Car Analogy

Yup, mine failed the same way. Previous owner installed the crappy exedy so called oem (its not oem), which is famous for this spring failure.

No need to show us a photo, we've all seen it before.

Glad you got it fixed!

Asserti

Even 2 years later I’m very happy with your update!

I’ve kinda got the same symptoms. The box shifts very smooth if I revmatch, if I don’t then sometimes it feels like I have no synchro’s at all.

I think that the problems get worse when the gearbox warms up. At first it gets more difficult to shift into the higher gears, then the lower gears start acting up too. If I want to downshift into second gear I need to get the revs up really high, and when they match it shifts quite smoothly. If I’m not doing that it feels like hitting a wall.

the car has been sitting for a year, so maybe I should grease some things. I think it still has the original clutch in it, the car has 150k km on it.

Basically the car shifts very smooth when revs are matched. If not it feels like I have no synchros at all. Clutch seems to work perfectly, I can rev and shift easily when standing still, the car doesn’t move

Car Analogy

Not a very valid test. The amount of clutch drag required to move a nearly 3k lb object that is at rest (objects at rest tend to stay at rest) is way more than would be required to keep several pounds of rotating mass inside trans to remain rotating at engine speed (objects in motion tend to stay in motion).

So you could easily have enough drag to cause grinding but no where near enough to make car move.

Your symptoms are consistent with clutch drag, and I suspect that is indeed your issue.

If fluid isn't clean and clear, do a full bleed using gravity bleed method, making certain reservoir never runs dry during process.

Next adjust clutch rod.

If there is still symptoms, try adjusting height of clutch pedal to raise height for more total pedal throw. If this step makes a significant improvement, you have an internal issue with clutch. Something like rusted splines, guide is not smooth, insufficient or wrong lube, or a crappy Exedy so called oem/ebay disk that is starting to drop a spring. Only fix is to drop trans and address, and at that point it just makes sense to do a full clutch job. Drive with higher pedal height to ease further damage to trans while you plan for clutch job.

Asserti

Thank you very much for your insights! I did a full bleed, but since the fluid was very dirty, I might have made it worse. There is also black junk at the outside of the master clutch cilinder, so that one has to be renewed. I've adjusted the clutch rod at the master cilinder too. I haven't found how to raise the height of the clutch pedal though.

There is new MTF3 in the gearbox too, so when it shifts smoothly, it's really smooth.
I've stupidly been driving the car the last few days for a few 100kms, and know I notice extra noise at constant speeds . The car also sometimes wants to move with the clutch in, so maybe it's just the master clutch cilinder on the way out..

Car Analogy

I doubt its the mc. They rarely really go bad to the point of allowing drag (if tbey are leaking, usually just flushing woth new fluid resolves it. Though sometimes if fluid is dirty enough, for long enough, they can develop leaks onto carpet that persist even after fluid is flushed.)

I wouldn't be surprised if its a crappy aftermarket clutch disk that is starting to drop a spring. Often the spring moves around and sometimes drags and sometimes doesn't. Or sometimes drags more or less. It slowly gets worse until one day spring drops completely and clutch locks up solid.

engifineer

Just as an FYI on this, they can leak in a not so apparent way up front. My master cylinder failed during an autocross a few years ago. Kept losing fluid, but never saw any fluid anywhere. It acted as if it was leaking once it got hot, then stopping. I topped it off, drove it home and started feeing all around under the dash. No sign of fluid. Did notice a small amount on the firewall under the cylinder. Jacked up the front to put the car up on stands, and it came pouring out onto the garage floor. It was running down and under the firewall on the engine bay side and was collecting on top of the plastic undertray right there under the driver side floorboard, so it was not dripping, or not enough that I ever saw it. The only sign of where it was going was when I got under the hood with a light and saw the small stream that had run down the firewall In the boxes of spare parts the previous owner included with the car was a brand new Honda MC still in the package. I assume it had leaked once before, then stopped, and so he never replaced it. So that was an easy fix since I already had the part there.

Car Analogy

...and while this is a rare failure, it shows they do sometimes fail. But even if you have such a failure, you'd know something wasn't right as you'd be losing fluid with no obvious wet area.

engifineer

^^ yep mine is the first I have personally heard of actually failing. It was odd af first. I noticed it was not right, found the fluid was low, topped it off so I could finish the event and it was perfectly fine for a bit when I checked, then lost a good amount again in the afternoon. That is why I suspect it was mainly occurring after multipe runs (it was a practice event, so probably 30-50 runs in a day) when it would get hot. So likely a seal going but not totally gone yet. And I was pleasantly surprised that I did not find hydraulic fluid soaked carpet when I got home

S2Kernz

I kinda have the same problem with my clutch i have an AP1 '01 at first i was annoyed by the so called "clutch buzzed" i went in and bought a OEM/ACT clutch combo w/ streetlite flywheel. After breaking in the clutch around 1.5k miles with them, i noticed that every time i shift starting from 2nd gear to the 6th gear i always hear that grinding noise, to tell you ive been driving manual for over 6yrs now and i know for a fact too its not my driving. Every time i drive my Civic Si the same way i drive my s2k i dont hear any grinding or what ever noise coming in from the transmission or clutch. At first i thought i would go away but recently this shit just gets annoying and whats weird is that when tried to up shift from 2nd to 3rd and 3rd to 4th so on an so fort, just like how your start from first gear that you have to slowly release the clutch and give gas it wont make that noise. I already have the master cylinder replace, transmission fluid done and new clutch kit. Im hoping regreasing the clutch fork, replacing the slave cylinder and adjusting the engagement point of the clutch will help.

Car Analogy

Who did the clutch replacement? Did they properly grease everything per the manual? Did they use Honda Urea grease? Was the clutch bearing guide also replaced when clutch was done?

If the answer to any of these questions is no, or even if its I'm not 101% sure, then that is likely your problem.

Clutch isn't disengaging smoothly, and its dragging slightly. Just enough to interfere with syncros operation.