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  1. #1
    Member ldurham's Avatar
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    Why does my 5th gear suck??

    I wasnt getting any replies under the drivetrain forum so im gunna try here. I wanted to see if anyone else has this problem with their car. I have an 00 m6 with stock 3.42's. My car runs great and pulls great at WOT through all my gears till i shift to 5th. When i shift to 5th my car just loses power. At first i thought it was just how these cars were but after getting used to my car more and racing people i started feeling like something may be wrong. Ive had two of my buddies ride in my car that have had stock gears in their camaros at one time and they both say what the hell man why does your car die off when you go to 5th. Anyone else have this problem with their stock gears m6's? I thought it may be cuz of the stock 3.42's but after hearing it from my buds that their cars didnt die off like mine does makes me upset/irritated. Any help is appreciated.

  2. #2
    Former Mopar Man 2002ssslp's Avatar
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    02 Camaro SS, 04 GTO

    5th and 6th gears are both OD gears for MPG and top end runs. I think 5th is .63:1 and 6th is .50:1

  3. #3
    None Shall Pass Knight's Avatar
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    99 WS.6 - Modified

    5th gear is a .74:1, and 6th is a .5:1.

    I've never had an issue with any of my gears, be it fifth or sixth. It's possible you may have a slipping clutch, or internal transmission problem.

  4. #4
    Veteran Firebirdjones's Avatar
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    You may have some other issue going on.

    Back when these cars were new the documented top speed runs in these cars were all done in 5th gear from what I remember.

    Could be nothing wrong at all and you are getting an odd "seat of the pants" feeling?

    Every 4th gen I've owned or driven will pull up a hill in 6th gear from 1,000 rpm and gain mph with relative ease.

  5. #5
    Veteran 35th-ANV-SS's Avatar
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    Yea my car pulls pretty hard in 5th gear still.
    Boost gets you laid, unless your name is Jon.

  6. #6
    Your friendly policeman FinZ28's Avatar
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    2001 Chevy Camaro Z28

    Quote Originally Posted by 35th-ANV-SS View Post
    Yea my car pulls pretty hard in 5th gear still.
    The blower kinda helps, doesn't it?
    2001 Chevy Camaro Z28 A4
    SLP cold air intake/lid, SLP smooth bellow, Pacesetter LT's, ORY, Magnaflow exhaust, BMR STB, adjustable Panhard rod, SFC's, LCA's, 1LE sway bars, cross-drilled rotors

  7. #7
    ʢ ൧ ൨ ൩ ൪ ൫ ൬ ൭ ൮Ր Ց Ւ Փ Smittro's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by 35th-ANV-SS View Post
    Yea my car pulls pretty hard in 5th gear still.
    Quote Originally Posted by FinZ28 View Post
    The blower kinda helps, doesn't it?

  8. #8
    Member ldurham's Avatar
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    2000 Camaro Z28

    I know 5th & 6th are our overdrives. I have an ls7 clutch with maybe 20k miles on it. It's not that my 5th gear doesn't pull it just doesn't pull as hard both of my buddies cars with the exact same mods and gearing. And all my gears in the tranny work fine. Guess im the only one with this slightly annoying problem :/

  9. #9
    Veteran 35th-ANV-SS's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by FinZ28 View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by 35th-ANV-SS View Post
    Yea my car pulls pretty hard in 5th gear still.
    The blower kinda helps, doesn't it?
    Just a tad

  10. #10
    ʢ ൧ ൨ ൩ ൪ ൫ ൬ ൭ ൮Ր Ց Ւ Փ Smittro's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ldurham View Post
    I know 5th & 6th are our overdrives. I have an ls7 clutch with maybe 20k miles on it. It's not that my 5th gear doesn't pull it just doesn't pull as hard both of my buddies cars with the exact same mods and gearing. And all my gears in the tranny work fine. Guess im the only one with this slightly annoying problem :/
    I wonder if you can correct it with a tune?

    Your engine could be seeing different AFR's under a load in 5th than your buddies.

    Not all tunes are created equal even if the parts/mods are...

    IMHO, it seems a tuning issue, rather than mechanical, with the given info for the car.
    Last edited by Smittro; 06-14-2012 at 11:58 AM.

  11. #11
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    I have a feeling it's the tune. When I first got my 99 T/A it really didn't like 5th gear and especially 6th. The car didn't pull well on the thruway and if I went into 6th, it would even buck. I bought Hptuners and messed with the stock tune a bit and it made a big difference. Much better driveability.

  12. #12
    Veteran 35th-ANV-SS's Avatar
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    At what speed are you trying to cruise in 5th or 6th? I typically never use 6th, even when I was stock and drove on the expressway with 3.42 gears.

    Even now with the blower and 4.11 gears I still only use 5th gear on the expressway.

