refugeefrompistons

Ok, I love this car but my transmission is really giving me the creeps. I have been driving stick shift for more than a year and I had many people comment on my clutch work and they say it is good.
This car was meant for me and my father. I have been teaching my father how to drive stick shift on this car. (He, in full honesty, fails to grasp the concept of rev matching.) Ever since then, I had issues with second gear. My second gear is clunky, it has two stop points (half way into gear, then i have to push hard to put it all the way into gear) if i shift even moderately quickly (like a full second between shifting.) And today, for the third time, my gearbox grinded second gear even though my clutch pedal was completely depressed.
I hear a "clunk" every time I depress the clutch (sounds like it is coming from the engine bay) when either in gear or out of gear.
Shifting from almost any gear creates a clunky noise and my "odd" gears (1,3,5) have a slight higher pitch click coming from the shifter area (sounds like it is coming from the cabin.)
I went to a dealership with these issues and they say it is "completely normal." I still have the receipt of the issues.
I am wondering what exactly the issue is (is it transmission or clutch?) and what I should do.

refugeefrompistons

6000 miles, no powertrain or engine modifications, but have not changed stock transmission fluid.

8 Maniac

iTrader: (1)

I used to always have problems with 2nd... I'd usually have no issues with regular shifting but if I was shifting quickly because I was accelerating decently quick I'd hit a "wall" and either plain out miss or grind the gear a little. It worked fine with regular driving though. I then got the RP (AFE) short shifter and have had no problems since (except user error a few times lol). That "wall" for second gear seems to be gone and all other gears feel great. As for the clunkiness, I sometimes get that in first gear if I've been out of gear idling but I havnt really noticed any real pattern to it. I dont think it happens in 3rd or 5th though, I could be wrong and not paying enough attention though. If you have a couple hundred to throw at a new shifter, you might wanna give the RP short shifter a try... many recommend it (as do I). Hope this helps!

Mobile

Your problem is specific and you noticed it after teaching your dad to drive stick - something that can be hard on the clutch and transmission. You should not have to try and cover up the problem by getting a short-throw as Maniac suggests - nor do I think that will help you with your problem. This is a problem that you didn't used to have, and now you do.

Have you noticed anything different with your clutch action? Does it grab higher up on the pedal travel or is any vibration felt?

Were you in the car the whole time he was driving? Any bad clunks and crunches while he was driving? Was he riding the clutch a lot?

Go back to the dealership and explain again what you are feeling - give a very detailed description of your problem then ask to go with the tech on the test drive. Re-create your problems with him in the car so they will take it apart and see whats wrong.

When you dropped it off the last time, they prob took it for a drive - didn't notice anything and told you it's normal. If the problems are subtle, drive it yourself with them in the car giving a detailed description of what you are feeling.

mike73737

https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-trouble-shooting-95/transmission-issues-questions-48737/

I'm bringing mine into the dealership tonight for the second gear grinding issue. Mine only happens when it's extremely cold out though, once the car warms up it shifts fine. Sounds like you've got more going on.

05whiterx8

i was having a problem going in and out of second gear, used to grind alot.......ended up being the synchros and i got a new transmission....haven't had any problems since

refugeefrompistons

Thanks for the advice, I feel that I'll visit the dealership once again and go with them while diagnosing the problem. I new about the cold start issues with the tranny but I fear it is more than just that. How can a tranny grind with the clutch depressed? I thought I was hallucinating the first two times but today, I saw my foot down completely and I know and saw I was definitely pressing the clutch.

Jasonawojo

iTrader: (2)

My 5th gear grinds sometimes when I move the shifter there with the clutch fully depressed. The angle I move the shifter and how quickly I do it seem to make a difference. So, you probably aren't hallucinating - I assume that it's the synchros that are grinding when the clutch is fully depressed?

whitebeau

i'd leave the details of "I was teaching my father to drive stick" when you bring it to the dealer.... just discuss the issue at hand, not the .... un-needed what happened before story. fyi = cya

Razz1

Tey taking it to the dealer.

You may get lucky and have them fix it for free.

Otherwise... you play you pay.

8 Maniac

iTrader: (1)

my bad on part of it, I didn't realize that you meant it was grinding while the clutch was depressed... I thought you meant you were sure the clutch was fully depressed before putting it into gear. That's an issue I dont know about. If it is for sure something that is new (not something you just happened to not notice before) then you probably do want to have it looked at. is there any specific instances it happens in? all the time? regular shifting at random intervals ect... Also, how many miles before/after it started happening?

