[lclude]

My 2nd-3rd gear shift feels rather how can i explain this... crunchy. I feel something that kind of blocks the shift then lets it in. Also i can feel gears moving sometimes when i shift 2nd -3rd. My 4th - 3rd downshift feels nice and smooth. What i'm wondering is would this be a synchro problem? Or could it be a sign that i just need to change the tranny fluid. Also I ususally just wash and wax my car but I have these black specks all over the car and a lot of soot on my rear bumper mainly due to the exhuast. I can't get it off with just wash and wax. Would i need to use polish or a clay bar in order to get rid of teh specks.

thanks for the help.

 

[ahcjar103]

clay bar should help get that stuff off

 

[johnsoncranium]

Sup LClude,

About your tranny. This reluctant 2-3 shift is a common problem. Esp if you've been driving hard or been speed shifting. My last car, a 97 typesh(leased and thus I drove it to the ground), had a reluctant 2-3 shift from the countless speedshifts. Add to this I never changed the tranny oil in all of its 40k miles. Try changing your tranny oil to either Redline or Honda MTF. How long has it been since your last change, by the way?

Just to show you how much difference(and the limits that fluid change can make), I first had Honda MTF in my car. Then Mobil 1 and now Castrol GTX. Here's what I noticed;

1.Honda MTF-shifts good, nothing special
2.MOBIL 1 5w-30-shifts smoother than the Honda stuff. But I took it out when I read too many reports(none confirmed in any official tests) of how synthetic motor oils eat synchros up over time(esp Honda synchs).
3.Castrol GTX-by far shift the worst. I will be draining this stuff soon and will give Redling MTL a try. I only used the GTX becuz I was in a hurry to drain out the Mobil 1 which supposedly eats up our synchromeshes.

About your paint. You got a white car, right? I know exactly what you're talking about, those specks and other pollutants. Use Mother's clay bar and they will ALL come out. You can see this on the bar as you do it. Sh*t load of crap comes off and your paint will look good as new.

If you need any help changing your tranny fluid or anything else, let me know. We're practically neighbors anyway..I'm in Lake View.

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kimchi cures cancer

 

[johnsoncranium]

To add,

This is what I read on Redline's site and elsewhere about what's good for trannies.

Plain ol' synthetic motor oils are TOO slippery and thus don't provide the sufficient coefficiency of slipperiness..synch's just slip up and over time will deteriorate. Trannies need a certain amount of grip here and there and oils that are TOO slippery can be bad, unlike in our engines. And Redline's synthetic tranny oils provide just the right amount of slipperiness while provide enough grip for our synchs. Now, whether Redline's stuff provides enough slipperiness for OUR synchs is a good question and I don't have the answers to.

Keep in mind that our trannies are lubed with a "splash system", where the oil is basically "splashed" over the gears and drained to the bottom where it will get splashed again. So this would lead me to think that synthetics(like MObil 1's) are better than conventional since there's no pump like in our motors to distribute the oil more(not perfectly) evenly. Once synthetics touch the surface, they tend to bond to them better than conventional stuff..but we'll see how Redline works out.

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kimchi cures cancer

 

[nighttime]

lclude: I know exactly what you are talking about. Mine does that too, it varies depending on how I shift. Do you push the shifter out of second and let it center, then push it up, or do you guide it in? Most of the time when I feel that, Im guiding the shifter into third. Im going to test drive a few Preludes and see if they do it too. BTW, my car is a 2001 Base Prelude, around 680 miles, so I dont think the transmission fluid needs changing yet, but I plan on doing it somewhere between 1-3k miles. Ill probably just use Honda MTL, because the only other car I know for sure that can use Redline MTL or MT-90 with no problems are 2gen Ford Probe/MX6/626's. On those cars it helps. They also have the problem with Mobil 1 synth being bad for brass (I think it was brass) snycro's, which is why they use Redline instead.

 

[lclude]

Wow thanks for the lengthy and thorough reply Johnson cranium. I've always heard of people complaing about the 5th gear grind but have yet to hear of any 2nd-3rd shift problems so i thought it was just my car. YEah i do speed shifted once in awhile but not really that often. It's been max 15k miles since my last tranny change so I guess ill go ahead and change it soon. I don't know what the dealer filled it with but i'll make sure they use honda mtf this time..

I have 10,000 miles till my warranty is up. You guys think i shoudl bring it up with the dealer so that in case the synchro completely dies that i could maybe get it done under warranty? Or maybe i should just drive it hard so the synchro will go early

.

Also i'll use the clay bar but it sure seems like it will be a pain in the arse to clean the whole car with it.And yea my cars white.


Night time- Thats pretty early for havin tranny probs. Maybe you should have your dealer look at it.


I just hate havin my 3rd gear feel so nasty everytime i shift.

 

[johnsoncranium]

Hmm..depending on how "nasty" that 2-3 shift is, the dealer will not do anything about it. If your 2-3 shift is nasty or grinds EVERYTIME, then you need new synchs..PERIOD. I don't think any kind of fluid will cure this problem. But try changin your oil at home..dealers charge way too much.

Oh, and if you drive your car harder to end your tranny's life early, the dealer will most likely have you share the bill. I had a friend whose tranny went right around 15k becuz of racing and the dealer straight up split the bill w/ him, which came to a nice $4k(price of a brand new tranny and install).

Do the clay bar..it's easy. Not a pain in the ass at all.

Gluck.

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kimchi cures cancer