The 4+3 has broken for the first time (help!)

"JayZAyEighty thinks C4+3=C7" (jayzayeighty)
07/19/2014 at 21:32 • Filed to: None

My sister stopped by and we got in to go for a drive, and I was driving out of my neighborhood (she can't row her own!) when the Corvette suddenly refused to go into gear. Wouldn't shift into first, second, third, or fourth and ground when I tried to go reverse. I pushed it back into the garage and turned it off and successfully try to put it in gear after a while. I'm taking it to my mechanic on Monday. In the meantime, at least I can do a tuneup. It drove impeccably on the pitch black parkway next to the river last night, so I'm pretty lucky in the scheme of things.

DISCUSSION (23)

jkm7680 > JayZAyEighty thinks C4+3=C7
07/19/2014 at 21:33

Ouchies, hope to hear all is well!

Where is the overdrive located?

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > JayZAyEighty thinks C4+3=C7
07/19/2014 at 21:43

Time for a 6-speed swap

JayZAyEighty thinks C4+3=C7 > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire
07/19/2014 at 21:47

And a cash infusion, too! I hope I don't need a new transmission, the 4+3 is a neat gearbox and I can't afford a new 4+3 or ZF without digging around some sofas...

JayZAyEighty thinks C4+3=C7 > jkm7680
07/19/2014 at 21:49

Thanks man, the OD unit is at the back of the gearbox but can't be related to the current problem. Even with a busted OD, the basic Super-T10 part of the transmission would work.

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > JayZAyEighty thinks C4+3=C7
07/19/2014 at 21:50

Kinja'd!!!

$1,699.99

JayZAyEighty thinks C4+3=C7 > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire
07/19/2014 at 21:53

If the transmission is really ruined, that starts to look pretty attractive. I think it's a spring, bushing, or cable, because it works sporadically, so it's definitely not completely cooked. No grinding or burning of anything that I know of.

jkm7680 > JayZAyEighty thinks C4+3=C7
07/19/2014 at 21:54

Hopefully, it's something simple and easy to fix. It's a pretty cool and unique transmission though.

Have you headed out to Katie's with it yet?

Flavien Vidal > JayZAyEighty thinks C4+3=C7
07/19/2014 at 21:55

Oh my... I,m sorry, I know it's not funny, but I really want to laugh now :)

come on, a couple days after you get it finally plated, the worst, most fragile gearbox ever created dies on you. How unlucky do you have to be for something like that to happen?? I knew it... sorry man, but I knew it! But I thought it would AT LEAST live a couple months before dying...

I honestly feel bad for laughing now.. really... please don't hate me for that... Damn 4+3... worst thing ever created...

JayZAyEighty thinks C4+3=C7 > jkm7680
07/19/2014 at 21:59

I'm hoping that's what it is. Since it worked again after a while and there were no smells or sounds that would suggest a transmission completely throwing in the towel, I think it's probably linkage or a spring or something of that nature. I was planning on heading out to Katie's but I was watching old TV shows until the time I would've gotten up to head out there. I might organize another meetup soon, so I hope too many people haven't switched emails. I'm glad this didn't happen on the GW parkway for sure!

jkm7680 > JayZAyEighty thinks C4+3=C7
07/19/2014 at 22:02

Hope that's it!

I think I'm on the mailing list for organizing NOVA Opponaut meetings! It is good that it didn't happen on the GW though. The worst nightmare is to be pulled over in a low car, and being forced onto the median.

JayZAyEighty thinks C4+3=C7 > Flavien Vidal
07/19/2014 at 22:03

The first thing I thought of was you jinxing me! I'm borderline chuckling at myself too, anyways, so we can just have a nice cry-laugh haha. It's not that the manual transmission part is delicate, though! The OD usually goes, but that doesn't matter so much. They have a bad reputation, but it's mostly due to the fact that people don't maintain them and use them properly. Anyways, I don't think it's anything major. I'll be laughing until I try to get to the shop on Monday...

Flavien Vidal > JayZAyEighty thinks C4+3=C7
07/19/2014 at 22:12

Hopefully you can get it fixed pretty fast, but if you go to a mechanic, at 75$ per hour, it's about 3 hours to get the transmission in and out only, if you know what you're doing... And it won't be fixed... So if it's nothing much ,expect a good 500$ bill minimum. If it's worse... I don't know but these trans can really make you grow white air early lol

Good luck man, I feel that you'll need some (or a big wallet...)

JayZAyEighty thinks C4+3=C7 > jkm7680
07/19/2014 at 22:16

Same here! You're on the list if I remember correctly. The GW parkway at 9:30 PM is not an attractive place to be stranded for sure. The car can barely make it over a speed bump let alone the median!

JayZAyEighty thinks C4+3=C7 > Flavien Vidal
07/19/2014 at 22:19

I'll be able to tell once I get there. I think it's probably a problem with the shifter mechanism, but if it isn't... I have neither a big wallet or good luck. Damn the lack of robust 5 speeds in 1984! The mechanic's a friend and I hang out at the shop, at least.

Flavien Vidal > JayZAyEighty thinks C4+3=C7
07/19/2014 at 22:27

With a gearbox like that, I bet the mechanic's is a friend!!!

Ok, sorry, I had to, I stop now :) Good luck man!

Old-Busted-Hotness > JayZAyEighty thinks C4+3=C7
07/19/2014 at 22:30

Sounds more like a clutch problem.

JayZAyEighty thinks C4+3=C7 > Flavien Vidal
07/19/2014 at 22:40

LOL, thanks for the luck. It's really not that bad if the OD unit is serviced, clutch is disengaged when you switch in/out of overdrive, and you don't powershift the thing. Hell, even if the delicate part breaks the basic part which is a BW 4 speed can handle 450 HP. Anyways, it's one of those things where a few horror stories resulting from abuse and misuse create a reputation for the transmission that precedes it...

Ramblin Rover - The Vivisector of Solihull > JayZAyEighty thinks C4+3=C7
07/19/2014 at 22:45

*Raises eyebrow*

*Goes and glares at his Super T-10*

"Don't even think about it. Don't. Even."

JayZAyEighty thinks C4+3=C7 > Ramblin Rover - The Vivisector of Solihull
07/19/2014 at 22:57

I think the Super T-10 didn't like my sister, because it's shifting now! I still need to take it in and everything, but don't let it near strangers.

JayZAyEighty thinks C4+3=C7 > Old-Busted-Hotness
07/19/2014 at 22:58

It's shifting into gears fine now, somehow... perhaps a loose cable?

Zibodiz > JayZAyEighty thinks C4+3=C7
07/20/2014 at 00:55

That's the same thing my Escort did a few months ago. The problem resolved itself without any explanation a couple days later, and hasn't returned. I still don't know what it was, for sure, but I suspect the clutch throwout bearing. You might try this: shift it into gear and start the car with the clutch in. If it lurches forward with the clutch engaged, the problem is not your transmission.

Hopefully it's an easy/cost-effective repair!

PetarVN, GLI Guy, now with stupid power > JayZAyEighty thinks C4+3=C7
07/20/2014 at 03:39

how does the 4+3 work?

Captain_Spadaro > JayZAyEighty thinks C4+3=C7
07/20/2014 at 11:22

Aren't these a PITA to fix? I'd just throw a ZF 6MT from a later C4 in.