Sorry for creating YATT (Yet Another...) but most of the other threads are several months old and I didn't want this to get lost in the shuffle...

I have a '00, Black/Red and have been having intermittent shifting problems. The worst is 1-2, especially under medium to hard accel. It's not the vibration or notchy feeling, it's sometimes a refusal to enter the gear, or this | | close to an actual grind. Temp and driving habits don't seem to cause/change the problem, sometimes the shift is smooth as silk, other times I fight for every shift into 2. (Downshifting is usually smooth through 2.)

The car has had TSB 55 (x2) and 54 done. 55 was done first after a few actual grinds (cured), and then 54 when the dealer finally received the TSB. After 54 the shifting got rough, and continued to degrade. 1-2 and 2-3 exhibited the problems described above. I had the tranny fluid replaced with Red Line's MTL, which helped some, but the car ended up back at the dealer recently where they repeated TSB 55 (which has been recently revised). Now 3 seems better, but 2 is perhaps worse and 1and R are sometimes problematic.

The dealer tells me that the car "isn't a smooth shifter" and is at a loss of what to do next. The few times I've convinced a tech to drive it they say "yeah, it's a little rough but that's the S2000 for you."

Although I've not totally ruled out a mechanical failure between the seat and steering wheel, it didn't always do this...when I got the car it was smooth as silk (sans slight notch). Also, I've driven several other Ss (used, off their lot) and they weren't this rough.

Any ideas/suggestions would be very much appreciated at this point. Fighting the shifter just bleeds the enjoyment out of driving this otherwise fabulous vehicle.

 

IMO, you should discuss this problem further with AHM. Contact the customer service line and explain the problem. Push them to go to the next step. They may need to replace the entire transmission or several other parts inside.

With the "smoother shifting transmission" Honda says they have in the 2002, I think that there have been more improvements.

Just my 2

 

Do your problems occur when going around corners? The G-forces may cause you to miss the intended gear and hit between gears. It's not a grind unless it grinds. It is also possible that you have a transmission problem that is unrelated to the 1-2 grind issue.

 

I took my notchy trasmission to my dealers service department and was told it was a characteristic of the S2K. Not satisfied I went to the General Manager of the dealership. He arranged for the regional Honda rep. to meet with me. He drove the car with me and told me the notchiness between 1-2 and 2-3 was not uncommon and "commercially acceptable". What a joke! However, there may be nothing much we can do. Honda seems to be moving towards a less expensive market and not so willing to take care of it's S2000 owners. Still glad I have it, great car...but the dealership in Grand Rapids, MI leaves a lot to be desired.

 

My gearbox was notchy also. Reverse is hard to find to boot.

When I first bought the car, the notchy thing was driving me nuts. After a while, I started analyzing my hand movements, and after about a year, I have trained my hands to move the stick "just right" to avoid the notches. It all happens automatically now, and feels very smooth.

reverse is another animal. Awful tough to get reverse first try every try. I've taken it as for granted, and actually have come to be thankful for it. I know I won't hit reverse from 5th!