I have an MY2000 with just under 100k miles that has spent the last 500 miles or so of use as a dedicated track/autox car. I bought the car wrecked in the front and repaired it. It is not registered for street use, so my testing is limited to on-track events. About 40-50% of the time, when going from 2nd to 3rd while accelerating, the shifter will not go into 3rd gear. It's as if something is blocking the gate for 3rd. When this happens, I can go to 4th or back to 2nd with no problems. Once, I went to 4th and did not let the clutch out, then was able to get to 3rd. The strange thing is that this does not happen on every 2-3 shift and does not seem to ever happen when downshifting. Also, at low speed, like driving around the paddock/parking lot, I can shift from 2nd to 3rd with no issues whatsoever.

So, what could cause 3rd gear to 'go away' during acceleration/high rpm? I'm thinking fluid is unlikely to cause this. Should I be looking at inner workings of the transmission: gearset, shift fork, etc?

 

Not sure, just bear in mind that the gear lever is directly connected to the transmission rather than via a conventional turret.

If I were you, I'd strip the gearbox and have a look...it's not like you drive it regularly.

 

Yeah, I bought my street car new in '02, so I know what the s2k gearbox is like. I also know what a pain in the butt it is to drop an s2k transmission and I'd only want to do it if I felt confident that the issue is internal. Then the question becomes: rebuild or replace?

 

How is the shifter itself with its plastic bushings?

 

The shifter is fine, and freshly packed with grease. I had an AxialFlow short shifter in the car when I noticed the problem, actually. I thought maybe it was caused by the short shifter, but switched back to stock and still had the problem.