5th Gear Grind at Freeway Speeds?

[Checkered24]

Thought I would add my $.02.

I have had my BRZ a year as of tomorrow, and am on my second transmission.

The first developed a grind going into 6th gear at 2200 miles. I had zero problems to that point. Shifting into 2nd, even when cold, was fine.

Subaru did seem reluctant to replace the unit however. They were VERY interested in whether I had changed out the fluid or not, or whether the fluid was the Subaru factory fluid. I had not changed fluid, so that was ok.

I do think, however, Subaru was looking for a reason to deny the warranty replacement by asking this. (Dealer said it was a question received through the tech line). It made me very suspicious.

[Muaddib]

Before i left Toyota. They were working on a fix for the transmission issue.

[cbell7492]

Just made an appointment to take my car in. I can downshift from 6th to 5th from as low as 50 mph and it grinds. We'll see if I get any hassle, I shouldn't seeming as the car is completely stock and I can replicate the problem every time.

[hushypushy]

Well, I have some good news for anyone who's in this boat.

Like most people in this thread, my FR-S (build date: 7/12) would grind downshifting into 5th from 6th. I currently have 46k miles on the car and it was just getting worse and worse, from only grinding at 85+ mph, to 65+, to 45+.

Well, I took my car in. They made me file a case with Toyota North America, and...

...now I'm getting a NEW TRANSMISSION under warranty! Hell yeah! They even agreed to install an aftermarket clutch, so I bought an Exedy Stage 1. The transmission arrived today, and my clutch should be here next Tuesday...I can't wait!

[cabusi]

T_T I started having this problem 3-5K miles ago. Anything higher than 4k rpm and its grindy shifting for me into 5th gear. The higher the rpms, the harder it is to get into 5th. I felt completely blocked out on 3-4 occasions near 7k rpms just having fun with other fellow drivers. :P All other gears feel buttery smooth though. I was just thinking that maybe I couldn't shift correctly or the car's just like that. I tried making every excuse not to turn it in. Well I just can't take it anymore. I have an appointment at 7:15am tomorrow at my San Diego Toyota dealership. I hope they decided to change my tranny too.


UPDATE: Toyota is ordering me a new transmission. All plus rental car covered by warranty. If this is happening to you, don't wait. Go to the dealership asap.


UPDATE 2: Had my car back a week and happy as a pig in shiz. Smooth shifting in all gears at all rpms.

[veck]

I had mine replaced and the 5th gear grinding issue is back again. Starting to feel sad bout the car now.

[halo13]

I'm having a similar issue in my 13 FRS with 37.7k miles. Just bought it used at 37k miles 3 weeks ago. All was well until yesterday. At higher speeds/rpms (60mph+/4-5k) when downshifting from 6th to 5th there's a notchy feeling and a slight grind.

Some people say to live with it, or to get better with rev-matching and double-clutching. Some are getting new transmissions. We bought the FRS from Carmax and have the extended warranty but it's pretty worthless. I'm going to make an appointment with Toyota and let the tech drive and reproduce. Hopefully they will honor the 60/60 powertrain warranty and fix/replace the transmission.

Also, we switched to amsoil and it had no positive effect on the problem.

So until I can get it into the dealership I'm just driving feeder roads and staying under 60. Totally sucks because this car loves to be driven hard.

[jacubplaysdrums]

I just got my FR-S in April, at 58k, I'm at 65k now & the issue just came on. Sucks, man only remedy is to get a new gearbox then?

[bababooey]

Originally Posted by jacubplaysdrums

I just got my FR-S in April, at 58k, I'm at 65k now & the issue just came on. Sucks, man only remedy is to get a new gearbox then?

the internets say to try change fluid first.

[ChuBRZ]

Originally Posted by Carwhisperer

Mine grinds when I downshift into 5th going 70mph+ or when im going 100mph+ shifting into 5th

This right here is the issue that I have. Mostly because I try to pull the clutch too fast so I only get it shifting into 5th gear. I've noticed that the location of the 5th gear is too far for my arm to throw the stick and land it in comfortably at high speeds (between 70 and 100mph). I have to maintain control of the car and at those speeds mistakes will be catastrophic. I have been practicing putting more pep into 5th when I'm spirited driving. I feel like I'm beating it sometimes, but the car actually likes it. I've been doing research on this, and some people say that changing the fluid might help, but if the fluid teps aren't where they should be then you might experience problems when pushing the car no matter what fluid you use. My car is only one year old with 5k miles on it, but I don't baby it by any means. Ever since I started practicing The 5th Smash I don't grind any more at any speed, but I can still feel the feedback from the transmision reminding me that I have to Smash it in there. Make sure the clutch is all the way down (classic rookie mistake). If it ever gets worst I'll be back on this feed, and take my car to the dealer.

-EDIT-
Also rev-matching is very important when shifting down. Since your engine speed will be different than the transmission when you try to downshift, you might grind depending on the difference between the two.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by ChuBRZ

This right here is the issue that I have. Mostly because I try to pull the clutch too fast so I only get it shifting into 5th gear. I've noticed that the location of the 5th gear is too far for my arm to throw the stick and land it in comfortably at high speeds (between 70 and 100mph). I have to maintain control of the car and at those speeds mistakes will be catastrophic. I have been practicing putting more pep into 5th when I'm spirited driving. I feel like I'm beating it sometimes, but the car actually likes it. I've been doing research on this, and some people say that changing the fluid might help, but if the fluid teps aren't where they should be then you might experience problems when pushing the car no matter what fluid you use. My car is only one year old with 5k miles on it, but I don't baby it by any means. Ever since I started practicing The 5th Smash I don't grind any more at any speed, but I can still feel the feedback from the transmision reminding me that I have to Smash it in there. Make sure the clutch is all the way down (classic rookie mistake). If it ever gets worst I'll be back on this feed, and take my car to the dealer.

-EDIT-
Also rev-matching is very important when shifting down. Since your engine speed will be different than the transmission when you try to downshift, you might grind depending on the difference between the two.

How are you holding the knob when you shift? The most common thing I see is people grab it in a death grip ala Fast and Furious which is the very method that should not be used. There should be no need to "smash" into any gear.

[humfrz]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

How are you holding the knob when you shift? The most common thing I see is people grab it in a death grip ala Fast and Furious which is the very method that should not be used. There should be no need to "smash" into any gear.

@ChuBRZ ..... the shifter knows how to get there, it just wants to be shown where to go.



Iffen you have difficulty shifting at 100 mph ...... maybe you ought not to be driving at 100 mph ...... ya reckon ......


humfrz