how is the shifting on a 5 speed 3rd gen have u ever had a problem with it is it short plz helpp thanks

 

The 3rd gen shifter is like rowing a boat. Sometimes I wonder how I get it into 3rd gear.

 

It's no Honda shifter, that's for sure. It's long, but not too bad.

 

i would recommend getting a short throw shifter but not the pacesetter. pacesetter sucks. i think i may have found a way to make the pacesetter work better but i've not tested it yet.

 

I recommend the same if a short throw is an absolute must-have in your case. The 5 speed in the Maxima is a long. It's kinda funny, cause the few that I let drive my car could never find 3rd gear the first time.

 

i missed 3rd gear a lot when i first got my 5-speed. it was weird.

 

After a while I never missed it. Believe it or not I missed 2nd more than 3rd in a race, the few times I did.

 

It is funny that this thread is here. When I was driving the other day, it seems that other manual tranny cars sound as if they are getting into gear faster than I. For example. when launching off in 1st, I hear other cars shifting into second quicker than I. Not that the person started shifting before me, but the actual transition of gears. At first, I could not put my finger on it and came to the conclusion that I suck. But reading that the Max has a long throw now makes sense. Hmmmm. I may have to drive my friends Mazda for comparison.

 

just drive a pickup or a Mustang for a while. After that, the Maxima seems like it shifts are short...

I like the shifter in an Integra GS-R. Much shorter and smoother.

 

i actually find the 2-3 shift the easiest, i have to yank it down hard from 1-2 and 3-4 at times

 

if you get a pacesetter like me you have to give it all you have to shift it, and i lift weights too.

 

i suppose the 3rd gen is a bit long on shift duration. at times, i fail to grab 2nd. and i get the metal shavings. i am far more careful about that these days as my tranny is newly rebuilt.

heed this: the max hates to downshift out of 5th. it hates it. once it is in 5th, it likes to live there. so you have to drop the rpm's down to just above 2000. or you get the grinding metal shavings.

i am curious about the B & M short-throw setup. has anyone tried that? i will blatantly ignore Pacesetter as an option.

 

Hmmm, I have no problem downshifting into 4th or 3rd from 5th. Normally, when exiting the highway from about 75MPH and reving 3000 to 3500, I easily downshift to 4th. You may want to have something checked out with your rebuild. It may be your syncronizers (sp); however, I am not a tranny specialist.

 

yeah, same here. i have never had trouble getting out of 5th. i always have trouble getting into second.

 

hmmm. my max doesn't like to get out of 5th. before and after the rebuild, as well. maybe it is just possessed by the devil.

i CAN get out of 5th, and do routinely, when i heed the rpm's it likes. sometimes, i will even shift into neutral from 5th, let the rpms drop, and then go to 4th. it depends on what driving conditions are before me. in any case, it takes careful premeditation.

 

you could always double clutch and see if that helps. i double clutch all of the time to get into first when i need to.

 

when i hit redline from 1st to second half of the time it just grinds and misses. Somethings definitly not right i can nail my buddy's firehawk like a bomb and it just slides in like it covered in vasoline. so i end up shifting early. it sux

 

i'm getting the idea from these posts that 2nd is sometimes missed when shifting, as i have that condition, too. what i have done is adapt to that: i carefully premeditate, and/or know the sweet spot by sound and by feel. i have managed to shift well into 2nd, at beyond redline, due to this sort of self-schooling. it takes a little more paying attention and involvement on the driver's part. but it can be rectified. just like my downshift from 5th condition. i *can* do it successfully, but i need to be very "awake." it is subtle.