hard shifting at high rpm
 

Hi,

very difficult to get into 3rd, 4th, or 5th gear when driving hard (6K+ rpm) - whether upshifting or downshifting...i need to apply a lot of pressure on the gearbox and it feels quite notchy. I've already had the clutch and transmission fluid replaced. Clutch does not seem to slip nor leak, shifting feels okay under normal city driving.

FWIW, I'm running oem clutch and pressure plate on a 6 psi (stock boost) SC. 102K km 2004.

Any ideas? So far, the possible culprits are:
- throwing bearing
- pressure plate
- master/slave cylinder
- transmission

Also, I should add that I did a bunch of trackdays this year and the gearbox had felt fine until my last trackday where it became so difficult to shift that I ended up spending the remainder of my day in 3rd gear. As if the shifting characteristic changed overnight.

how does it shift at idle?
Any leaks from the master?

shifts fine at idle and at 'normal' city driving, no leaking from the master and fluid was just changed.

I've noticed that if i deliberately slow down my shifting, the 'locking out' is less pronounced. Are my synchros possibly failing? What are the symptoms of failing synchros? failing throwout bearing?

I don't think synchros go bad in such dramatic/quick fashion it would have been a more gradual process, and it would be bad in all driving conditions IMO. I think it is mechanical in nature where one part is faulty. How is the clearance on your clutch rod under dash ? Maybe bleed the clutch line as a precaution.

bumping for ideas on cause. I was about to drop a load of money on a new clutch, but there's little indication of slip so im not sure if that is the culprit. If Im driving at a tepid pace, car shifts fine in all gears, but once i start flooring, there's a very noticeable shifting delay, or at least i need to let off the throttle a bit upshift. Ive had fluids changed several times. The symptoms started becoming more pronounced after my series of trackdays last summer

i had left the country for a year and a half for career, turned out the master was leaking, i had both the master and slave replaced (and modded the slave by deleting the cdv)...it shifts better now in all gears, but still slow into 4th gear at high revs. Downshifting is much better now too

issue turned out to be a broken clutch plate, got the act hd pp kit from moddiction, shifts like a dream now :)
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.s2k...543f0a41e6.jpg