MT tight, hard shifts. Opinions?

[boead]

I just turned 23k on my 13 MT FRS
Ive only had a few issues; tail lights filled with water (replaced), i get a chatter from the tach, at first between 2500-3500 then it went away. Now it does it sometimes above 6000. I have a body squeak that will never be fixed! But the most annoying issues has been the shifter.
At about 500 miles it started getting stiff, too tight. It got smoother by 7500 miles but by 15k it was stiff and tight again. Hard to shift into random gears.
"Like the clutch wasn't fulling engaging" I have a long service history complaining about it! Toyota tech got involved twice and I found a GREAT dealership I've been using.
So today, after a Long drive with the man in charge of the shop I was told this.
First the Tech manager is a car enthusiast; we spoke about cars. He's had lots of them, including different Cellica GTs and Nissan 3xx cars. Two of his guys own FRS and so on...
Apparently the tight, rough shifting is fairly normal...you can feel the gears close to a grind but it doesn't actually grind, at least not often.
I find it annoying but...
This is a fist time use, built for this car manual transmission. Correct?
Lots of Toyota, Lexus and Subaru in there.
Apparently the Toyota and Subaru teams were trying to "fix" issues with past MT's used. People blowing into low gears on downshifts resulting in over-revs. Overall sloppy shifting with age (+70k miles) and sometimes hard to find gates.
I was told that I should just drive the car without any concern, push it hard! It was built for it.
Im in my late 40's, been drink hard for many years but not like i did in my youth. I get on the car lots but it was obvious to the tech that I don't beat on it. Said clutch and tires were in great shape and commented on my good driving ability when we were cursing around.
Im not sure how much I believe or trust.
Ive been told that since my derive history is detailed, that warrantee on this transmission will go far beyond the expatriation date. Although i don't care much. Im selling the car at 3yo and would like to get into a newer model for a few more years. I WANT more torque!!!!
Id love to hear other peoples opinions on the MT

[TougeSlug]

I had the grinding issue too. Took the car in to the dealership where I got it and they test drove it. The tech was able to reproduce my issues and a new transmission was ordered and installed.
I have a 14 monogram Manual and have less than 7000 miles on the clock. This isnt a case of user error and you should take the car in ASAP and have them test drive it and reproduce your problem. If that happens, you should recieve a new transmission. Best part is that it only takes a day to Install it. Good luck

[Norton 850]

The AISIN transmissions in these cars are lousy.

Do a search and you will find LOTS of posts about the stiff first-to-second gear shift. Some report that using Pentosin MT gear oil helps, but the bottom line is that it's simply crappy quality control on the part of AISIN. I say this because there are some MT owners that report no shifting problems at all. But there a BUNCH of owners just like you that report shifting problems. The performance of this transmission is inexcusable and we, the lowly consumers, appear to be stuck with it.

[Freetime]

Originally Posted by Norton 850

The AISIN transmissions in these cars are lousy.

Do a search and you will find LOTS of posts about the stiff first-to-second gear shift. Some report that using Pentosin MT gear oil helps, but the bottom line is that it's simply crappy quality control on the part of AISIN. I say this because there are some MT owners that report no shifting problems at all. But there a BUNCH of owners just like you that report shifting problems. The performance of this transmission is inexcusable and we, the lowly consumers, appear to be stuck with it.

There is a thread here with an explanation as to why the first-second shift is rough sometimes. It was engineered that way on purpose. Once the car warms up good, it goes away.

[Norton 850]

Originally Posted by Freetime

There is a thread here with an explanation as to why the first-second shift is rough sometimes. It was engineered that way on purpose. Once the car warms up good, it goes away.

Sorry, I think that's a load of crap.

[civdaddy]

Originally Posted by Norton 850

Sorry, I think that's a load of crap.

How's the 1-2 shift if you push the clutch in real fast and wait til it's 100% all the way in before shifting into 2nd?

I think a lot of bad tramissions are not in fact bad, just not shifted the way it needs to be. Some cars you can "cheat" a little by shifting and clutching in one movement, ( meaning the clutch is pressed all the down right before you get into gear....like nano seconds before) and others can't be done like that.

[chaoskaze]

I had the same issue with 1st to 2nd gear too, but it somehow went away after I change my engine oil to eneos sustina. I think it's just one of those thing about this car, will keep an eye on this and see if it comes back.

[unlimited86]

Mine is having similar issue, for the past 2 weeks, I've been having a hard time engaging into 1st gear. I either have to force it in or put it back into neutral and back into first again, this is from a standstill and the car has 14k on it already with trans oil change around 3k.

[sk47]

Hello; I admit these will be apple and oranges type observations and also dated.
Years ago all manual transmissions had a fairly heavy lube oil that had to be warmed up by driving. The first shifts during winter had to be made with care.
Modern manual transmissions can have very light lube oil. I had a truck with automatic transmission oil in a manual.
I still shift with more care when a trans is cold. My take is that even light lube oils need some time to warm up a bit to be right.

With a hydraulic clutch it may be that the clutch is not operating at the full length. I have known some people that did not fully depress the clutch pedal which can result in a rough shift. Low clutch fluid (usually brake fluid) in the reservoir might be an issue. The slave cylinders can also leak and not fully engage.

The FR-S is not old enough to have time related issues yet. I replace the brake fluid is a hydraulic clutch every few years as a matter of regular maintaince.

[Tcoat]

Try living in Canada! You can get very used to driving around in first until things warm up enough to shift no matter what car you have!
Even worse when you can't even get it into reverse to back up out of the laneway until after running for 10 minutes and the exhaust heats the tranny up enough to shift. This was my drill every morning through the winter with my Lancer GTS! The shifter would not even MOVE much less put it in gear.

[ZZT86]

Originally Posted by Norton 850

Sorry, I think that's a load of crap.

I think he meant this http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showt...box+cold+shift

[Rayme]

PENZOIL Synchromesh cured all my problem on my transmission. It was very displeasing to shift when it was near freezing temperature and under. It shifts like a dream now, I cannot possibly complaint of anything after the fluid swap.

EDIT : It's actually penzoil synchromesh, but I believe they are the same.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Rayme

GM Synchromesh cured all my problem on my transmission. It was very displeasing to shift when it was near freezing temperature and under. It shifts like a dream now, I cannot possibly complaint of anything after the fluid swap.

Well that is probably the first time in recorded history that the words "synchromesh" and "cured" were used in the same sentence! I am referring to the actual GM tranny not the fluid though. God those things were horrid back in the day!

[Canehda]

So i'm at 25k kilometres and I've noticed that first to second engagement and especially third to second has become VERY notchy and feels almost too tight. One thing I have noticed that really freaks me out is that when I am in bumper to bumper traffic, once in a while when I shift from 2nd to 1st below 10 km/h the gearbox will make a rubbery grinding sound, its really strange and shouldn't be grinding because i still have the clutch fully depressed. I have a feeling that it has something to do with the synchro because I can only reproduce it consistently when i have the clutch fully depressed, car crawling (6km/h) and I put pressure to shift into first without actually putting the car into first (kind of just before that point of no return) when shifting… I will try and take a video replicating it, but I wanted to know if anyone else has had this happen!