As for mobile's response, I was not suggesting he cover up the problem. 2nd gear has been an issue for many, as it was for me. since replacing the shifter I have had no problems (20k miles and a year later). I misread his first post and realized that it could be something potentially problematic, more so then just a different shifter.

RMZ290

I have the exact same problem, not bad, but it just kind of bothers me.

Let me know your outcome.

refugeefrompistons

Actually, I added that part after your comment. Anyways yea, I would leave out the teaching father to drive stick part out because he doesn't drive poorly, just a little rough. The grinding has occurred with 1000 miles in between and I also have noticed the angle i put it in does matter, but still, its not like I am shifting haphazardly, I'm hitting against the wall on the left then placing it in gear still.

whitebeau

Interesting. If you ride the pressure on the synrcho's while say cruising 20mph to go to 2nd gear... slowly depressing the clutch, is there a 'sweat' spot that it will slide in at?

I mean, literally light pressure on the stick as if you were trying to do it with 1 finger. I was about to guess dead synchro's. But if there is an engagement point, it might just be a simple clutch adjustment. Note there is also a TSB replacement for a clutch part.

http://www.finishlineperformance.com...11-06-1724.pdf

Main TSB provided by finishlineperformance.com

Go48

Check the clutch pedal mounting hardware for failure. Some owners have had a problem with breakage at spot welds there and the symptoms are similar to what you are experiencing. Maybe your father had a heavy foot. But seriously, this is a problem that several owners have reported.

There are some threads on the forum that deal with this problem so search and read the thread(s) and you will see what I mean.

fugg

check out my post and some of the replies here: https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-discussion-3/ultimate-noob-post-133790/

"This may or may not be correlated with the above problem, but for some reason, it gets pretty hard to shift.

what I mean is that for some reason, lets say I try to go from first to second, or third to fourth, I feel like I have to jam the **** up/down to get it into place.... Really feels bad on the gears.

At some times too, thinking I've already shifted the gear, I would then clutch out and gas, only to find out that it hadn't in fact shifted "fully" and I would end up grinding the gears... "

does this sound like the same problem your having?

refugeefrompistons

Not exactly. My foot was completely depressed to the ground and trying to put second gear in grinded, not that I thought it was in gear already.

dmc27

Some "clunking" is normal, but grinding like you are describing is not. The tranny has some issues. Plenty have been replaced, and it is routinely described as "fragile" - especially by those who race/autox and those with FI.

If you only have 6k on the odo it shouldn't be too big a deal, in that you will certainly be under warranty still when it completely craps out. So you've got that going for you, which is nice.

CyberPitz

When I had that issue in my 1988 RX-7, the Synchro was bad. It was pretty much the exact same issue as yours, except in 3rd gear. If I put it in really slowly and easy, most times it would get in with no grind. Other times, it would just go in plain as day *Not often*. So I would vote that, and the Dealer is your best friend right now :P

DarkBrew

I had the 2nd gear issue in the cold right after start-up. I switched to synthetic transmission fluid and the issue went away completely. It's just thick tranny lube causing it.

mike73737

Yeah, as long as it goes away, but I guess we'll see what the dealership says. I'll probably change out the fluids sooner or later anyway (I'm at 30k) so I'll go synthetic then. If they want to give me new syncros or a new transmission that's fine with me!

mike73737

They just called and told me to change to synthetic. Guess I've got a project for this weekend.

RMZ290

I think I'm going to do the same thing. My issue is more of a clunk into second when cold, it engages fine with little force, but just makes a slight metallic clunk. Also kind slightly hard to shift smooth.

Are you using Redline?

whitebeau

hmmm if you guys switched to redline, royal purple, or B&M. Those synthetics have better friction modifiers in them, so yeah easily noticeble improvement. The Nissan tranny's are even more notorious requiring a friction modifier to be added with the tran-oil to help the synchro's.

I still can't fathem why all tranny's cant be like the Honda's... those things are just insanely smooth. From my 8 comparison, it snicks into gear just fine, but i swapped out to redline MT90as soon as i got it. With some heel/toe work never an issue on the downshift, and goes right in on the up.

These have weak tranny's eh? alright another aspect to consider when doing the supercharger upgrade

mike73737

To be honest I have no idea. I bought the car used last march with 21k miles on it. It sounds like redline is the way to go though (I'm probably too cheap for royal purple).