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Newish clutch grinds into 1st after a several miles of driving
Just picked up a 2011 sport 6spd with a rebuilt engine, transmission and new clutch. All have about 2,000 miles on them. The problem didn’t show in the test drive. It was about an hour into driving it home when I got off the interstate and needed 1st gear. It gave a little grind. Thought maybe it was just me getting use to the stick again. It got worse and worse and the drive went on , but only going into 1st. So bad that just started using 2nd to start. Now everyday ot does this after driving 4 or 5 miles. It’s fine at first, but then starts gradually getting worse. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Is the clutch disengaging fully? If it's had the engine out maybe they didn't quite set it back up properly.
If you put it into 1st while stopped, without releasing the clutch, do the rpms drop or does the car crawl forward?
If so adjust the clutch pedal to raise the friction point higher.
See what trans fluid is in there. GL5 eats synchros, you want GL4.
Is there warranty on the trans and clutch work the previous owner had done?
The clutch does fully disengage. Everything actually feels normal until, like I said, a few miles into driving.
One thing I failed to mention is that when I took possession of the car, the clutch had an EXTREMELY HIGH bite point. The kid had told me it was a “stage 3 racing clutch” that was put in and I just assumed they hadn’t adjusted it properly. That was actually the first thing I did was lower it. They had the screw ALL THE WAY OUT and I figured that was the problem. So I adjusted it and got it perfect (which was with the adjustment screw nearly all the way in), but it still has the exact same problem with going into 1st.
There is a warranty. However, the shop that did the work is a 7 hour drive one way for me. With gas prices being what they are, I’d probably do the clutch myself if it comes to that.
What about transmission mounts ? Even worn motor mounts ?
I guess this weekend I’ll replace the transmission fluid. I stilll have several quarts of Enos that I got from Charles at BHR a few years back when I did a clutch on my old S1.
Anything else you think of let me know. I’ll update the thread when I figure it out. I found a couple threads with similar issues that were left incomplete.
Thanks !
Here’s something kinda strange I’ve found… So when it gets to that point where everytime I try to get 1st gear it grinds and won’t let me, if I hold in the clutch and put it in 3rd and then slide it over into 1st it goes right in. It’s almost like something isn’t lining up right, but if that’s so, why does it only do it after driving for a while. I’m a total loss on this one…
Usually if something happens after driving a bit, it's heat related. When you hold the clutch in for a while, does it still require going into 3rd first, or can you get into 1st just by waiting with the clutch in?
Potentially the fluid or the 1st gear synchro are behaving differently when hot. Not sure how to investigate further without opening the transmission, it could be something silly like out of spec shaft bearings in the trans, if it's been rebuilt.
Usually the only thing you can control is clutch hydraulics and fluid, so I'd try changing the fluid to Redline MT-90 or Motocraft Xt-M5-QS
Holding the clutch in a while doesn’t help. It’s really weird…. Sometimes I try 3 times to get 1st with no luck and just go to 2nd. Then sometimes it grinds the first try and maybe the second , but then sometimes if I moved the shifter really slow and softly it’ll go right in.
Look, I did every DIY on this site for my S1 and I consider myself above average knowledge and ability with the RX8. However, I won’t pretend that I even kinda understand how the manual transmission works. Is it a possibility that whatever the “mechanism” is that prevents you from going into revers accidentally is broken, out of place or just “out of whack” ? It almost feels like I get better results if I try to stay closer to 3rd than reverse when shifting into 1st (if that makes any sense). The more “left” or “towards reverse” I allow the shifter to be while taking 1st, the more grind I get. I know it sounds crazy and probably is nothing, but it never hurts to ask.
I’ll stop asking questions and I’ll get some MT-90 and see what that does. I’ll replaced the clutch/brake fluid as well. Above when I said I had some Eneos, I was referring to the Eneos 75w 90 that Charles sold at BHR. I know it’s a GL5, but he swore that it was all he used all his Rx8’s. I guess that’s a discussion for another time, but I just wanted to explain what I was referring to. For now I’ll get so redline. Thanks for all your help. The S2 forums just don’t seem near as active as the S1 forums were.
Yeah the Eneos GL5 seems to do well, you can use that. Rando other GL5, not so much.
You could try to take the shifter apart and peer into the trans that way. You might discover that something in the shifter assembly is backwards, or see metal shavings on the inside. Any clues would help, this is a weird one.
This is what came out of the transmission. No metal flakes, pieces or shavings in it or on the magnet, but damn it’s burnt lookin and smelling. I went for a short drive and a quick redline , but it’s pouring down rain here. Seems to feel a lot better and I had no issues or grinding when grabbing 1st, but again… I didn’t get to drive for very long. So I’ll post again when I know more.
I think the pic of the fluid in the jar may be a little misleading…. Looks a lot worse than it is. Here’s a pic of the same fluid that was drawn out of the jar with a syringe and squirted onto a paper towel
So I drove it to work this morning and towards the end of my drive the car began grinding when trying to put it into 1st. Still though…while sitting at a stop, if I shift to third and then move it over to first, it’ll slide right in smooth as silk everytime. It’s the strangest thing. If anyone can tell me why this is I’d be more than grateful.
Most of my shifting issues were cleared up by new engine mounts (the rest by changing to Redline fluid). If your mounts are old I wonder if the alignment gets worse when the exhaust manifold heats up the right side mount?
Most of my shifting issues were cleared up by new engine mounts (the rest by changing to Redline fluid). If your mounts are old I wonder if the alignment gets worse when the exhaust manifold heats up the right side mount?
Man I’m glad to hear you say that. That’s what it feels like to me… like something is just a little bit out of line. I checked the motor mounts and they are indeed bad. The “tab” that is supposed to be “int the middle of the window” is all the way at the top. I’m referring to Charles’ with BHR description of how to check motor mounts. If your not familiar with that then I probably sound insane lol…. But im certain the motor mounts have failed so im ordering some today. Hopefully this fixes the issue.
Thank you for chiming in, I feel a little better that I may be on the right track.
I’ve watched the BHR video as well. Loki is one of the most knowledgeable people on here. His advice trumps mine every time.
I had the Ford fluid for a year but, it seemed to shift well during summer time only since my car is a daily that only recently sees the track (not enough heat?). There’s a thread on it: https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-tec...-fluid-270351/
I agree with you %100 on Loki. He and Team were the reasons I was able to keep my 04 running so good for so long. I sold that car for triple what I had in it and it was worth it. That was all thanks mostly to those two guys and a couple others from this forum who all gave generously their time.
06-16-2022, 09:28 AM
