Hi,
Here's a rule of thumb:
Referring to transmission oil colors...
1. black - hmmmm. You do change your oil from time-to-time, don't you? If
it's black you've burned the oil - it was probably low too. Surprisingly,
unless there's crystals of the substance that used to be gear oil, simply
draining and renewing the oil may be okay. However, if this was my car, I'd
change the oil again after 500 miles or so and see if it turns black again -
is so, get ready to rebuild that tranny!
2. gold - metallic appearance. That shiney stuff used to be your synchros
and the various brass/bronze parts (like the first/third and second gear
bushing in the big TR's). If there's a lot of metallic stuff, as opposed to
"strings" of it, then you probably need to take that puppy apart and replace
the bushings _real soon_. You'll know when it's time to replace things -
it'll pop out of gear and other annoying symptoms. This will be time
consuming, but not too expensive. However, like 1, fill it up, drive a while
and then try changing it again in 500 miles or so and see if it still has
the gold-metallic look to it. If so, you should do the rebuild before you
ruin the tranny.
3. grey smooshy look (if you have a magnetic plug, it'll look like "Bill the
Cat" comic strip character). This is steel. Do not bother renewing the oil.
The tranny is having serious problems. Most likely your main shaft, counter
shaft and/or the bearings (or one of the above) has had some sort of
problem. You have to do a rebuild.
4. chips on the magnet. You need to learn the benefits of allowing the
synchros to do what they were designed for. Oh, and reverse lockout is there
for a very important reason - the car needs to be stopped before you put it
in reverse. If there are a few tiny chips, no problem. If there are big
chips, take that puppy apart before you ruin everything.
Good luck.
FWIW, GT6's seem to have never had very reliable transmissions.
rml
Tranny-man, NOT.
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