Balky 1st gear shift
 

back story first:

I had the typical 2nd gear notchy shift until I changed the transmission oil with Motul 300 and all was good. Over time I made a few (haha) mods and I now have the Cartboy short shift kit, ACT HDSS clutch kit w/ ACT streetlite flywheel, and the one piece carbon fiber driveshaft from Drive Shaft Shop.

Now, at times it can be really really difficult to get it into 1st gear. I started to keep track of it and this is what I discovered:

• 1st gear shift is never a problem if the car is rolling at all.
• It's not a problem while the oil temp is under 190 degrees
• this did not happen prior to the installation of the drive shaft

Once the car is good and hot, and I'm sitting at a traffic light, then it can often take multiple attempts to get it into 1st gear. I mean a lot of effort. I try to slip it in 3rd, then 1st. I try reverse then 1st. I try to rev match, and sometimes I just have to jam it into 1st. I've been driving manual transmissions for 45 years, so no, the problem is not my skill at a 6 speed.

Anyone have this problem? Any ideas out there how to fix this??

Anyone out there have this problem?

With the list of mods that you have done that effect the shifter it may be tough to figure out what is going on.
All other gears ok all the time?

Drive shaft expanding and putting axial load on the trans tail shaft?

How many miles are on the transmission and how long have you had the Kartboy shifter installed? If it is happening while you are stopped and nothing in the transmission is moving (meaning nothing to synchronize) and it doesn't slide into first, it just might be a badly installed shifter. You said second is notchy, is it also hard to get it into second like first? If both are difficult, it might just be the shifter not connecting with the 1-2 shift linkage.

Once you do have it in first and warmed up, can you slide it into neutral and back to first with no effort?

Well, that's for sure ...... :eyebulge:

First thing I would do is take that short shifter off and see if it was the cause ....;)


humfrz

yup
smooth as silk on all other gears, including 1st until it gets hot

Trans has 18,000 miles. Kartboy has been in there for at least 10,000 miles, with no issues at all. I did not start to have this problem until the driveshaft was installed. 2nd gear used to be notchy, but no longer is after i changed to motul 300.

The problem happens when:
the engine is hot
nothing is moving in the transmission

HMMMMM then something is apparently expanding. Doubt it would be the shaft since heat has little impact on carbon fiber.
I am stumped.

Tryed to put neutral first then 1st gear?

When I read "Balky" I first thought of this...

Your age is showing!


http://www.gifsoup.com/view/554261/t...e-of-joy-o.gif

This is too funny. I have a propensity for having things happen to cameras, cars and computers that no one has heard of before. I should be hired to torturous test products for manufacturers...
A friend of mine who does mods on Morgans thinks it's clutch related...
Time will tell...

Have you checked motor and trans mounts? If one of these have excessive play it could have this effect. Sounds from your list of mods this would be next on the list and stockers will wear faster with the additions you've made. Maybe I missed something in the post regarding trans mounts , is there a carrier bearing worn out.

So... just out of curiosity, have you tried changing back to the OE driveshaft?

-alex

Not yet, and really don't want to ...the carbon fiber driveshaft gives you better throttle response and a much more solid feel...The prevailing wisdom, ( and we'll find out tomorrow) that it's clutch related.

I made the following mods which by themselves are good, but together they transform the car, all of which I learned about on this forum:

1. Heel toe pedal
2. Strut braces
3. B pillar harness bar ( amazing difference, really tightened up body)
4. Kart Boy short shift kit
5. Cusco carbon Fiber /leather steering wheel
6. Carbon Fiber driveshaft
7. Wilwood big break kit
8. Fortune coil over kit
9 18x9.5 wheels and Conti 255/35 18 tires

Each of these affect the way the car feels. I'm not a technical guy, but I have a good sense of feel, and all of these items I am touching, either directly or indirectly. Major enhancement of the driving experience. Combined with a 10psi turbo,(325HP at the wheel) every time I get in this car I feel like I'm launching the space shuttle. Haha except when I can't get it into 1st.

That may just be the price I pay for modding a car. When you go down this road, you become Dr Frankenstein, putting together parts that were not necessarily meant to be together. Once that happens, you can't complain that the monster is running amok in the village...

Clutch, yes, but if you swapped a part and immediately afterwards there is a problem that wasn't there prior to swapping the part, the sensible armchair mechanic in me would say for you to swap it back to stock to see if the problem goes away.

First rule of DIY mechanics is to troubleshoot by removing variables.

-alex

My money is on the clutch, but you need to systematically troubleshoot to confirm it.

Do you have a clutch smell, ever? Have you tried the amateur testing of clutches and/or taken off the transmission to check it? Could be the little rubber/plastic ball under shifter not engaging well... but these cars too new for this.

As a matter of fact, sometimes I do smell something. I usually wrote it off to a shitty job of shifting. From what I've seen and heard these cars have pretty tight and notchy gearboxes.. we are early adopters and these cars are Version 1...

Short of taking the transmission out, I have found success in putting it in 2nd gear then 1st. Going into 2nd seems to open things up ( non techincal term) and it goes into first pretty well most times.

On the bright side, it could be an awesome anti theft feature. And my 16 year cannot make it work so that's an upside as well.

Sometime soon, I'm going to have the trans pulled and take a hard look

Just remember this car dont like being shifted down to first unless you @ around 5mph. Shifting into 2nd is best at high rpms.

I have the exact same issue but no driveshaft and im running an ACT Xtreme pressure plate. My trans prolly has about the same milage and this issue is within the last 1000 miles if that with no mods being added. Only difference is the weather is much hotter. I only get the issue during the day and never at night. Makes me wanna sell it

The car or ACT??
It is frustrating as hell, and it makes me crazy in traffic. Thanks for this, I'm going to look at a different clutch flywheel set up because this situation has to end.

The car. Im on a regular flywheel. Had exact same issue with my FX350. So im to the conclusion it's heat (so boost is bad idea in Florida) or only the stock clutch is any good for us (still power limiting)

That's definitely not true if the car is warmed up - at 25mph it'll glide right into first at 5000rpm when doing a heel-toe with stock trans fluid (probably even more buttery with good fluid). I don't have to force it or push any harder than I would for any other downshift as long as I am properly rev-matching. Sure, it's easier to screw up a heel-toe into 1st compared to 2nd because of the ratio, but requiring driver precision doesn't mean the car doesn't like something.

Downshifting into 1st is one of the most fun things you can do in this car - sliding the ass out at low, safe speeds with power (as opposed to a handbrake) requires you to do this. I've had plenty of ass-out time in my car and haven't touched the handbrake for anything besides parking and I like my drivetrain so I don't clutch kick.

If you can't shift it into first when you are in the powerband and you are sure that you are doing it properly, you should take the car in to be checked out since it should have absolutely no problem doing this.

After careful investigation and comparing notes with other users of the ACT HDSS clutch and flywheel, we all have the same symptoms. I've decided to ditch the ACT clutch and flywheel and go with the clutch masters FX 300 clutch and flywheel. They assert the clutch and flywheel. Will report results after its installed.

Ever thought about getting the jdm Toyota TRD one or STI one? Pretty sure those will probably give you less headaches...

So the clutch wasn't fully disengaging and instead, it caused the disk to drag between the pressure plate and flywheel and reduced the life of your transmission. Good find and good decision! Have you given ACT feedback? You could save dozens of people from this same experience if ACT makes a revision.

Ps: I see this crap all the time with my other car and it wrecks expensive synchros. It's nice that clutch options for this car are cheap and plentiful.