Taking car to dealer for service
 

Usually I never do this. Either I'll change whatever myself or if it's really complicated I'll have a trusted shop do it. Screw dealer pricing. That said, however, I've been having an issue with my tranny, and was wondering if anyone had the same.

To replicate issue: You need to be going at least 70mph in 6th gear. As you downshift to 5th, clutch all the way in, blip the gas as to revmatch, and as you put the shifter into 5th you will feel the gears. It's not a good feeling haha

I called and made an appointment, and they said it would be $60 if nothing checked out and they couldn't make a warranty claim. I have a 7 year 100,000 mile powertrain warranty. Is this standard to all FRS's? Also, I put in a mishimoto intake. Will this stop me from making a warranty claim? Thanks

As far as the downshifts from 6th to 5th, if all you feel is a meshing of the gears, I wouldn't worry about it. If they "grind" or refuse to engage, you may have a problem.

I doubt your changing out the intake would effect any transmission warrant work.

The power train warranty on my 2013 FR-S is 60 months or 60,000 miles.


humfrz

Awesome! I guess the previous owner paid a lil more? Anyways, it's not that it's mushy I can feel the gears themselves. Doesn't feel good

are you new to driving stick? you are feeling the synchros...unlike the trans on a fwd chassis, if that is what you're used to, there aren't cables & pulleys between lever & synchros, it is metal on metal contact so you will feel pretty much everything going on ESPECIALLY when it is not warmed up..but considering we're heading into winter and you're in NY, it will probably feel like that for quite some time...all normal and intended that way by Toyota/Subaru to create a more confident shift for the driver.

yes most likely the person paid extra for the extended warranty coverage..

I don't see nothin' wrong... with a little bump and grind...

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/i...vClghJS71WO77y


But for real though, people have had issues with the synchros in these cars. There are plenty of "grinds when going into X gear" threads to be found. Some people have had the dealer give them a new transmission, some have simply changed the trans fluid and the problem was resolved.

My car used to grind occasionally going from 4th to 5th if the revs were high, but it hasn't happened in a couple months. Not really sure why.

but that isn't what the OP is experiencing....grinding =/= notchy shift...most grinding issues are probably from people mis-shifting and their initial reaction is that it was tran's fault

Ok so I'm gonna be honest it's my first manual trans so I might not be classifying it right. When I blip the throttle and push the shifter into 5th, I can almost kinda feel the gears fighting back at me. When I blip it and wait a second, till rpms reach the peak and begin to drop its fine. Honestly Im just looking for dealer to do whatever to fix it, I have that warranty might as well use it.

Oh yea I am new I just thought it was weird that it only happened when downshifting to 5th. Doesn't happen going through any of the other gears. I've only been driving stick for a month but it's pretty easy to catch on to, takes a while to master right? haha

:popcorn:

I mean, you can ask the tech to take it out, but I'm 99% sure they'll say that is normal operation for the gearbox.

As a non-tech person, "fighting back" doesn't sound like an issue. My GTI had a shitty 5th gear. MY FR-S has the same shitty 5th gear. You have to be patient and very deliberate with your shifts into 5th, I've found. Don't bother blipping the throttle. It won't help you.

Most gears you can shift with little or no thought. It just "slips in."

With fifth gear, you take it by the neck and put its head underwater until it stops fighting... metaphorically speaking.

I guess I misinterpreted what he meant by "feel the gears". Because the OPs next post makes me agree with you that its just a notchy shift.

I don't think anything is wrong with your transmission. I think you're just trying to force the trans into gear before the synchros have time to do their job, resulting in a shift that feels notchy. It feels like the gears are fighting you because they are. The synchros need a little time to actually, you know, synchronize, and if you're trying to slam the car into gear before that happens, yeah, you're gonna feel a little resistance. That's normal transmission behavior. So, there wont really be anything for the dealer to "fix".

I think this is a driver fix rather than a car fix.

