hi. my trans is old and has 257,000 miles on it. it still gets the job done but has been showing advanced signs of wear since I got it pretty much. I didn't notice it right away but the car has trouble going into third gear not from a calm shift but if you are above 5000 rpm when you shift from second to third it (sometimes) fights and trys to push the shifter back into neutral. it has never popped out of gear, and downshifting is fine, I can brap it in fourth or fifth gear to a smooth third gear downshift at higher rpms than upshifting (maybe just because the transmission isn't really under a load from the input shaft on downshifts) this has been getting worse over time and it has started to reject third gear at very low rpms as well like if im just crawling 15mph and try to stick third it will grind and fight you to go into neutral. the car drives fine in third gear. like i said has never popped out at any speed. i don't avoid third gear i just have to try a little harder to get in there if you know what i mean. sometimes it works flawlessly and i forget its kind of janky until it will all of a sudden surprise me with a fight.
this is irrelevant to the problem listed but I might as well throw this in here. one of my CV axles was going out so i replaced both of them at 242,000 I didn't notice but i kind of messed up the axle seal on the drivers side of the transmission. (i know i should have got new seals too in hindsight but I didn't really know what i was doing and was trying my best) the transmission leaked out ALL of the fluid and i drove it like that for almost 1000 miles..... after realizing what has happened I was in pure shock and some amazement that it has not welded itself together. took out the axles again and replaced the seals... then filled it.. since then i have taken the car on several road trips to Colorado and Tennessee (i live in Michigan)
the bearings are probably pretty tired after so many miles and without fluid for so long... is this trans worth a rebuild to fix the issue with third gear? or am I better off just getting a perfectly good used C60 with low mileage. i have a feeling a new synchro ring for third gear might fix the problem and that's only $35 for that part. but is all that labor worth the headache with so many miles? also my engine is from a Japanese 05 corolla S with around 45,000 miles. (replaced at around 235,000) its now an inside joke with me and my friends that transmission fluid is a recommended fluid