[nissanite]

During a DE at Sebring to other driver (car owner) had a problem shifting. He is new to the track & is working on rev matching. He currently shifts from 5th to 2nd. I know this is not recommended but again he is a student. He said he felt something wrong & we came in. I attempted to shift to 2nd & it would not go. No grinding, no feeling at all. Just like it was blocked off. I drove the car home not using 2nd. After about 90 miles & at home I pulled into gear. It still was very stiff & the gear feels fine.
Any ideas? I think the car has a version of a short shifter but do not know the type. I have been hearing a noise or gear/bearing noise for sometime. A shop in Tampa said no pinion noise.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[craigawoodman]

Hi Nissanite,

There is a thread for when my gearbox stuffed up. I was doing a track event at a high speed track. THe gegarbox initially was very hard to shift into 2nd gear (from 3rd) and then progressively got notchy and harder to shift between gears. We had it looked at and could not find anything - but next event (when under load) it did it again. Couple of issues;

1. Clutch friction plate had lost around 1/8 of the circumerence of the friction material (gone) - the clutch was not a motorsport clutch but was only around 10 months old.
2. SEcond gear was stuffed. Had to replace 2nd gear (which is expensive as it is on the shaft), 1st gear, synchro's for 1st through to 4th.

Suggest looking at clutch first to see if like mine, it has lost part of the friction material, then if this does not work - look internally in the gearbox. Regardless - hopefully it will be a cheaper outcome than mine. If you do not need to replace the 2nd gear and shaft - it will save around $1,000.

Good luck

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[pure&simple]

Had a similar problem to Craig... same symptoms. Would only go into 2nd if you pushed really hard. Was having trouble with 1st as well, but that came back after things cooled down. Needed 1st and 2nd gear synchros.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[craigawoodman]

I am also now running a more viscous lubricant and oil cooler for the gearbox due to the temperatures over here. Not sure if this will help in the long term.

Same for engine - I was burning a lot of Mobil 1 and have changed to a different more viscous oil and seem to be losing less oil (and also running a bigger oil cooler prior to changing the oil).

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[nissanite]

Thanks everyone. The gear box is out & being shipped to the RS Barn today.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.

[earossi]

Since you have already pulled your gearbox, this reply is a day late and a dollar short; however, since I had what appears to be the same symptoms, I'll tell you what I did. Shortly after I purchased my 93, I experienced the difficulty going into second gear issue as you described. Since I had just purchased the car and was unsure of the age of the trans fluid, I changed it out. The stuff coming out looked absolutely horrible....had a very strong oder and was very black. I used Mobil 1 Synthetic to refill the trans. On the first test drive after changing out the oil, it took about 3-4 shifts into second before I could feel the shifts becoming more "normal". By the time I had put 50 miles on the lube, the box was shifting perfectly (except for the very tired 1-2 syncros!).



My guess is that the old fluid had begun to sludge up and that some of the sludge had begun to coat up the slide shafts in the gear set. The new oil has additives (my guess) that dissolved the sludges. This is only a calculated "guess" on my part. But, simply put.....new trans oil solved my problem short term.

Partial Post: Please Login or Register to read the full post.