Okay so basically before pushing it into 5th I just need to give it a little more time to do it's magic?

It's not so much that you need to "wait", I just think you're probably using a bit too much force when shifting. Just use gentle pressure and you'll feel the shifter "slip" into place.

Also, I already edited my other post, but I misspoke and you quoted before the edit and I feel that its important to note that synchros don't match wheel and engine speeds, they match shaft and gear speed. The principle is the same, but I don't want to be spreading misinformation.

you just need more practice with your throws that is all.

Alright will do. Thanks all!

If your car has the Toyota Extra Care extended warranty, there shouldn't be a diagnostic fee. If it's a third party warranty, it's dealer discretion. If you're stuck with the $60 diagnostic fee and repairs are needed, ask them to apply it toward the repair.

I don't know about your problem. I changed mine to Redline MT-90 at 1K miles and never had any problems on road or track in temps below freezing to track days in summer desert heat.

One suggestion though. Good techs are such prima donnas that it will be in your interest to arrive with a clean car inside and out to impress them that you care about your car and expect them to as well.

I think it's a toyota warranty. When I got the car the certified pre-owned sales page was there and the warranty was on it. He said the diagnostic fee will be applied to the repair but only if there is one to do.

The magic word there is "pushing". Don't grab your knob and try to align the shifts. Just give it a gentile shove in the right direction with your finger tips or open palm of the hand. Grabbing the knob and trying to force the shifter where it doesn't want to go will give you a strange feeling with a directly linked RWD tranny.

Maybe wrong verbage but I'm using my palm. I'm gonna go for a lil drive and see what I can do

i swear my FR-S is magical because I don't ever have any of these issue lol

eh naw think most of us don't really have issues in general...just that most of us don't post to say our cars are working without any issues...after all, the twins were rated 2nd most reliable veh in last year's CR survey.

Me either. Not even once.

How could you tell ??



humfrz

I was charged for diagnostics with Extra Care. I called Toyota to verify that was correct and they confirmed.

You could put yourself on the hook for a bill depending on the end result

It's dealer discretion created by a loophole in the "standard contract" that's silent about diagnostics. Toyota will back it's dealers every time when it comes to dealers vs. customer on the "you scratch my back" theory. Some dealers won't charge for diagnostics in the hopes of future business, others will take a fast buck.

https://www.toyotafinancial.com/us/e...greements.html

If you're downshifting from 6th to 5th at 70 mph don't rev match just go right into 5th.

i have the same issue as OP. Its not as bad if i downshift into 5th at 2.5k rpm or really throw it into 5th aggressively. I had used the semi synthetic motul fluid, and im due for a change soon. Probably will end up going with redline

Update: took it to dealer, they couldn't go 70 but made it to 62 and said everything was fine. Computers read good too. The issue's still there they just couldn't test it basically. They didn't charge me a diagnostics fee either, which was nice

I hope that gives you peace of mind to enjoy the car and rowing your own gears.

If nothing else, you can just skip 5th entirely and go to 4th from now on. Rev matching will matter more and you'll get more satisfying power.

Still don't trust them. They really didn't test the issue. I know I'm being picky I just love this car and don't want to hurt it in ways I can avoid. Probably going to end up changing the tranny oil then just leaving it alone

Thanks for the update.

Well now, there ya go - everything is OK - :w00t:

Oh, that "issue's still there" could be like when I go to the doctor sometimes. Although, he didn't do anything but check me out and told me I would be OK, I would feel better - ;)


humfrz

think changing the trans oil is pretty overrated...and depending on what you choose plenty of folks still comment that they still get very notchy shifts. I never changed mine out..instead I just adjusted my shifting grip last year thanks to @Tcoat after I noticed my father was throwing gears on my 86 better than me lol and ever since my shifting feel has been perfect. There are way too many variations out there with how people shift.

