Please help me diagnose a shifting problem

[Pat]

I have 2014 BRZ. There is about 50,000 miles on the transmission. Recently I have been having trouble getting into any gear while stationary. Sometimes it isn't a problem. Other times it is a significant problem, causing me to impede traffic at a stoplight or in rush hour traffic. As long as the car is rolling there is never a problem getting it into gear. The Motul fluid gets changed annually.
Three months ago I had my throwout bearing replaced. While they were in there, I had them replace the clutch and flywheel with an ACT Streetlight setup. Other than some buzzing due to the lightweight flywheel in a certain RPM range, it has worked well. That is the only modification to my powertrain. I don't know if this is related to my shifting issue, but thought it was worth mentioning.
There is no noticeable clutch drag when the pedal is fully depressed, and there is nothing caught under the clutch pedal preventing it from going down all the way. I am sure to press it until it stops. Periodically it is also difficult to get the car from whatever gear it is in back into neutral, although this is less common than going from neutral into any gear.
What could be causing this issue preventing me to get the car into gear?
Thanks in advance for any help.

[fika84]

Sounds like syncro's Mr. @Pat.. how many miles do you have and how many track days?

[Pat]

86,000 miles on the car, and maybe 50,000 on the tranny. I bet there are about 100 track days on the car. I never grind grind gears. I don't think I have done anything that would cause premature syncro failure. Do you?

[fika84]

Nope, just gathering info at this point.. gears being "sticky" and difficult to get into gear from a stand still is usually indicative of syncro failure though.

Did you have a tranny replacement at some point? Why are the miles different? Was it rebuilt?

[Pat]

Original tranny was replaced under warranty.

[EndlessAzure]

Had the same problem on my ACT kit. Sound like clutch drag. It's not enough to pull the car, but it's enough to keep you from gating the gear.

You could try replacing the clutch fluid and adjusting the clutch pedal throw depth. Those are about the only things you can really do besides ripping the clutch out.

As a stop-gap, I noticed revving the car a bit helped unstick the clutch disk and allow you to gate. It's annoying/obnoxious, but it can help you in a pinch. When I was going through that, I would just always gate into 1st before I came to a full stop and just hold the clutch pedal the entire time.

In the end, I never resolved the issue. Pulled the ACT kit and put my OE one back on. You can read more here: http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=128871

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Interesting thing was I sold the same kit I pulled off the car to my friend. I warned him about the issue, but he hasn't had any problems since he's had it on his car

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by EndlessAzure

Had the same problem on my ACT kit. Sound like clutch drag. It's not enough to pull the car, but it's enough to keep you from gating the gear.

You could try replacing the clutch fluid and adjusting the clutch pedal throw depth. Those are about the only things you can really do besides ripping the clutch out.

As a stop-gap, I noticed revving the car a bit helped unstick the clutch disk and allow you to gate. It's annoying/obnoxious, but it can help you in a pinch. When I was going through that, I would just always gate into 1st before I came to a full stop and just hold the clutch pedal the entire time.

In the end, I never resolved the issue. Pulled the ACT kit and put my OE one back on. You can read more here: http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=128871

Had the same with my Talon when I put the light flywheel in. A slight rev would get it spinning enough to break the clutch free and the syncros to work properly. The only solution I had for that was also to go back to stock.

[fika84]

So it's not syncro's! But if the problem persists, then it soon will be!

[Pat]

Wow, EndlessAzure, that was a fantastic post. +10 points for you. Thanks again.
After reading his post, does anyone else have other ideas? I'd rather not pay for another clutch job again. But the problem only seems to be getting worse and something needs to be done.

[fika84]

Get to adjusting and hope that it resolves the issue!
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8040

[fika84]

Originally Posted by EndlessAzure

Had the same problem on my ACT kit. Sound like clutch drag. It's not enough to pull the car, but it's enough to keep you from gating the gear.

You could try replacing the clutch fluid and adjusting the clutch pedal throw depth. Those are about the only things you can really do besides ripping the clutch out.

As a stop-gap, I noticed revving the car a bit helped unstick the clutch disk and allow you to gate. It's annoying/obnoxious, but it can help you in a pinch. When I was going through that, I would just always gate into 1st before I came to a full stop and just hold the clutch pedal the entire time.

In the end, I never resolved the issue. Pulled the ACT kit and put my OE one back on. You can read more here: http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=128871

----

Interesting thing was I sold the same kit I pulled off the car to my friend. I warned him about the issue, but he hasn't had any problems since he's had it on his car

You mentioned a part about grease on the input shaft. I think this is really interesting and I didn't follow what the manual says.. I definitely put a little bit of Moly Paste (https://www.hondapartsdirect.com/oem...%3D&origin=pla) on the shaft.. I'm still running stock clutch, but do have a lightweight flywheel.

According to the manual, there shouldn't be any grease applied where the TOB travels.. Do you think it's to keep the shaft from getting gunked up in that location?

[NoHaveMSG]

I greased the quill on mine and no issues. Excedy OEM kit was used with new 2018 TOB from the dealer.

[wheelhaus]

From the description I’d also suspect drag, in my experience worn synchros allow gear engagement too quickly and result in the tell-tale grinding. It sounds like the synchros are actually doing their job and preventing gear engagement because the component speeds can’t be equalized.

[fika84]

Originally Posted by wheelhaus

From the description I’d also suspect drag, in my experience worn synchros allow gear engagement too quickly and result in the tell-tale grinding. It sounds like the synchros are actually doing their job and preventing gear engagement because the component speeds can’t be equalized.

I clearly need to work on my diagnosing foo!