Second Gear Play - Problem?

[sweefu]

Hey guys,

I have a question about a second hand gearbox I am looking at buying. It's a Z32 TT 300ZX gearbox, internally it is largely the same as RB25DET/R32 GTR, different gear ratios and synchros but very similar.

The gearbox is out of the car, the input shaft spins freely in each gear, doesn't feel like there's any crunching or restrictions. The issue I'm worried about is with second gear, when I spin the input shaft while it's in second, the output shaft doesn't spin immediately. (Output shaft = rear shaft which the slip yolk of the tail shaft slips into, unsure if it's the right terminology or not). All the other gears were immediate, if I turned the input shaft the output shaft would turn too, but second gear has some play, I can turn the input shaft a tiny bit back/forth without the output shaft moving, it seems like there is a little bit of slack before the teeth mesh or something.

Can anyone suggest if this might be a walk away issue or something which could be OK? Or any other way to check, without removing the bellhousing? The owner of the gearbox has a scanned copy of a receipt suggesting the gearbox had some seals/bearings replaced in 2009, doesn't mean an awful lot now though.

Thanks very much.

[portaz]

Mmm hard to say what happens if you grab both shafts in each gear? If second is is markedly different than other gears myself I'd give it a miss unless u can internally inspect it, check the drain plug for metal, I had a Subaru box which was similar and when pulled apart teeth were missing, go with your gut is probably best answer I can give

Scott

[GTSBoy]

Yuh, play like that sounds like teeth will be found in the oil.

[sweefu]

Thanks for the help guys, I thought that might be the case.
Time to keep looking!