Grind going into 5th at high speed

[V Dub Mike]

Howdy everybody! So I did some searching but I couldn't find anything, so I apologize if this has been covered but....................... Yesterday, I'm doing a HPDE / School with the Alfa Romeo Club at Bremerton Speedway and I notice that on the big straight as I go into 5th, it grinds very lightly...........barely noticable. After I did notice however, I would be very slow and deliberate and it still did it every time. When I'm not doing tripple digits, it's totally fine. On a side note, ever since I got the car, it would grind slightly going into 3rd if I shift too fast. Previously I've talked to experts and they reassured me that these just do that. I got the car at 25K and now I have 35K. It's a completely and totally stock 06 IX SE that has never been modded (other than brake pads), but I have tracked it at about a dozen times since I got it. Other than that I drive it to work. Also, I have allways heel toed on HPDEs too. Somebody more knowledgable than myself at the track suggested that my gear oil could be dirty or low. Any ideas?

[fitbikedominick]

syncros are bad

[AF-Evo8]

That ^^^^ or possibly high rpm lockout starts when your clutches life is nearing its end.

[V Dub Mike]

Originally Posted by AF-Evo8

That ^^^^ or possibly high rpm lockout starts when your clutches life is nearing its end.

well all that is just fan-freakin-tastic


any hope for the gear oil theory?.......if i was low would it do that, or no?

[ray3328]

Originally Posted by fitbikedominick

syncros are bad

+1

[amui07]

There is a possibility that wrong, low, or dirty trans fluid can cause some notchiness. Change that fluid out to rule it out completely.

[ray3328]

when I had the grind I tried different oils and it never got rid of the grind... the only thing that fixed it was the rebuild

[recompile]

Every Evo I've ever been in grinds 5th gear, and yes, its the synchro... If you do a granny shift you can work around it.

I bought a Shep Ultimate Ratio Tranny with double synchro 5th and I have forgotten what it feels like to grind gears.

[xspsi4]

That is about the end of the useable life on an evo trans as far as mileage goes.
You WILL need a rebuild

Or I have a brand new mitsu evo 9 trans with all the latest updates for 2,350 if you need to go that route.

[beemerfreak]

Dont waste your time with changing out tranny oil......My 5th was grinding, dealer replaced the synchro......It started grinding again 2 weeks later.......I just kept on driving my car hard until I broke the tranny and had a local Evo shop rebuild it........My tuner tuned me with Tepra's NLTS and my tranny shifts smooth as butter with no grinding......

Just shift slow into 5th so it wont grind. Or get to 5th gear before 40mph and you shouldn't hear a grind......

Try taking it to the dealer if its bone stock and grinds a lot in lower speeds.....

[recompile]

?? You shouldn't need a rebuilt transmission after 35k miles unless you have been shifting without the clutch for 3 years.

The fact that 5th gear grinds does not signify a dead transmission either... it's just a design flaw.

Either
A) live with it
B) try to granny shift around it
C) get a double-synchro 5th

[xspsi4]

There are many problems with these transmissions, The inputshaft bearing may be starting to wobble throwing the whole gear set out of wack, At minimum the reverse/5th gear and slider with syncro, hub and bearings will need replaced, If you are in that far you may as well rebuild it or start over.

There is no easy button for this one.

[sdfontanini]

Change your fluid bro, that might help. You could try out the Pennzoil Synchromesh, but it will compromise your gears over the long haul. You could also try bleeding your slave cylinder and see if that helps at all. Try adjusting your clutch pedal engagement out so your clutch engages a bit more with your flywheel. Try replacing your under the hood bushings or just try oiling them up a bit. Sometimes they stiffen up over time and make your shifting notchier. All these things could affect your shifting. Last resort would be to have it built. I'm on 50K miles and the only issue is notchyness getting into first when the tranny oil is still cold. After driving the car for a few minutes the notchiness goes away. I'm using AMSoil manual gear oil which is known to take a bit more time to warm up. Just so you know, I beat the living **** out of my car on a daily basis. I'm suprised my transmission has lasted this long. Then again I've only grinded my gears once since I've owned the car. In all honesty it's your synchros going bad. You can get around that by driving granny style until your tranny oil warms up, which should give you better shifts. Take a look at your transmission drain plug and look and see how much metals attached to it. If there's a lot you will know that you've probably beaten up on her to the point where the synchros are going. If the metal is brass in color means your eating away at those synchros. I've driving many performance cars in the past and have always had issues with grinding synchros. It really comes down to how you drive your car and how good you really are at shifting. Some trannys will be shot at 20K others can go 100K miles just depends on how much you've beaten up on it. Guys like buschur have been able to put together 500 whp evos with stock trannies and been okay for a long time. Then again he's an experienced driver who knows the limits of the tranny and knows when and how to shift without compromising the synchros. Good luck bro

[sdfontanini]

One other thing might be your clutch itself. Take off the rubber plug and look and see how much clutch dust is on that sucker. Depending on the clutch you have you might just be running into an engagement issue. Just soemthing else to consider.

[awdboosted]

Syncros are done. Time for a rebuild. New fluid may bandade it for a short time. It's just going to get much worse.