[V8] 5000 transmissions

[urq]

... doesn't that always happen?!  It must be some corollary to Murphy's law!

How many miles does the tranny have on it?  Do you know if the oil was
replaced?  I have a pet suspicion ... I lost the synchros in my '88 5kCSQA
not that long after changing the fluid and replacing with the "proper" Red
Line synthetic lube.  

That said, it may not be synchros ... you may have a clutch that isn't fully
releasing or a pilot bearing that is going bad.  I think if you had a
synchro problem you'd notice it on upshifts too.  As I recall my first signs
of problems were in 1-2 upshifts, but it developed to 2-3 and downshifts as
well.  

How to fix??? Well, the first thing to do is to check for signs that the
clutch is dragging or the pilot bearing is sticky.  It would probably be
good to bleed the clutch just to make sure you are getting the maximum
travel on the throw-out.  If the clutch looks good I'd recommend replacing
the tranny/diff fluid ... it should make the tranny action as smooth as it
is going to be ...  

... and either don't do any 3-2 downshifts or learn how to double clutch the
downshifts for the demo ride ... :)

Steve Buchholz

-----Original Message-----

 I know this os off topic but i also have a 1987 5000 quattro. 

 Tonight i took it out on the interstate and went about 100 mph for about 1
minute  just to get her rpms up and it ran fine. However when i got off the
interstate and as i has heading thru the back streets to my house, every
time i downshifted from 4 to 3 i got a grind, in the tranny. I had the
clutch all the way in and still got it. It was quite loud. All the rest of
the gears are there including 3rd but i got a *new* sound and a very scary
one at that.  

  Does anyone know what i should do? Im suppose to be selling her this
weekend and that noise was NEVER there.  
_______________________________________________