Gear changes a bit crunchy.....

[Basho]

Extreme Motorsports 197 toombul rd northgate 4013 07 36304377 $22 quart and I'll pick up...
v's Harold's $25 quart plus Post....
I can wait a bit longer. I posted Extreme's prices earlier here and they sold out just when I wanted mine

All good for you bit of a hoy for me thanks .

Anyone know of a supplier on the Gold Coast or nearby ?

[Mr Morlock]

probably you guys have never heard of Bursons- but in Melb at least they do stock Redline.

[Basho]

probably you guys have never heard of Bursons- but in Melb at least they do stock Redline.

We have Bursons , Global etc and thier pricing policys on the Gold Coast would make Scrooge cheer they all persue comparative not competetive pricing policys.

You can guess the rest.

[wasabi]

Sorry to dig up an older thread, but figured it would be better than starting a new one!

As this is my first MX5, I'm still learning (First hand & reading) about it's little quirks, so please forgive my noob-ness

So like others, I've got a bit of a funny 2nd gear... My previous experience with manuals is that some gear boxes are notchy - Especially when a short shifter is involved - but that doesn't cause any sound effects when swapping cogs. Some gear boxes are just flat out nicer in regards to shift action etc, & that's generally speaking where I see the MX5 boxes. & pretty much all gear boxes feel much nicer when everything is warmed up (So does the engine etc) after approx 10mins of driving... Even autos in some cases!

What I'm experiencing I suspect is what others are describing as a "crunchy" 2nd gear... Which is what I'm trying to determine... For me, if I granny shift 1st to 2nd at lower revs (Say 3000rpm) I can feel what can be described as a mechanical clunk. However, if I do the same shift at higher revs (Say 4500rpm) it seems fine. Similar sort of thing when changing down - Double shuffling of course - & seems that I need to give more revs that normally required to make it go in nicely.

I only experience this with 2nd gear with every other gear feeling pretty damn nice.

The go to response that I've encountered from my rev head mates (Mainly into EVO's) is that the syncros are worn out... This wouldn't surprise me as the car is 10 years old with over 112000kms & short shifter (It's a 2004 SE by the way), but reading this post makes me think otherwise.

Thoughts?

[manga_blue]

There's a chance that it's never had a gearbox oil change in those 112,000 kms and ten years.

[Silvia]

Pretty much all been covered previously - many times. They are a bit snickety at times going into second especially when cold.
Best cure apart from care when warming up, is to use a gearbox oil with the right viscosity that allows the gears to turn at the right speed when meshing. RedLine MT90 seems the right viscosity as is some of the other oils mentioned. A double declutch up into second works a treat too...much the same effect - to get the gears at matching speeds to mesh nicely. Shouldn't be an issue in a car of this quality but there you are!

[Steampunk]

Gotta love EVO owners don't ya? Cause they know eeeverything. A car that's done less than 120,000 and the synchros are worn means a car that has been abused severely. As manga alluded to, change the lubricant and see how it goes.

Double declutching on a car built in the last 30 years is completely unnecessary (that's what syncromeshes are invented for), and if you seriously need to do that for smooth shifts then your gearbox is stuffed.

I suggest you change your "go to" references

[gslender]

Raises a question though - it can't only just be oil. As some gearboxes after a oil change never return to how they were, so perhaps worn syncros or bearings are the problem, but in some cases fresh and quality oil improves. Has any MX5 owner bothered to pull the gearbox down and check?

[Silvia]

. Shouldn't be an issue in a car of this quality but there you are!

As a matter of routine, any car purchase should involve a complete fluids change as a matter of precaution and a way of monitoring future service needs.

[wasabi]

Sorry to dig up an older thread, but figured it would be better than starting a new one!

As this is my first MX5, I'm still learning (First hand & reading) about it's little quirks, so please forgive my noob-ness

So like others, I've got a bit of a funny 2nd gear... My previous experience with manuals is that some gear boxes are notchy - Especially when a short shifter is involved - but that doesn't cause any sound effects when swapping cogs. Some gear boxes are just flat out nicer in regards to shift action etc, & that's generally speaking where I see the MX5 boxes. & pretty much all gear boxes feel much nicer when everything is warmed up (So does the engine etc) after approx 10mins of driving... Even autos in some cases!

