I've become increasingly aware that when my gearbox is cold, the first two gears are a little bit crunchy. Anybody else experience this problem with an '04?

My guess is it's the carbon synchros. Any ideas?

 

I've noticed the same thing but after it warms up its very smooth.

 

This is pretty common with all S's from what I've read (and in my own experience with my MY00).

Most cars I've owned showed a good bit of resistance to going in gear when the tranny is cold. My WRX, for instance, is quite sluggish about going into gear for the first couple miles of driving... but you simply CAN'T force it into gear. The synchros take their time, and there's no way to rush it (nor should you).

The S2000, on the other hand, for some reason will still slip into gear even if the synchros haven't already done their job and slowed the input shaft down. I don't know why this is exactly, but it's a major factor in contributing to grinding. The way around it is to simply shift slower... have a little mechanical sympathy, and you'll feel when the car wants to go into the next gear

Note though, that "crunchy" (what I would refer to as notchy) is normal. Grinding is not.

 

dont make a big deal out of it i ve on my 3rd s2k and it happens to all model years, most cars really

 

Yep, my '02 gearbox is the same way. It's Captain Crunch when it's cold.

With my old clutch, I would get the occasional grind when shifting from 1-->2, but that doesn't happen as frequently now that I have a new clutch.

 

i find this odd because my 03 transmission is very, very smooth and just slides into gear when the tranny is cold. once the tranny has warmed up after 15-20 minutes, the gears feel more "crunchy" for lack of a better word. its the opposite for me, anyone know what im talking about?

 

razor love the avatar! 15-20 min is not enough time in real winter, what happens upwards of that?

 

can someone differentiate 'notchy or crunchy' vs. 'grinding'? I thought they meant the same thing

 

I think "notchy" and "crunchy" are probably used to describe the same thing. To me, both terms mean that the shifter doesn't enter the gates smoothly.

I guess if you wanted to get more specific, you could say that "notchy" simply means the shifter doesn't enter the gates smoothly, whereas "crunchy" refers to the metal-to-metal feeling when the shifter enters the gates. But to me, both are about the same...

"Grinding" is definitely different. A grind is like when you try to shift without using the clutch. It's heard and felt as a loud buzz.

Personally, I don't mind some notchy and crunchy shifting, but the grinds disturb me.

 

Actually, 200 miles, generally sub-freezing weather, eerie it