    5th and 6th, as mentioned, are over-drive gears so you're not going to be throwing someone back into the seat when you punch it, especially if you're in 5th going like 60mph.

    A tune will help with throttle response, but a good cleaning of the MAF, wires and plugs will too

  13. #13
    ʢ ൧ ൨ ൩ ൪ ൫ ൬ ൭ ൮Ր Ց Ւ Փ Smittro's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by 35th-ANV-SS View Post
    At what speed are you trying to cruise in 5th or 6th? I typically never use 6th, even when I was stock and drove on the expressway with 3.42 gears.

    Even now with the blower and 4.11 gears I still only use 5th gear on the expressway.

    5th and 6th, as mentioned, are over-drive gears so you're not going to be throwing someone back into the seat when you punch it, especially if you're in 5th going like 60mph.

    A tune will help with throttle response, but a good cleaning of the MAF, wires and plugs will too
    Good point! Especially if running an oiled air filter like K&N..

  14. #14
    Veteran Firebirdjones's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by 35th-ANV-SS View Post
    I typically never use 6th, even when I was stock and drove on the expressway with 3.42 gears.

    Even now with the blower and 4.11 gears I still only use 5th gear on the expressway.
    Waaaaaa??? Dude it's there, may as well use it. 6th is only a drop to .50 from .74 (5th gear). Why not use it? May as well rip the 6 speed out and just put a 400 turbo in and be done with it (hint, the car would be quicker too I've never in my life heard of anyone that had an overdrive and didn't use it.

  15. #15
    ʢ ൧ ൨ ൩ ൪ ൫ ൬ ൭ ൮Ր Ց Ւ Փ Smittro's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Firebirdjones View Post
    Waaaaaa??? Dude it's there, may as well use it. 6th is only a drop to .50 from .74 (5th gear). Why not use it? May as well rip the 6 speed out and just put a 400 turbo in and be done with it (hint, the car would be quicker too I've never in my life heard of anyone that had an overdrive and didn't use it.
    I must agree here.. It's partly the reason I changed to an F-40 6spd for my project car.

    Nice to have that extra gear, however the F-40 is'nt a double over drive like many 6spds' are..

    6th is the only OD gear in the ratios' on my F-40.

  16. #16
    Veteran 35th-ANV-SS's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Firebirdjones View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by 35th-ANV-SS View Post
    I typically never use 6th, even when I was stock and drove on the expressway with 3.42 gears.

    Even now with the blower and 4.11 gears I still only use 5th gear on the expressway.
    Waaaaaa??? Dude it's there, may as well use it. 6th is only a drop to .50 from .74 (5th gear). Why not use it? May as well rip the 6 speed out and just put a 400 turbo in and be done with it (hint, the car would be quicker too I've never in my life heard of anyone that had an overdrive and didn't use it.
    I don't drive my car for long periods on the highway. Maybe 15 or so minutes at a time. That's a big part of the reason. I'm not saying I've never shifted into 6th, I have. Just typically don't feel the need to, especially since the speed limit is 55mph and having the car in 5th at that speed was never an issue with stock gears.

  17. #17
    Veteran Firebirdjones's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by 35th-ANV-SS View Post
    I don't drive my car for long periods on the highway. Maybe 15 or so minutes at a time. That's a big part of the reason. I'm not saying I've never shifted into 6th, I have. Just typically don't feel the need to, especially since the speed limit is 55mph and having the car in 5th at that speed was never an issue with stock gears.
    Really? With stock gears I use 6th gear if I'm above 40 mph

    Now with the 4.10's I'm in 6th as low as 25-28 mph

  18. #18
    Veteran 35th-ANV-SS's Avatar
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    Yea, I definitely don't drive mine like Driving Ms. Daisy

    Coming from someone who constantly preaches about 4.56 gears and lower and running around at 3K+ RPM, I'm finding all this questioning a bit odd to be honest

  19. #19
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  20. #20
    Veteran Firebirdjones's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by 35th-ANV-SS View Post
    Yea, I definitely don't drive mine like Driving Ms. Daisy

    Coming from someone who constantly preaches about 4.56 gears and lower and running around at 3K+ RPM, I'm finding all this questioning a bit odd to be honest
    Yep, it's there so I use it. My 69 Z (with 4.88's) is a muncie 4 speed, the chevelle with 4.10's is a 400 turbo. The nomad has 4.56's and a muncie. No overdrives, I buzz these around and don't think about it. However they aren't driven daily.
    The 2000 camaro on the other hand is a daily driver for my wife (and sometimes the whole family) Otherwise I wouldn't care didely about the 6 speed. Now with 4.10's the car is about perfect. With a .50 overdrive there is no reason not to put a rear gear in these things. I'd have liked a 4.30 to be honest. The beauty though is enjoying some rear gear while still knocking down mpg. Can't do that if you don't use it

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