NV3500 Transmission

bronyaur · March 19, 2018

I recently inherited a 2002 Silverado 1500 Standard cab 4.8L 4x4 manual NV3500 transmission. It has 208k miles on it. My oldest son is 14 and we plan to restore it so he'll have something to drive when he gets his license. It drives very nicely. There's some slop in the front end and I expect it's due a pitman and idler arm, ball joints, and probably tie rod ends. Aside from that, the only thing that concerns me is shifting from 2nd to 3rd. It's really hard to find 3rd gear, and when I do it takes a little force to get it in there. Downshifting from 4th to 3rd is smooth. Any ideas as to the cause and fix?

sdeeter19555 · March 19, 2018

I recently inherited a 2002 Silverado 1500 Standard cab 4.8L 4x4 manual NV3500 transmission. It has 208k miles on it. My oldest son is 14 and we plan to restore it so he'll have something to drive when he gets his license. It drives very nicely. There's some slop in the front end and I expect it's due a pitman and idler arm, ball joints, and probably tie rod ends. Aside from that, the only thing that concerns me is shifting from 2nd to 3rd. It's really hard to find 3rd gear, and when I do it takes a little force to get it in there. Downshifting from 4th to 3rd is smooth. Any ideas as to the cause and fix?

Change the transmission fluid to start...make sure you use the right fluid, the NVs didn't all use the same fluid.

The NV is finicky with fluid and the sychronizers...my NV5600 liked Redline MTL which is thin like an ATF (it called for sychromesh). My NV5600 disliked Pennzoil Synchromesh, Royal Purple, and Amsoil's synchromesh...it shifted hard or "sticky" with any of those. So you may need to try various brands of the correct fluid to find one that works.

My father's NV4500 was the same way...fluid would make or break the quality of shifting...

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