My S2000 is very easy to get into 1st through 4th gear, but is pretty hard to get into 5th and 6th. Has anyone else had this problem? I am going to the track this weekend so I wanted to see if anyone knew of a quick cure.

I will probably only use 5th twice per lap and maybe 6th 1 time per lap.....

Will forcing it cause more damage? I forgot all about it so i really don't have time to fix anything other than change the fluid, which I doubt will help.?

I don't remember it doing this the previous time at the track...i did switch to redline trans fluid from the stock honda fluid....could that have caused it?

thanks - Scot

 

If you do a search, 5th and 6th share a synchro or a sleeve or something (don't remember what exactly) and this item can get damaged by skip shifting from 3rd/4th to 6th because the synchro's can't compensate for the change in rpm. and eventually you won't be able to shift into 5th or 6th. you can try draining and putting in new honda MTF, but I don't think that'll help you any. All I can say is to always go from 4th->5th->6th and hope it doesn't get any worse. only way to fix it is to rebuild the transmission.

 

This is not unheard of. Woodwork attributed it to people skipping from 2nd. to 6th. which is quite a change in rotational speeds for a lot of the parts in the tranny. A general rule to follow is the greater the change in rpms when shifting, the more time the synchros need to do their work. So a 3-4 shift that only drops 3000 rpms requires less work/less time on the part of the synchros than a 6000 rpm drop from a 2-6 shift. His theory was that people were blasting to 60 mph in 2nd. and then jamming into 6th. which was damaging the synchro ring that both 5th. and 6th. use. This is one theory, makes sense to me.

 

Thanks guys....

Hopefully I can just muscle the damned thing into gear for now.... I think at VIR (about 3 weeks from now) i will need to hit 5th & 6th one time per lap....

this weekend at Summit Point I will need 5th possibly once through turn 4 and for sure on the front straight...... so two times per lap....hopefully all holds for the 6 track sessions.

anyone know if it can get jammed into 5th (or 6th) and not come out while running?

How much is a tranny rebuild???

 

I'm getting mine rebuilt at the moment by Honda. They are doing a one time good will warranty on the parts and I have to cover labor, which they told me was going to be around $1300. Right now they are telling me that 5th gear is on back order so they are waiting on that one part to finish.

 

Mirror - you think there are any issues with me trying to run it the way it is for the weekend?

Hopefully I can find someone cheaper than the Honda dealership to fix mine.

 

I've done from 1st->6th before (don't do it, its not fun!) and 5th was hard to get into for a while, i had to force it, but after a few days it smoothed out. so you can try to force it, you won't hurt anything I don't think.

You can always buy a helm manual, remove the transmission, take it to a transmission repair place with the helm manual, and have them tear it apart, find out what all you need, and then you order it from www.hondaautomotiveparts.com

that way you are only paying for a few hours of labor. if you take it to a dealer you are going to pay for all that labor plus the parts markup.

I took out my differential myself and then had a rear end shop rebuild it for $250 and I provided the parts. I dunno if you'd want to tackle rebuilding the tranny, it requires a lot of special tools, would probably be cheaper to have a shop rebuild it since they'll already have all the tools.

 

i have a helms manual, but i would never tackle removing the transmission.... i thought i remember someone saying you need to drop the engine a little bit to get it out???? either way I am all thumbs with no power tools.....

One of the honda Challenge sponsors has a shop, so hopefully he is a good bit cheaper than the honda dealer..... we'll see.

I am going to go run the car at lunch to see if it will at least switch in and out enough to get me through the weekend...

 

bump for me.... anyone else have any opinions on this thing. My local honda dealer was too dumb to help.

 

Squeezer's correct -- when search comes back up, look for threads on this subject. Basically, if you grind 6th, you lose 5th, and vice-versa. Sounds like you're in danger of losing both.

I'd strongly advise NOT forcing it. This causes the grinding that will ultimately lock you out of gear. You can try double-clutching on the 4-5 and 5-6 *upshifts* to avoid the grind.

Of course, if you're in an actual *race*, by all means force it -- you gotta do what you gotta do to win...