Freshly rebuilt tranny with new syncros
Redline MT90 fluid
Brand new Spec 4 puck clutch
Brand new slave cylinder
Almost brand new fluid
SS clutch line
Brand new clutch fork

Its hard to shift. Every once and a while it'll let me slide right into gear, but most of the time Im met with resistance. I have to sit there, waiting for it to let me into gear. Doesnt grind. Doesnt have any problems letting me back out of gear. Its inconsistant on which gears it'll let me into easily and when. Why is it doing this?

 

If the tranny was just rebuilt, it may be needing a bit of break in. I've heard that you shouldn't use synthetic on a freshly built tranny - it needs a bit more friction for the parts to break in a bit and fit/work well.

Dale

 

Assuming the tranny was rebuilt properly, it sounds lilke the clutch is not disengaging completely, I'd make sure the hydraulic system has been bled properly. Does "pumping" the clutch help?

 

Tranny had about 10k miles when i got it, I had to replace the 5th gear syncro. I inspected all the gears/syncros when I had it apart and everything looked perfect. So I figure its already broken in. Plus it doesnt seem logical for it to work fine for the first 5k miles then start messing up out of nowhere.

 

If the clutch was dragging it would result in grinding. It doesnt grind on me. And no, pumping doesnt effect pedal pressure.

 

Same sort of problem. Kinda "stops" between gears. I have replaced the master, slave, line, clutch (twice), pilot, throwout, fork, flywheel. I bought a freshly rebuilt tranny and tried that too.

So far, no relief. Powershifting is practically impossible. So long as I shfit "sensibly", no problems at all.

 

You guys might need to replace the shifter bushings. There are several bushings and washers that go bad over time.

White plastic bushing snaps on the end of the shifter. Two grey-ish plastic bushings that are on top and bottom of the bigger ball part of the shifter. The upper stays with the shifter, the lower stays in the trans. There are also wavy washers on the flat end of both ob the grey bushings.

The shifter housing itself is supposed to have gear oil in it. Do not fill it to the top. The bigger "ball" part of the shifter should have grease on it as the oil level shouldn't be that high.

Hope that helps!

 

There's gear oil in the shifter housing, only filled up enough to submerge the bushing in it. The bushing on the bottom of the shifter is brand new, and I know its good. The shifter is solid as hell. Its a replica mazdaspeed shifter from rx7store and I dont think it has that piece that goes in the actual ball. Im not too sure though. Im gonna pull my shifter tomorrow to see if I bent it or the screws are backing out of the assembly or whatnot.

On a side note, is there a chance this could be an internal problem? Like a bent selector shaft or something?

 

Thats my exact same issue. Although the sensible shifting is starting to get difficult too. The only thing you replaced that I havent was the master. Thats in the mail right now.

 

If the clutch does not disengage completely it wiil cause the synchros to work overtime trying to revmatch the speed of the input shaft, making it hard to engage the next gear. If the syncros were worn/broken or you forced it into gear it would grind.
If your sure the clutch is releasing completey, I'd say you have a bent shift fork.

 

I have a B&M shifter and a new plastic end bushing too, but it shifts exactly AS IF that bushing was broken.

I have replaced them before and that is what I thought it was when the problem first arose. I ordered up a new bushing, pulled the shifter and the old bushing was in one piece. I replaced it anyway. And by the way, the tranny was brand new 3 years ago.

I have also tried a number of different syntehtics incuding Redline and Neo and a rebuilt tranny too. And stock shifters. I have bled the system repeatedly, rechecked the installation of the clutch & flywheel. I am stumped.

Time to take a tranny class.

 

holy **** the neverending tranny problem, I have not heard of this. has anybody been able to fix this problem they have?

 

Dude, look, tcb described the same problem. He's replaced his clutch twice. I know its not my clutch. He knows its not his clutch. Its not the clutch. Its something else. Have you ever rebuilt a transmission? I rebuilt it myself. I know how the damn thing works. I had a car that collapsed the pressure plate and wouldnt fully disengage the clutch. It grinds. Mine is not grinding. Even if I force it in.

 

I should add something else: at idle the tranny shifts like butter. Snap, snap, snap.

Under load however, it's a whole other ballgame. I don't know squat about the drivetrain. Assume the tranny is fine and the clutch is fine. Is there anything else? Could something else be misaligned?

 

Another thought - there have been quite a few posts that say that Redline MT90 is not a good fluid for easy shifting. Most recommend NEO 75W-90 HD as being a great improvement over Redline or stock original fluid.

 

Try swapping a stock shifter into it to rule out the short shifter. Personally, I'm not a fan of short shifters - the stock shifter is plenty short as is.

Anyhow, easy to swap that out and worth a try. I have driven cars with short shifters that were MUCH harder to get into gears than a stocker.

Dale

 

^^ I'm with Dale. I replaced my B&M with a stock one. Much smoother shifting.

 

Ya, but why would my short shifter start acting up like this out of nowhere. It was more notchy and took a little more effort to get into gear with the short shifter, but this is a lot more tougher to get into gear than before.

Also - the old stock shifter was completely torn up when I took it out. I mean, its not even usable anymore. I kinda turned it into a chair too.

 

How was it torn up? It's metal - there's not that much to tear up on it .

Might want to see if you can hook up with another FD owner and swap parts out. It's worth a try.

Dale

 

sorry did not read the whole post but is the clutch fully disengaging? sure the pilot is not screwed. how hard is it to shift into a gear with the car off as opposed to before the rebuild?

 

mine does this as well but only when the car is cold.

 

thats normal when its cold

 

I switched shifters back to stock, to another short shifter, back to the B&M. No effect.

 

definitely don't discount the stock shifter theory.

 

I inspected the shifter. Everything is in there rock solid.