Wildncrazy

My 5th gear just suddenly starting popping out of gear. There were no noises or any type of warning. On an old Austin Healy 3000 that was a sign of the synchros going out. Same thing here?

Anyone else have this happen? Is this a known problem?

The only oddity I have had with 5th gear is after I run up the 1-3 gears getting on the freeway javascript:emoticon('') and shifting straight to 6th then 5th gear is balky for a while. It is almost as if it has to get lubed up again.

I saw a post about that problem that said it was due to synchro speeds not meshing so I haven't done that in a long long time. Other than that no missed gears, grinding or anything.

EDIT: the car has less than 25,000 miles on it and is stock.

Wildncrazy

Hmmm why didn't my emoticon display in the intitial post? I dragged it into the post from the list on the side and it appeared to put the appropriate info there - javascript:emoticon('')

email addys are no longer automatically becoming links either. Must be something about the "new" S2ki

S2KenC

This subject has been touched upon in the past. i found this thread from woodwork. Woodwork is a representative that works at American Honda (S2000s in particular)


https://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.ph...opic=19674&hl=

Wildncrazy

Thanx for the thread. I only have done the 3rd to 6th gear shift a few times because of weird 5th gear problem afterward. I never had a prob going to 6th so if 5th hadn't gotten balky right afterward I would have probably kept doing it.

UPDATE: When it first happened I just thought I had somehow gotten between gears going to 5th and didn't think much about it and shifted to 6th.

At the next light when it did it again I realized something must be wrong so I very precisely tried 5th and found that it felt like something made out of hard rubber was blocking it. In other words it wasn't like hitting a metal stop, but there was definitely an impediment to going into 5th. I skipped 5th gear for a few more shifts and then started trying to get into it again, reasoning that the balky 5th gear after the 3-6 shift went away in a day or two so this might also.

Well it was better in that it allowed me to go into 5th but it popped out instantly. It didn't feel odd going into 5th, it just wouldn't stay there.

On the way home from work today I drove almost the whole way holding it in 5th. By the time I got home it would stay in 5th without me holding it. I don't know if it would take much pressure as I only tried it to see if it would stay in gear for the last 1/4 mi or so.

After reading that thread and seeing it begin to work somewhat I really think it is the synchros. Now I wonder if I need to go to the dealer for a warranty look see or just leave it alone. I really hate to leave my car at any dealer as they all misdiagnosed the very first problem I had and I have never had the need to go back except for the spark plug recall

xviper

Syncros may not be the cause of this. Syncros allow gears to mesh smoothly. "Popping out" is due to the gear not being fully engaged. This is most likely due to the shift piece and/or shift fork being bent out of shape. This "could" have been caused originally from "skip shifting". Not going through each gear sequentially "could" place the gear alignment pieces in the wrong position due to the further distances travelled from one to the next, that things get stressed and bent. I'm not talking about it being a mechanically instigated misalignment but more of a driver one.
I recall seeing reported here that Honda has a TSB for the 5th and 6th gear pop out. Ask your dealer about it.

RazorV3

skipping gears is detrimental.

twohoos

https://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=139607

Wildncrazy

RazorV3 now I know it is detrimental to the S, but I never thought a thing about it as I have never had this prob with any other tranny. Also the much publicized 2-6 shift the Corvette forces upon you it just never entered my mind there could be an issue - until my 5th got balky after a 3-6 shift.

Thanx guys for the TSBs I guess I am going to have to find a dealer who has worked on more than one S in the history or the dealership and try them out.

Those carbon synchros from the 04 sound good if they can be persuaded to use them.

I wonder about the little plastic thingy cracking, breaking and not allowing full throw on the shifter, BUT you would think it would affect all the gears on the top end of the throw. Who knows, I'll be thankful for any simple solution.

I know the tranny fluid is good because I changed it myself. I haven't changed the clutch fluid and probably will now, but I can't see that it can be part of the trouble.

xviper

If I may make a comment on this and the equivalent mechanism on the Viper:
(This was actually a 1-4 shift for the sake of fuel economy.)

On the Vette, the CAGS (Computer Assisted Gear Selection) system makes this feat a no-brainer. The computer makes it safe and causes no harm. If you could duplicate what the computer does on the Vette and Viper on an S2000, it would not be detrimental either.
If you recall on those cars, CAGS will only allow this shift if certain parameters were met -- throttle position, rpm, engine vacuum, etc. In general, CAGS allowed the 1-4 skip shift if you were at low rpms and just "slugging" along. Above a dictated rpm or if the gas pedal was beyond a given depression (engine vacuum), you would simply go to 2nd.

I'm not saying that I know the exact parameters that would allow a safe skip shift on an S2000, but if I were a betting man, I'd say that you could skip shift if you were driving sedately and the rpm was in the lower 3rd of the dial. After the skip shift, however, the rpm would be so low that you have to be very careful not to apply too much throttle for risk of lugging. The Vette and Viper can get away with it because even at around 1000 rpm, they have enough torque to accelerate the car safely.

Wildncrazy

Well the problem has completely corrected itself, but I am left with the question of when will it happen again? Also if it might break something else and leave me standed sometime.

Yes xviper, synchros can keep a gear from engaging fully and allow it to pop out. There is a known 5/6 gear synchro issue and apparently that is what I ran into. Doing the dreaded 3 to 6th gear shift is apparently the root cause, but it has been a year or more since I did one of those so it can lurk and bite you when you least expect it.

I PM'd Woodwork but haven't heard back from him yet as to the best solution to the problem. I'll let you know if/when I find a fix.