T56 wont get 3rd or 5th????

[dirt drifter]

my T56 (out of a vz i think) started playing up intermittently today. engine not running i can get all gears, fire it up and it gets 1st, will get 2nd but it feels wierd (shifter moves slightly towards me when sliding into 2nd) but refuses to go anywhere near 3rd or 5th gear, 4th, 6th and reverse it still gets.

funny thing is it will have this hissy fit, then i switch it off and restart it and it might get all gears as normal again, then turn it off and it wont get 3rd or 5th again, cant pick when it will do it, engine on or off. half the time it works ok the other half it dont.

before anyone suggests it it's not the shifter boot getting jammed in there somewhere, i took that all off and it wasnt the problem

anyone had a similar drama with these?

[dirt drifter]

dang i was hoping for a better response than this! anyways.. i rang mal wood today and he said to change the oil first (dextron 3) topping it up to the reverse sensor hole, and something about if its near black from excess heat the syncros are likely gone.

ill keep posting updates in case this helps someone down the track