So here's the situation - we had a practice Auto-X last Sunday and I took the S (MY01) out to play. The S ran about 19 runs (amongst 3 people) on a ~46-50 sec course.

I was riding with my codriver and when he got out of the gates and shifted to second right before the first slalom cone, he grinded 2nd gear. I thought maybe he got off the clutch a little too fast. But when I ran and shifted in the exact same place, I made a note to make sure I was still on the clutch when I popped it into 2nd gear and it grinded 2nd even though I was on the clutch. By this time, I thought maybe it was a fluke but I had a friend drive my car and he shifted in the same spot and he grinded 2nd gear. There were 2 other times in the course where there was a downshift to 1st and then back to 2nd gear which didn't produce any kind of grind.

So anyone have a guess at what's going on here? I'm just wondering if anyone else has had something similar happen to them as well. It's kind of annoying to hear the grind

Thanks in advance!
Diana

 

This is a known issue with MY 2000 cars (there's a TSB out on it) and less so on MY 2001 cars. Here's but one link: https://www.s2ki.com/forums/showthread.php?...ind%20forumid22

Some people have found improvement with transmission oil changes.

 

Your syncros may be worn. You are apssing over the syncros and directly into the gears. It's know to happen in '00 models and there is a new set of syncros available. Whether yours are just worn out or damaged or over heated at the time or if the syncros are really out of spec is something only your dealer and DSM can tell you. The syncros are brass and are sensitive to heat. Jambing into gear can really heat them up, cause them to deform or even melt. Proper rev matching or slower shifting is about the only way to exend their life.

 

Hey, were you driving the yellow S2K? I was there in the MY02 black S2K and your friend Kevin rode with me to give some advice.
I had no grinding problems there, although 2nd has always been a little notchy.
I was only able to get 48.4 for the course.

-Pete

 

Yes I was the one in the yellow S Kevin was commenting on how nice your S-02s were - mine totally wore out in the event (hence spinning out a couple of times at the end )

So my S has about 9700 miles on it.. do you still think it could be the synchros are damaged? I drive pretty mellow on the road.

The grinding didn't start to happen until the afternoon when it got a little bit warmer and we had already gotten in about 8 runs (some back to back), so I guess it could have been overheated.

I'll check out that link CoralDoc and thanks cthree for your comment I definitely need to put some work into my S!

L8r!
Diana

 

The design of the gearbox makes clearances critical and the initial boxes had a 'stacking tolerance' problem where all parts were in spec but an assembled component was not. The TSB addressed this by installing parts manufactured later (maybe to a closer tolerance) but does not cure the problem in all boxes. Even many new cars are susceptible to a second gear grind, usually once the box is hot. The situation is improved with fresh lubricant and that is the reason this board talks about transmission oil choices and changes more than any other on the web.

 

TSB.....if still under warranty or even if not (depends on the relationship with your dealer) they should fix the problem. Mine was doing that and also a rattly noise that kept getting worse....they fixed it under warranty at about 24,000 miles....it is an 00. Also, they replaced my flywheel and clutch at no cost.

Angel

 

I had the TSB done on my 01 at around 7K miles. The grind is back in full force at 15K miles. Haven't gone back to dealer about it yet.

 

My 2002 does the same thing.

Robin.

 

As cdelena already mentioned, the 2nd gear grind gets worse as the transmission oil ages. If I change my tranny oil every 3K miles, I don't get any 2nd gear grinds, under any circumstance (daily driving, autocross, etc.), but if I go longer ... I get a grind every couple hundred miles.

*Edit* - I think Redline MT-90 is the best tranny oil out there.