Questions and Answers

C-1500 Pickup Grinding Gears Q. I have a 1996 Cvevy C-1500 pickup. It has the 4.3 liter V-6 engine and the New Venture 3500 transmission. The truck recently started making grinding noises in fifth, third, and neutral with the clutch disengaged, also it is hard to place in first even with the clutch fully engaged.

I have removed the transmission and clutch, and the clutch assembly and throw out bearing seems fine even though I plan to replace them anyway. Is it possible that the problem more likely in the transmission? I really don't want to disassemble the transmission, but I will to avoid having to remove the transmission from the truck again if I wrongly assume that the clutch is the problem. Your advice will be appreciated.

Thanks...

A. If the grind noise was present while going down the road in third and fifth, it's most likely in the transmission. Possibly just a bad mainshaft bearing in front or rear. Also could have bad syncro's for the trouble to get into gear if the clutch looked okay.