I just got my transmission rebuilt (needed 5th gear synchro, got the rest while they were at it), but I still have a problem shifting from 1st into 2nd. It "clunks" into 2nd at normal shifting rates. Shifting from 3rd down to 2nd is fine. Pretty similar 2nd gear to before I got the rebuild, acutally. Brought it back to the transmission shop and his explaination is that the clutch is not fully disengaging. Anyone ever heard of such a thing? The car has an ACT clutch that was installed before I bought it. Clutch engagement point seems good. Has a SS clutch line (after stock one sprung a leak). Any suggestion on how to diagnose this? Or what would need to be replaced if it is not fully disengaging? Is it possible to screw up a rebuild in such a way to produce this?

Thanks for any insights!!

 

bump

 

How does it shift when the cars off? feel clunky or does it seem ok?

 

i have a similar problem my 1st to second dont feel as smooth, but all the other gears do. i never got the trans rebuilt but i filled it up with redline and it barly made a diff... i am soon going to be needed a new clutch anyways but hope you find out the prob. i need to know too..

 

When did you change the fluid? also what other problems are you seeing?
clutch in makes noise, clutch out make noise, shift when the cars off or can shift just hard. Ive had two clutches in this car since I bought it and everytime they were going out bad I could only get into gears with the car off or if I just kept trying till it jammed in to get it home both time replaced bearings and the friction plate and the car was fine. My clutch was warped because of a unresurfaced flywheel which also caused alot of chatter disingauged.
Sean

 

whell i changed the trans/diff oil less or about 20,000 miles ago been about almost a year now. whell when i release the clutch when not in gear you can hear it spinning, but thats the only noise it makes, when the car is off i (clutch in) it goes into gear normally,

 

if you mean whining when you say spinning its probley the throwout bering.

 

maybe but its not really a whinning, i just hear something spinning so i figured it was normal and something to do with the trans/clutch, because i heard something worse noise on a twin plate clutch for a supra

 

The 1->2 shift is most likely to clunk in these cars. Rebuild with all new synchros is still only 1/3 of the parts that actually engage the gears. Most FD trannys I've seen also have some wear on the dog teeth on the clutch slider and gear. So replacing the synchro will *not* guarantee good shifts - worn dog teeth will still make for clunky shifting. The rebuilder probably did not replace these parts since they run $250/each and most customers don't like to see $1000 of hard parts replaced if they might not even notice a difference.

It's possible your clutch isn't engaging 100% and causing enough drag to rough your shifts, but I think it's unlikely. That will tend to cause the same problem in other gears.

Dave

 

mine never been replaced tho... gotta start saving tho.. eh i can live with it

 

my comments were directed at Apex2Apex.

FD3S2005, it sounds to me like you have a noisy input shaft bearing. It is unrelated to clunky shifting. If you get your tranny rebuilt definitely tell the rebuilder which gears don't shift as well and have them give you options once it's all torn apart. If you go with a shop that does a lot of FD trannys (e.g. Pettit, Pineapple, KD) they may have more affordable options with used gears.

Dave

 

ah sorry, yea hope it will last for a while

 

I think I've convinced myself that it isn't the clutch. I adjusted the pedal for maximum travel and bled the hydraulics, neither of which made any difference.

Also after reading what FD3S2005 had to say, I realized that I can faintly hear the gears whirring around in the transmission when it's in neutral and the clutch is engaged. But when I step on the clutch pedal, the whirring stops almost immediately. I assume that if the clutch were dragging, it would certainly be transferring enough torque to keep the gears spinning in neutral.

My question then (sounds like dgeesaman might know) is, what are the other parts in 2nd gear that might be the likely culprits? And would it possibly be worthwhile to go back into the transmission after them? Or should I just drive it until I blow 2nd to bits and then replace all the 2nd gear parts? Any suggestions? Thanks!