MT Questions

[Ultramaroon]

Originally Posted by extrashaky

Seeing the pic there reminds me of the video below. It's rather dry and a little long, but I think it's very good for newer drivers of manual transmission cars to watch the first several minutes of it to understand what's happening underneath. You don't actually have to watch the whole thing to get the benefit of it.

I remember when you first shared that. It's an excellent video. Thanks for the repost.

[Dezoris]

Its a mechanical assembly, and with wear and break in the feel will change. If you have a "good" gearbox shifts should always be smooth with two finger effort to change gears on this car. I have been in 86s with great gearboxes where clutch, gear feel rivaled some of the best manual cars. And others that chattered and were hesitant to engage gears.

Its a combination of experience (seat time) with manual transmissions and understanding that certain factors like, temp, gear oil, driving style and what is normal helps to make a better driving experience.

Personally if you have a good gearbox on this car there is absolutely zero reason to change anything in pedal travel, etc. I had 24k miles of rev matching every downshift, engine broke to every stop, but never gear skipped up shifts or down shifts (see S2000 problems). I never had one grind even after track miles. But this takes understanding more than just getting in and banging gears.

[Caspeed]

Originally Posted by Dezoris

Its a mechanical assembly, and with wear and break in the feel will change. If you have a "good" gearbox shifts should always be smooth with two finger effort to change gears on this car. I have been in 86s with great gearboxes where clutch, gear feel rivaled some of the best manual cars. And others that chattered and were hesitant to engage gears.

Its a combination of experience (seat time) with manual transmissions and understanding that certain factors like, temp, gear oil, driving style and what is normal helps to make a better driving experience.

Personally if you have a good gearbox on this car there is absolutely zero reason to change anything in pedal travel, etc. I had 24k miles of rev matching every downshift, engine broke to every stop, but never gear skipped up shifts or down shifts (see S2000 problems). I never had one grind even after track miles. But this takes understanding more than just getting in and banging gears.

I'm willing to bet that many of those gear boxes that were "bad" are victlms of being slammed into gears or other such mis-behaviour.

The real danger in skipping gears while downshifting is if you do it at too high a speed. In our cars there are safeguards against over reving but they have no effect in this kind of over rev.

[Koa]

^ seriously

with the high tolerances of these things, it's VERY unlikely we are going to often run into a "golden egg vs lame duck" scenario with these transmissions... user error/neglect 99% probably cause here

[M12Power]

With my FR-S, it's difficult not to grind the gears going from 1st to 2nd as well as 2nd to 3rd. It's as though the gearbox has no synchros. I'm not sure how these synchros were designed, but there should not be noticeable grinding with synchros (that's the whole point of having synchros). It's just frustrating at times. Often times I think it would be far better if they just put a real racing gearbox with straight-cut dog rings in this car, since it tries to behave like one except it's got some supposed "synchros" to get in the way!

Anyway, what works for me to not grind the gears and making relatively smooth shifts is to wait about half a second to a second before engaging 2nd or 3rd. The problem with this of course is that fast shifts are not possible (i.e., the gears would grind if I try to shift very fast). Another unwanted side effect is that by the time I manage to put it into 2nd or 3rd without grinding, the revs would have dropped too much, therefore I have to add more gas in order to make the shifts smooth.

With that said, I should point out that I've now put more than 2,000 miles on the car, and with the weather getting warmer, shifts seem to have gotten better. Either that or the gearbox has definitely "loosen up" due to the abuse...

[Dezoris]

Originally Posted by M12Power

With my FR-S, it's difficult not to grind the gears going from 1st to 2nd as well as 2nd to 3rd. It's as though the gearbox has no synchros. I'm not sure how these synchros were designed, but there should not be noticeable grinding with synchros (that's the whole point of having synchros). It's just frustrating at times. Often times I think it would be far better if they just put a real racing gearbox with straight-cut dog rings in this car, since it tries to behave like one except it's got some supposed "synchros" to get in the way!

Anyway, what works for me to not grind the gears and making relatively smooth shifts is to wait about half a second to a second before engaging 2nd or 3rd. The problem with this of course is that fast shifts are not possible (i.e., the gears would grind if I try to shift very fast). Another unwanted side effect is that by the time I manage to put it into 2nd or 3rd without grinding, the revs would have dropped too much, therefore I have to add more gas in order to make the shifts smooth.

