced from a 93 MX-6. After removing the gear cover noticed the end gears are missing as compared to the MX-6. A quick search seems to indicate other probes also had these gears. Tranny is originally from a 96 PGT wondering if there was a year change or has this tranny been modified? I suspect I can still use the 5th gears from the MX-6 but now I'm wondering if I need to add the other gears at the end or not.

doesnt matter

[yellowrob]

The gears that have oil channels on them.... in the center of this bearing. It goes towards the transmission? correct?
http://i1363.photobucket.com/albums/...ps0oy3u77c.jpg

[probe-gt]

is this something that someone with basic mechanic skills could do perhaps?

[mac1]

yes...

[yellowrob]

Yes they are. You'll need a small pin punch, like 1/8 maybe a little smaller, and a punch or screwdriver and 32mm socket for the lock nuts. Take the cover off (10 mm bolts), drive out the roll pin on the shift fork, put the trans in fourth and push the fork in to shift into fifth. With the trans in both gears, unstake the lock nuts and take them off. Everything should just slide off after that. Make sure the synchro teeth are good on the 5th gear . If they aren't you will have problems with it popping out of gear.

This here.... you will have to take the bolt out the drivers side trans mount to tilt the motor down to remove the pan.

---------- Post added at 01:09 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:06 AM ----------

I'm an idiot I meant to put this in that other dudes thread.

[yellowrob]

The gears that have oil channels on them.... in the center of this bearing. It goes towards the transmission? correct?
http://i1363.photobucket.com/albums/...ps0oy3u77c.jpg

Can someone confirm this for me?