Trouble Downshifting into 5th

[MotoX16]

Originally Posted by Ultramaroon

There is no magical relationship between fifth gear and the clutch. A dragging clutch will make it difficult or impossible to engage any gear in either upshifting or downshifting.


Is this really only felt downshifting and only into fifth?

Yep its only felt when down shifting into fifth

[MotoX16]

Originally Posted by ermax

I mostly agree but it could be dragging just enough to cause issues in the higher gears with less synchros yet still feel fine in lower gears with triple cones. I would suggest jacking the rears off the ground and verify that the wheels aren’t creeping when the clutch is fully pressed just to rule that out.

Oh and do a long press of the TC button before doing this test or the ABS will go crazy on the rear wheels if the wheels do turn at all.

Thanks for the suggestion I'll try this when I get off work. If my wheels are creeping, whats my next course of action? Bleed the clutch? Adjust the clutch pedal?

[Ultramaroon]

Originally Posted by MotoX16

Yep its only felt when down shifting into fifth

Try @ermax's suggestion. I know that it becomes extremely difficult to get it into any gear with even the slightest drag but in your case, confirmation would be good news. Do it with both a cold and hot clutch.


If it is dragging, then yes, first try bleeding. If that's not it then something else changed. I feel like even if adding throw to the clutch pedal helps, it would still be treating the symptom, not the cause.

[ermax]

Originally Posted by MotoX16

Thanks for the suggestion I'll try this when I get off work. If my wheels are creeping, whats my next course of action? Bleed the clutch? Adjust the clutch pedal?

Just try bleeding. Any other issue it could be would require the removal of the tranny. I’ve snapped drive straps on pressure plates before which causes the mating surface to shift a little but that also causes a lot of vibration and it will drag so bad you will not be able to get it in any gear.

How does your fluid look? If it’s dark then you most likely have a master or slave going bad which would allow air in the system.

It could simply be worn out synchros in 5th and nothing to do with the clutch. A free solution to that would be to learn to double clutch. I drove an Integra for years with completely worn out synchros (all gears) and now years later I still can’t break the habit of double clutching. Not a bad habit to have though.

[humfrz]

Originally Posted by ermax

…………... I drove an Integra for years with completely worn out synchros (all gears) and now years later I still can’t break the habit of double clutching. Not a bad habit to have though.

And some of us drove for years with no synchros at all -


humfrz

[pgranberg11]

Originally Posted by humfrz

I believe the TOB on these cars come pre-lubricated. Now, the clutch fork may need a dab of lubricant -


humfrz

Originally Posted by MotoX16

Yes I replaced the throwout bearing with a 2017 one, with the white dot. Not exactly sure what grease I used, think it was some high temp wheel bearing grease I had laying around

when I installed my 2017 TOB, i greased the contact point of the clutch fork itself as well the inside of the bearing the rides on the shaft. the actual bearing itself doesn't need any lubrication, but where it rides on the shaft, it doesn't hurt to add. for what it's worth I used high temp copper grease. I was pretty generous with it too.

https://www.amazon.com/Permatex-0912.../dp/B000HBM8HU

whether I did it wrong or not, it hasn't given me any issues and I've put close to 10k miles on the clutch and at this point over 20-30 track days since 2017. I used the copper grease because i saw it was good to 1800F.