What I'm experiencing I suspect is what others are describing as a "crunchy" 2nd gear... Which is what I'm trying to determine... For me, if I granny shift 1st to 2nd at lower revs (Say 3000rpm) I can feel what can be described as a mechanical clunk. However, if I do the same shift at higher revs (Say 4500rpm) it seems fine. Similar sort of thing when changing down - Double shuffling of course - & seems that I need to give more revs that normally required to make it go in nicely.

I only experience this with 2nd gear with every other gear feeling pretty damn nice.

The go to response that I've encountered from my rev head mates (Mainly into EVO's) is that the syncros are worn out... This wouldn't surprise me as the car is 10 years old with over 112000kms & short shifter (It's a 2004 SE by the way), but reading this post makes me think otherwise.

Thoughts?

Lol... Didn't want to start up the debate again

My original post is above & mainly just wanted to confirm if what I'm experiencing is what is considered to be the normal crunchy gear changes that others have commonly experienced.

There's a chance that it's never had a gearbox oil change in those 112,000 kms and ten years.

Car was actually owned by a forum member & has been pretty damn well maintained. Gear box & diff oil was last changed at approx 90,000kms.

Car is actually at my mechanic (East Coast Taren Point) today getting an oil cooler fitted & since the car came with spare gear box fluid, I'll just get it changed as a process of elimination.

Gotta love EVO owners don't ya? Cause they know eeeverything. A car that's done less than 120,000 and the synchros are worn means a car that has been abused severely. As manga alluded to, change the lubricant and see how it goes.

Double declutching on a car built in the last 30 years is completely unnecessary (that's what syncromeshes are invented for), and if you seriously need to do that for smooth shifts then your gearbox is stuffed.

I suggest you change your "go to" references

Lol... My EVO driving mates are the most mechanically knowledgeable people I know which is slightly annoying, but always take their advice with some degree of causion, this why I posted here to confirm things

Double clutching may not be required these days (Up at least)... Still do it a bit depending on what car I'm driving, but mainly when in traffic. Don't worry about it when I'm on the track

[wasabi]

. Shouldn't be an issue in a car of this quality but there you are!

As a matter of routine, any car purchase should involve a complete fluids change as a matter of precaution and a way of monitoring future service needs.

Couldn't agree more there mate!

If the previous owner wasn't a forum member (& a few other things) with such an impeccable service history of the car, I would've done everything.

In any case, still had the car checked out to make sure all is in line.

[Silvia]

Well done Wasabi. Hope you get many years of enjoyment from a great car!
You'll get better with the gearchanges with use...

[Steampunk]

Double clutching may not be required these days (Up at least)... Still do it a bit depending on what car I'm driving, but mainly when in traffic. Don't worry about it when I'm on the track

Well, there's also the fact that it almost literally doubles the wear on the clutch, and components. But hey, people keep telling why I should care because it's someone elses' car, so...

[wasabi]

Well done Wasabi. Hope you get many years of enjoyment from a great car!
You'll get better with the gearchanges with use...

Cheers mate! Loving the car so far, especially in the twisties... A little bit less power than I'm used to (Had an EVO X MR Bathurst Edition & drive a 911 Turbo on the track), but this car is mainly for motorkhana use, which is a form of motorsport I've done very little of. Thinking about running MX5 Cup also as the previous owner did a great job of setting it up for track use

Main thing I wanted to ascertain from my post was to basically make sure what I'm experiencing is normal, if for no other reason than piece of mind & because I'm a real MX5 noob

Double clutching may not be required these days (Up at least)... Still do it a bit depending on what car I'm driving, but mainly when in traffic. Don't worry about it when I'm on the track

Well, there's also the fact that it almost literally doubles the wear on the clutch, and components. But hey, people keep telling why I should care because it's someone elses' car, so...

Never heard that one before... Never really thought about it if I'm honest as it's generally seen as better for your gearbox & preventing the syncros from wearing out prematurely.

[JBT]

Never really thought about it if I'm honest as it's generally seen as better for your gearbox & preventing the syncros from wearing out prematurely.

Rev matching on downshift will save some clutch friction material wear. I's not double de-clutching which essentially means double clutch mechanism wear.

If you really need to double de-clutch an MX-5 transmission to avoid gears crunching, then the tranny or the clutch system is pretty stuffed.