With that said, I should point out that I've now put more than 2,000 miles on the car, and with the weather getting warmer, shifts seem to have gotten better. Either that or the gearbox has definitely "loosen up" due to the abuse...

That is absolutely not normal. What is normal is hesitent 1-3rd in very cold weather on oem trans fluid. And not shifting to 2nd or 3rd in cold above 2500RPM is required on stock fluid for first few minutes.

The gear box should never grind unless it has mechanical issues, low on fluid or mis-use, slamming gears, shifting hard or at higher rpms at low temps/operational temps.

[86Tony]

So I just test drove my brother in law new 15 brz and he has no noise or anything goin to 1-2 shit is buttery smooth. So I'm going to take mines in because my a 15.and I heard the thunk since day 1

[Teseo]

Originally Posted by 86Tony

So I just test drove my brother in law new 15 brz and he has no noise or anything goin to 1-2 shit is buttery smooth. So I'm going to take mines in because my a 15.and I heard the thunk since day 1

Ask your bro if he or the dealer changed the trans fluid

[86Tony]

Originally Posted by Teseo

Ask your bro if he or the dealer changed the trans fluid

No it's was brand new only had like 25 miles when I drove it

[MaudDib]

I am thinking about purchasing a FRS and I am looking at a 13 as I don't see enough difference to go with a brand new 15.

Anyway, would you have any worries about purchasing a used manual trans? You just never know how someone has treated it or if they just learned how to drive one. I know there is a good chance the car has been driven hard, I just don't want excessive wear on the clutch.

Is there any good tests to know how much wear is on the clutch? Or is it just seeing where it engages, the stiffness (or lack of), that kind of thing.

Appreciate any insight.

[billwot]

Originally Posted by MaudDib

I am thinking about purchasing a FRS and I am looking at a 13 as I don't see enough difference to go with a brand new 15.

Anyway, would you have any worries about purchasing a used manual trans? You just never know how someone has treated it or if they just learned how to drive one. I know there is a good chance the car has been driven hard, I just don't want excessive wear on the clutch.

Is there any good tests to know how much wear is on the clutch? Or is it just seeing where it engages, the stiffness (or lack of), that kind of thing.

Appreciate any insight.

I taught 3 daughters and a (middle-age) wife to drive MTs...none of them ever did any damage.

And when I was younger, I pretty seriously abused a lot of MT vehicles, but never broke any of them.

I'm always amazed how so many people seem to think manual trannys/clutches are somehow fragile. The truth is, its nearly impossible to break one. And the only clutch I ever fried was in a small-block powered Model A.

[Ultramaroon]

Originally Posted by MaudDib

Appreciate any insight.

Own a manual for any length of time and a clutch job is inevitable. I wouldn't sweat it.

There's no way to tell with these cars or any with a hydraulic self-adjusting mechanism. Eventually the clutch will start slipping when goosing it in the taller gears.

If you do the work yourself here's some advice I learned the hard way many moons ago. Never ever cheap out on a rebuilt/remanufactured pressure plate. Always go with a new one.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Ultramaroon

Own a manual for any length of time and a clutch job is inevitable. I wouldn't sweat it.

There's no way to tell with these cars or any with a hydraulic self-adjusting mechanism. Eventually the clutch will start slipping when goosing it in the taller gears.

If you do the work yourself here's some advice I learned the hard way many moons ago. Never ever cheap out on a rebuilt/remanufactured pressure plate. Always go with a new one.

This^.
The very nature of modern clutch systems that make them so effective also does a great job of hiding problems until they suddenly just don't work anymore.

Also, don't think that there is a problem because the shifter feels notchy. These cars have a pretty precise gear gating set up and are not all loosey, goosey like some. This is a good thing not a bad one.

[PHLonomenal]

The only time I have ANY problem is in the rare occasion my car is left outside on a cold day/night. Shifting this car cold feels as if you're going to break something until warmed up. Then all is well again. I like the trans overall even with this affliction. It's a very minor inconvenience in the grand scheme.


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