Emery_

iTrader: (8)

Hey guys, so I'm having some problems with my transmission. I have a 2010 S2 transmission in my 05' S1. I had it installed about a year and a half ago, and everything was fine.

About a couple months back I started having issues with shifting only during high rpm, my third gear would be harder than the others to shift into at high rpm. (Causing me to lose a couple drag races... :P) But about a month ago the issue started to get worse. Only during high rpm my second gear would get stuck or be extremely hard to get out of to shift into 3rd, and after it would get out by force third would be hard to shift into as well. And then first gear became difficult to engage when at a complete stop. It doesn't happen all the time, but it gets in with a strong push.

I don't have any issues with shifting at low rpm, no grinds, or difficulties in shifting.

I've come to the conclusion of possibilities brake fluid (bleeding cylinders), trans fluid, master/slave cylinder, also motor mounts? (They have about 20k miles)

I don't think I have any issues with the actual transmission itself which has around 20kish miles. I don't think its the synchros or fork... Because I would probably be having issues in all gears and I would have grinding, which I don't have. I think it's safe to rule out the clutch because it engages just fine, and pulls hard like it should.

I'm trying to get this fixed asap, but work and school haven't been letting me. But I could use some suggestions or maybe tips if anything has had a similar issue... Oh and today I changed my trans oil, from redline to motorcraft. My shifting felt way smoother, but I'm still having the same issue.

ShinkaEvo

iTrader: (3)

Obviously there's something wrong, but you don't think there is....

Emery_

iTrader: (8)

....

I think what I wrote is quite clear. I don't think there are any issues with the transmission itself (as in the internals), or the clutch.

So far the trans oil change didn't fix the issue, so I have other things to go onto.

If I knew all the answers I wouldn't be posting here, I'm hoping maybe someone can chime in what these symptoms could mean? Maybe I'm wrong about the shift fork/synchro but this is what I've concluded with what I know.

Emery_

iTrader: (8)

Forgot to mention my clutch pedal is fairly new, and I messed with the clutch adjustment didn't change.

Ppf maybe? But why would I have issues now...

Posted From RX8Club.com Android App

averyrm

It's probably the syncro for 3rd. There's a service bulletin out for it, and my R3 had to have the 3rd and 5th gear sycros replaced due to high rpm grinding that progressively got worse.

https://www.rx8club.com/series-ii-te...8/#post4076168 From ASH8

Emery_

iTrader: (8)

You know what you just reminded me about the 2-3 adjustment mechanism that the s2 tranny has.

Also I don't get grinding, 2nd gets stuck and when it comes out 3rd goes in but slowly, I can't shift fast. At least I hope it's not a synchro.

It almost feels like shifting with bad motor mounts too sometimes, like if the engine is moving.

Posted From RX8Club.com Android App

poacherinthezoo

You've mentioned 1st, 2nd and 3rd gear as having issues. If my memory serves me, these 3 gears all utilize triple helical synchro's where as 4th, 5th and 6th do not. This may just be an artifact due to not being in these gears at high RPMs often enough to experience a problem due to speed/not enough road. Have you experienced any problems with shifting into 4-6 under high RPM?

My immediate thought was the clutch not disengaging, as this would cause the car to not want to come out of gear, and the subsequent drop in RPMs would increase the work load for the 3rd gear syncro. However you have stated that the clutch does not appear to be the cause of the problem.

I'm stumped right now, and as its currently 2 am I'll revisit this after some sleep to see if anything else comes to mind.


Side note - These transmissions love that Motorcraft fluid, particularly when cold but I'm guessing your problem is runs deeper than the fluid.

Emery_

iTrader: (8)

Well I'm not completely ruling out the clutch, it could be, but as far as clutch engagement and dropping the clutch while racing/hard driving it grabs nice and strong, it's felt the same as it did when I first got it.

I wanna update, yesterday I was driving the car and I really wanted to see if it was my synchro's maybe, so I did several down shifts going 70 in 4th gear, and down shifting into 3rd at 7k rpm. The engagement was very smooth. The shifts felt almost perfect every time, no grinds, no hard engagement.

But I did notice one time after the down shift, accelerated a bit then went to upshift into 4th while around 8kish rpm and bam it got stuck when I went for the shift. It just didn't want to smoothly disengage out of 3rd and go into 4th, kinda just stayed stuck there, then rpm's drop and finally it pulls out. That's also the issue with 2nd... (Also this issue doesn't always happen while at high rpm, sometimes in 2nd gear it let's me shift it out normally.)

I thought the gear not wanting to disengage or engage could also be related to the slave/master cylinder? (although I know the clutch is also involved).

Mind you, this issue only happens at high rpm. Driving the car normally yesterday and today, I have to say wow that motorcraft oil is some really good stuff. It feels buttery smooth, I like it a lot lol. I just wish spirited driving could be the same... Been busy this weekend, hopefully I will be able to work on the car later this week.

poacherinthezoo

If the slave isn't pulling the clutch out of gear at high RPMs, I could see a case for that causing your issues? Not sure if it's the same clutch slave as the miata, I know the transmissions are the same, but the clutch slave on the miata was know to be a common failure point.

Emery_

iTrader: (8)

I want to conclude this thread.

First off I feel like an absolute idiot! My issue ended up being the clutch pedal, I didn't have the clutch pedal properly adjusted. I thought I had adjusted it correctly previously, and I was completely off. I didn't know it should be adjusted for 1/4 or 1/2 inch of free play. This issue stems, because the clutch engagement is really late on this clutch, and I had adjusted it to set it lower to a "comfortable" engagement... This was after my issue started though (which this obviously made it worse), I guess the issue started because of clutch wear and the pedal needing more adjustment to counter it.

Anyway, so I properly adjusted the clutch pedal. Shifting feels amazing again, thank god lol. I can finally shift fast again in high rpm.

Just to reemphasize this, if you're having issues with what seems like a hydraulic slave/master cylinder issue and your clutch is not fully disengaging... It probably is your clutch pedal that needs adjusting.