Good day

I know this topic has been thrashed to death, I've spent hours searching through the forum and reading posts, but nobody ever seems to report back after they've tried something to fix.

When I first bought my S back last September the box was as smooth as butter. Slowly but surely 3rd started to knock a little/feel notchy when pootling around. As time passed by it started to happen in 2nd, 4th and 5th - 6th remains pretty much sound.

Having switched the box oil and ensured it was MTF3 I figured it would alleviate the issues but it hasn't.

I am worried it could be synchro related but in fairness my mechanical knowledge leaves a lot to be desired. Shifting at high RPMs is completely fine and buttery smooth, returning the shift lever to the middle and pausing between shifts works quite well too. I assume this indicates it isn't synchros?

I know from all the posts I've read that the box will be stiff and notchy when cold, but I would just like to have the smooth, effortless shifting back like when I bought it.

If anyone can offer any advice, or even has feedback on what they've done to alleviate it, I'd be massively grateful.

Cheers
Craig

 

Try resuffing the shifter housing with ultra high temperature grease, there's a how to on here somewhere.

Did you get the MTF from Honda, thats the only one I'd recomend/use.

 

I'd go for new clutch fluid in this case just in case the clutch isn't disengaging properly. Plus it's been a bit cold recently so takes a while for the gearbox to warm up.

 

I bought the MTF from Cox Motorsports then had my dealer swap it out, along with the diff oil, whilst it was being serviced last month. Initially it did feel a bit smoother, but back to being horrible again.

I've read about greasing the bush and that - nobody ever seems to feedback whether it actually works though?

I did wonder if perhaps it could be clutch related. Would it be more of a grind though if it was the clutch? Also, does the fact it shifts smooth at higher RPM mean anything?

 

i regreased my shifter in autumn last year, although my gear changes never bothered me... its only a 30min job start to finish. i didn't use the Urea grease from Honda though... just high temp lithium from europarts i believe around a fiver The original grease was pretty dried up, car was 10yrs old at the time.

i think temperature plays a bigger part than anything else, once warm everyones box seems to shift better, but obviously make sure this is done to rule it out though, it will make SOME difference and worth doing anyway as part of ongoing maintenance.

 

Plus it's been a bit cold recently so takes a while for the gearbox to warm up.

 

I'll do that then. People always say about it but nobody ever seems to report back as to whether it has actually worked - I figured people were just seeing the TSB and using it as a blanket response. Thanks for your feedback though.

I am travelling 25 miles/35-40mins into work each day though, so surely it would've warmed up by then? I live out in the sticks so driving in is fine as I'm changing at higher RPM. When I hit the traffic is the problem, just becomes a notchy, horrible box to use. Very frustrating.

 

Craig,

I took the slave cylinder off last summer and greased the clutch fork rod, made a big difference, also I like it when I get chance to fire up the Dremmel, makes easy work of that little metal nipple that needs to be ground off! I also changed the clutch fluid for ATE Blue, slightly overkill but I had some left after my brake work. This all made a big difference to the shifting, I also fitted the Civic FD2 shift knob which seemed to change the weighing of the lever and made it feel nicer. Might be in my head thou but much nicer to hold than the standard one on a 2006 model.

 

I had same issue on my MY00, 100k miles. I did the shifter re-grease, greased the clutch fork, too. Both helped a little, but did not resolve.

I had a well-known S2K mechanic replace my clutch. He pointed out a component that had a miniscule amount of wear on it. You literally had to run your fingernail over it to feel the scoring on it. I don't remember the name of the component, but if memory serves it was either #1 or #3 in this parts diagram (http://www.bernardiparts.com/SearchO...da-s2000-parts). #1 looks more like the part I looked at.

Once everything was zipped back up, the shifter felt fantastic. Still is a bit notchy until warmed up, but not as bad as before. I am very happy with the result.

 

Hey, thanks for the advice. Is it an easy job to grind off the nipple? I have read about it but not sure what it entails... I am also pretty useless, well I think I might be, never tried ha.

I do have a Skunk2 knob which is nice and weighty, never experienced the stock knob but it looks horrendous.

Thank you for the advice and link, however the link doesn't seem to work. Could you re-link please? Thanks.