I towed a small car yesterday about 800 miles. In the last stretch of my trip I lost fifth gear. I exited the freeway and the trans was making a rattling noise. Every other gear worked. Then fifth came back...but the noise scared me too much to drive it any further.

what should I do?

 

never known 5th to comeback once ive lost it. had it strip on my 01 where unless it had a load it would work. best thing to do is pull the transfer case off then pull the tail off it use a 12point socket its a 10mm then look at the nut and gear

 

Big deezul, what probably happened is the 5th gear nut came off & is loose in the tranny housing, so that's what the rattling sound is. The 5th gear may be still on the shaft, so when you lost it, it had slid back on the shaft. I've heard several guys say that after the nut came off, the 5th gear slid back forward to re-engage the tranny. You definately need to take the rear cover off to see what's going on like Rich said. What you don't want to happen is the gear nut to bounce around loose inside & tear other parts up.

 

what is involved with that? Pulling the transfer case and then the tail section off? can I do it with out pulling the trans out?

 

yea you can just be careful about stripping the bolts on the tranny only a 12 point socket will work. pull your drive shaft then pull the transfer case.support the tranny and drain it.remove the cross brace for room. about a 2 hr process for a beginer

 

would the 5th gear nut be making noise when the trans is in neutral? the noise stops when I push the clutch in...as soon as the clutch is out it begins and gets louder with rpm

 

something is loose on the shaft could be the nut and when you engage the clutch it stops the shaft from spinning. only way to tell is by removing the back end

 

You definately don't want anything loose in there cause it might get caught up in the gears & make big problems. Its either the 5th gear nut or gear itself that's rattling. Its really not hard to get the rear tranny housing off, most of the labor involves removal/install of transfer case & driveshaft.

 

ok....would it make sense that the noise stops when the clutch is pushed in and starts when the clutch is let out?

 

Mine did the same thing when pushing the clutch in & out. Let us know what you find.

 

VERY common problem...Now the decision as how you want to fix it.....band aids, improved nut. Will last awhile. New main shaft will last a awhile longer.
For the time and $$$ I would look at a G56 ( I am in that camp as that is what I did )

 

When the clutch is pushed in everything stops turning from the clutch back there will be no noise .

 

5th gear nut is fine..the large gear on the countershaft has a few broken teeth.

what am I looking at as far as a rebuild?

 

you mite as well get a complete rebuild cuz i would say a lot more mite be damaged. around 1400 for a rebuilt

 

Last I heard $1200 here http://www.quad4x4.com/Dodge%2094-04%20NV4500.htm

They also sell all the parts you'll need and rebuild manuals