Too many of you folks are trying the "preventative care" route but that rarely works for automobiles as there are very few things you can catch before they break...and even if you catch a significant problem ahead of time, what do you expect would happen? The solution is the same either way, the dealer would just replace the hardware.. There have been quite a few posters here who were able to convince their dealers to replace their trans for similar notchy shift "problems" only for the issue to come up on the replacement so go figure :)

My dude, if you're not feeling/hearing actual grinding during your shifts then you're almost certainly not doing anything to hurt the car. Like I said before, the resistance you feel when downshifting into 5th at speed is just the synchros doing their job. If you force or slam the shifter into place, of course its gonna feel like its fighting you a bit.

Changing the trans fluid will probably smooth things out a bit, but there's no replacement for proper technique. Light blip of the throttle, gentle but firm pressure on the shifter, and you'll feel it slip into gear like it should. I think you're worrying about a problem that doesn't exist.

Alright then, thanks for bearing with me yall!

I have been an active participant in the car "culture" for over 40 years and active in forums going back to when the DSM cars were still new but have never seen a vehicle where so many people so stridently try to find something wrong with every little thing. I fully understand that to many it is their first new car or even their first ever car but they need to relax a bit. It may be that the horror stories are too easily relayed (and often wrong) and the success stories go ignored but there is something about this car that just seems to create panic.

The car is more tactile than many but that is more due to design constraints and compromise than anything. They could indeed give it a buttery smooth shifter, a silent cabin, a perfect ride, etc, etc, but it all costs money or to give up something else. There are nice heavy, quiet, easy shifting coupes that exist if that is what people truly want. Owners need to learn the idiosyncrasies of the car and adjust driving to them don't expect to change the whole car to meet individual styles.

As was mentioned above, there have been many threads here about the notchy transmission or crunchy shifts. Mine shifted up and down smoothly for the first 65K miles, and I had no idea what these guys were talking about.

Then I had an engine replacement under warranty, mated up to the same transmission. When I got the car back I immediately noticed crunchy shifts downshifting into 5th or 3rd. So I took the car back and asked them to check it.

I had the same experience you had. They couldn't feel it. The mechanic who installed the engine (a younger guy who drives a heavily modified STI) drove it and said it seemed normal. So he rode along with his hand on the side of the transmission tunnel as I drove. It would crunch, I would say, "There! Did you feel that?" And he would say, "Not really. It seems normal."

It has smoothed out somewhat, but it still crunches. Apparently it really is normal. 30K miles later it still works, so I have resolved not to worry about it.

Blip throttle with clutch pedal pressed or not? If the transmission has a little synchro glitch, revmatching wouldn't do anything. One needs to double clutch to get rid of the glitch.

As for the light blipping, we're talking 6th to 5th at 70mph here. Off the top of my head, engine rpm would be >3000 before the shift and >4000rpm after. Light to me means something around 2000rpm. That won't be enough to revmatch properly. It's suggested early in this thread to go to 4th instead, since OP said only 5th gear got the glitch. Engine rpm needs to be >5000 after a shift like that. It's hard to believe going from 6th to 5th at 70mph has a synchro glitch and going to 4th doesn't. I would double clutch if it's my car.

I mean, you're not wrong. But, like I said to the OP, I think you're looking for a solution to a problem that doesn't really exist. Yes, double clutching to do the synchros' job for them would indeed alleviate shifting problems caused by bad synchros. But a notchy shift because the OP is trying to force the shifter into place rather than letting the shifter slip into gear normally is not a case of bad synchros.

As for the thottle blip, again youre right that blipping the throttle doesnt really have any effect on the act of shifting itself. The trans is not linked to the engine at that point, so blipping the throttle doesn't do anything to help the trans get into gear. But, a light throttle blip when downshifting is still proper shifting technique. I was just trying to give the OP advice that would help him shift smoothly.

If you guys really want I can set some candy up in my car so y'all can see how I shift? You won't feel it of course but I can include my tachometer too

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/i...8IKohg4aRmAJOQ