I know this topic has been covered before, but please bare (bear ?) with me! I have a 2008 s2k with approx 2700 miles on it. I get a slight "catch" as I shift into third from second. Also, if the car is in neutral and I put it into third, the gate gives a bit more resistance than the others. This occurs even after the transmission has warmed up. I realize that the 2 to 3 shift is more inclined to be rough than the 1 to 2 shift because you are changing from the 1,2 set of synchros to the 3,4 set. But by that logic, my 4 to 5 shift should also catch. However, it is perfectly smooth almost every time! I have researched this topic on the board, but most of the threads seem to pertain to AP1s and early AP2s. Does anyone with a later model AP2 also have this issue? Should I try changing my MTF? Or is this just a characteristic of a new transmission?

I have had a friend that owns an AP1 (and knows how to shift better than me) drive my car and he said the transmission feels fine. Thus, I am more worried about improving my driving technique than it being a mechanical fault, unless you guys see otherwise. The thing that bothers me is that nothing I do seems to consistently give me smooth 2 to 3 shifts. Sometimes the lever just falls into place, and sometimes I feel a distinct catch as I move it into position. What does this little catch mean from a mechanical standpoint? Is my transmission spinning too quickly/slowly? If I pause at the "entrance" of the gate for a half second, the shift usual smooths out (however, this slows down my shifting and is a bit annoying). But once again, what am I doing mechanically when I pause at the gate? If I can understand whats going on with my car, I can hopefully improve my driving

Any advice from the MT gurus would be much appreciated!

 

Based on your post, I am guessing you are fairly new to driving a manual car. I doubt that you have any problems with your transmission, as evidenced by your friend (who "knows how to shift better") saying that nothing seems wrong to him. If it smooths out when you pause before shifting into 3rd, I would say that you are probably trying to shift too fast..or are getting on gas too quickly/too much before releasing the clutch. Hard to explain, but an upshift in an S2000 (after the tranny is warm) should be smooth - not necessarily lighting fast, but smooth and quick.

 

For me I had to be swift with the shift lever, and at the same time apply very little effort to solve my "problem". Moving the shifter from one gear to an other on my S2000 and Integera is a swift "two step process". It takes time for the gears to match speeds inside the transmission as you shift, and that speed matching is done by the synchronizers. (This tip is borrowed from Carol Smith's book, "Drive to Win"). My procedure for a 2nd to 3rd shift.

- clutch in and move the shift swiftly from 2nd gear to the 3rd gear gate; it will not fall into gear right away
- after a fraction, as the gears are syncronized, the lever will "fall" right into gear with no notchiness.

Carol Smith also advises not to drive like this ---> http://videos.streetfire.net/video/S...ting_29780.htm

And as always, your results may vary.

Good luck!

 

dam hes raping that trans in the vid

 

my trans does the same thing.. second does it only sometimes, 3rd does it the most, and 4th and 6th are o.k. i replaced the original trans fluid at about 3800 mi. fluid was very black, honda puts molylube in their trans at assembly. replaced the fluid with honda mtf2. shifting became a little better. is mostly notchy when cold and does get a little better after fully warming up.

i think it has something to do with the transmission being so new and having such low miles, all the clearances in the trans are way more tight. also being that are newer cars have carbon coated synchros. they are way more grippy. it is weird how my trans feels more notchy at lower rpm shifting. but when i open it up and redline it, the trans shifts like butter. i think hopefully that the trans needs to brake in more and will hopefully shift better over time.

by the way , i also flushed the clutch fluid in my car , to eliminate possibility of this contibuting to the problem.

 

Fresh fluid will help smooth things out, but 3rd gear will probably always have a more "positive" engagement, as the phrase goes.

As others have mentioned, shifting quickly but with light effort seems to help. In other words, get the shifter to the 3rd gear gate quickly, but only apply gentle pressure to actually engage 3rd. Warm transmissions tend to shift more smoothly. And higher RPMs do seem to shift more smoothly than lower RPMs (though I find the opposite to be true for 5th gear, where shifting at redline in 4th takes a very deliberate motion).