Shifter action sticky? TOB? Am I imagining things?
 

Did not drive my car for a few weeks. Was away.
Drove it this week, and the shifter feels slightly off.

This is very very minor, but I think it's different.
Stiff. Like it doesn't center as precisely as it used to.
Or like it doesn't return as smoothly.
I have "jammed" a couple of shifts since it not sliding into the desired gear like a ninja psychic shifter, like it usually does.

Anyone ever feel this?

Was the car fully warmed up? If not, see if it's smoother after driving it a few miles.


Or it may be time for a tranny/diff fluid change.

My transmission has stuck in cold 1st-2nd gear shifts since it was new. Same behavior no matter what fluid change (though new fluid is a good thing maintenance-wise).

I think I had hard shifts into 2nd because of a transmission mount issue. Too much flex in the mount causing a clearance issue perhaps. Stiffening the transmission mount with a whiteline insert (next trying an STi mount) definitely reduced movement and clunking on low rpm shifts, making that much less of an issue.

As well, warming up the drivetrain is a daily routine for me to check shifting and braking, taking a drive around my apartment or on quieter roads before hitting busy streets. On colder days sometimes this warmup is absolutely necessary.

Matching speeds in this transmission is important for smoothness. Internally there are shafts that are slowed down between each upshift to match rpms.

As for your shifter alignment, Bushings become worn, or lose lubrication and can cause wear, misalignment. Or in my case, lost by my installer :mad0260:

This sounds like a fun story! Do tell

TOB will have zero impact on how stiff the shifter is.
Like said if the temperature has been cooler than you are used to there will be some resistance. You get used to it.

@mrderp clutch throwout bearing by 50k miles for example (not my image)

http://i.imgur.com/rQdVRmg.jpg
@Tcoat it'll stick if the clutch drags

To hell with that I want to know just how big his apartment is.

@mrderp oh you mean my installer. Yeah after a clutch job the installer told me that it was normal for the shifter to have side-to-side play. I later found the rubber shift bushing in the trunk of the car.

@Tcoat we have a smooth 25-mph road going around the block that's good for cruising around and warming up the car on. Everything else around is hills and fast turns so I like to get everything warmed, ready and checked before popping it through the gears while hurling down slicked banked roads.

True but it is such a long shot I would not even consider it. I probably have the worst TOB failure on record here and it never caused a drag or shift issues. Well not until it completely blew and then I couldn't do a clutched shift at all. If his TOB is bad enough to cause shift issues he would have heard it screaming a while ago.

Ah you meant apartment BUILDING. That is not what you said.

I suggest you not do anything till next week, then see if it still feels "off" - :)


humfrz

As humfrz may be implying...

Hangovers can often make one's car seem to have problems which really don't exist.

So does reading forums!