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Is this my syncro going out?

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Old 08-26-04, 01:55 AM
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Lightbulb Is this my syncro going out?

For about 8 months now my tranny has been grinding when going into 5th gear. if i play around with the stick before going into 5th i can go in smoothly. what i do is go into 5th abouth half way and hold it for about 1.5-2 seconds and then i can usually go into 5th without grinding if i go slow. would this be a problem with my clutch or my tranny. i called some tranny shops for advice but ofcourse they will say it is the tranny, they wanna get paid. i am just hoping this is a problem with the clutch not engaging right or something like that. the clutch , engine etc were rebuilt and replaced 21,000 mile ago by rotary performance. thanks for any help.
Old 08-26-04, 01:56 AM
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is the transmission low on fluid? If not then it might be the syncro, I wouldnt worry about it, you dont need 5th anyways
Old 08-26-04, 01:59 AM
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i haven't checked the fluid in a while but when it started going out it was fine. thanks for the help. if it is bad i am thinking of swapping a turbo2 tranny in. do you know if i need anything besides the tranny, starter and flywheel from the turbo2 to do the swap? any special modifications? i thought i was the only one up this late i work nights. you responded quick.
Old 08-26-04, 02:04 AM
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I think you might need a counterweight for it also, but I could be wrong on that... as for staying up late, I dont ahve to work today, and I took a 7hr nap this afternoon, lol.
Old 08-26-04, 02:06 AM
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yeah a 7 hour nap would make it hard to go to sleep later, thanks
Old 08-26-04, 02:09 AM
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Maybe try double clutching into 5th? I think that would work even if your syncro is blown.
Old 08-26-04, 12:11 PM
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Yea, double clutching into a gear will work as long as the gears are still there.

A good number of people here seem to have blown 5th gear synchros from missing 3rd while racing, and you can just double clutch without a problem.

For that matter, you can double clutch whenever you want to reduce wear on the synchros.

-=Russ=-
Old 08-26-04, 02:43 PM
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I have the same problem going into reverse. Only in reverse though. Hope it's not your syncho...
Old 08-26-04, 03:27 PM
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Just so ya know, mine yousta grind in reverse and then I read something that said to put it into third first and then reverse and it won't grind and mine hasn't once since I started doing that! Good luck
Old 08-26-04, 03:42 PM
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Change the fluid. Trust me on this one..go to autozone and get pennzoil syncromesh, worked on scratchy syncros for me.
Old 08-26-04, 03:48 PM
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and . . . start saving for a tranny
Old 08-26-04, 04:03 PM
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if you swap to a turbo tranny you will also need a turbo drive shaft and rear diff. unless you know someone with a machine shop
Old 08-26-04, 04:07 PM
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Originally Posted by EfiniGirl
I have the same problem going into reverse. Only in reverse though. Hope it's not your syncho...
As near as I can tell, reverse is not a synchronized gear. You have to wait for the input shaft to stop in order to engage reverse without grinding. Either letting it sit a few seconds, or meshing another gear while stopped will stop the input shaft and let you hit reverse without problems.

-=Russ=-
Old 08-26-04, 04:09 PM
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I thought 5th and reverse didn't have synchros? Maybe I'm smokin something...

Definetly change to a good synth fluid (I like Redline) to see if it helps...
Old 08-26-04, 05:52 PM
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Thanks for the info guys. Most of the time it doesn't go into gear and then grinds into gear when I'm trying to reverse out of a parking spot. When I reverse down my driveway or go from one gear to reverse, there's no problem. I'll try changing the fluids and the go into third, then reverse thing. Thanks again!
Old 08-26-04, 06:14 PM
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One thing, the fluid change may not work immediately. Took a few hunderd miles before I notcied a difference, then the difference was BIG.
Good Luck!
Old 08-26-04, 06:21 PM
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Don't know if this is a fix or not...but I was getting some grinding going into 3rd. Was in the shop (that knows RX7's), and the first thing they did was try to 'lift' the shifter straight up. There was just a little bit of play, so we changed the shifter bushings (plastic)....cheap! The bushings and an internal boot were shot. The problem has not re-occured. Kinda hard to belleve that was the cure, but I was convinced I had a 3rd gear syncro going.

Take the previous advise and change the tranny fluid anyway. I've used Redline MTL and Redline Shockproof, and they've both made shifting easier, and they are synthetics.

Jim
Old 08-27-04, 01:28 AM
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Originally Posted by WAYNE88N/A
I thought 5th and reverse didn't have synchros? Maybe I'm smokin something...
5th certainly does have a synchro. Unfortunately, it tends to get blown out a lot by people missing 3rd.

My 3rd grinds on occasion, and I have some play in the shifter (vertical, maybe 1/4" or so). Maybe I should replace the bushings & see if that fixes it... Or just use it as an excuse to put a short shifter in.

-=Russ=-
Old 08-27-04, 01:43 AM
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I always hit third before putting it in reverse just to make sure the input shaft is stopped all the way. I do it without thinking now.
Old 08-27-04, 02:12 AM
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Hm, I should definitely change my shifter bushings. There's a distinctive metallic ringing noise right there. So much to do, so little time!
Old 08-27-04, 02:15 AM
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Originally Posted by EfiniGirl
So much to do, so little money!
That's my problem. :-( The engine rebuild really threw my finances off.

-=Russ=-
Old 08-27-04, 02:17 AM
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sometimes when i start off slow like in traffic and stop without getting up much speed i hear a knocking noise coming frmo my tranny and clutch area. every other gear works fine except fifth. i will try the new tranny fluid as i do not know the last time it was changed, i have owned it for 21k miles. other than tranny fluid could my fifth gear be scratching dueew to the clutch not being adjusted properly or something like that? thanks
Old 08-27-04, 08:28 AM
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change tranny fluid, observe what comes out, (I usually strain some through a coffee filter), check the end of the magnetic plug.

Learn to double clutch (or cheat like i do and don't use the clutch after 3rd gear - its all in the rpms!)

start a tranny christmas club savings account -
Old 08-27-04, 01:22 PM
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i thought that if you wanted to put a t2 tranny on a na ,, all you needed was the flywheel , tranny and the mazda trix turbo to na rear end drive shaft??.

how about this ..
can you take a flywheel from a s5 na . get a s4 counter weight and put it in a s4 turbo??,,
Old 08-27-04, 01:58 PM
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Originally Posted by Syonyk
5th certainly does have a synchro. -=Russ=-

Yep, you're right. It's reverse that doesn't have one...


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