Colonel

You can read if automatic owner too but I need some opinions from the manual crowd.

I have been noticing that downshifting in the Max is a hit or miss type procedure. I moved from a 95 Probe GT 5spd, which was not excatly a refined sports car, and never had this problem.m Plus I have been driving a stick since I was 13 (learned on a 3 on the tree Ford Pickup) so I don't think experience is a problem.

When I am at speed and shift from 5 to 4, I find myself having to double clutch to get it to go into gear. If I try to make a real quick shift from 5 to 4 with a good load on teh motor, I end up grinding more often than not. Now I know this is not a sportscar, but I have been left hanging in the wind on occasion because I missed the shift. So I now double clutch so I make sure not to grind. Has anybody else experienced this? Some feedback would be nice.

Would some aftermarket stuff help?

Thanks for your input.

AdamK

iTrader: (1)

I don't know I havn't driven my car when it was new but my gears work perfect downshifting, shifting up, speed shifting, the whole nine yards. I may be wrong but could it be because your car is new and you still have to wear in the gear shaft *is that what it is* the shifting box thingy you know....

jjs

How many miles are on your Max? I noticed a notchiness even getting into first gear and had one or two missed shifts (3rd to 2nd and 5th to 4th) due to something similar to what you are describing. Thing is, that was when I had the car for only two weeks or so...now that I have over 8,000 miles on it, things seem to have settle themselves out, without my changing a driving style or shift action.

DenMax

No problems here, except when I half-*** shift in rush hour and grind'em a tad. I have 6100 miles so far. No problems down shifting to 4th during spirited driving. Like adamK said, maybe due to new-ness of vehicle.

dwapenyi

iTrader: (3)

I think I know exactly what you're going thru. When you downshift to 4th, do you do it carefully, because you worry you might hit reverse?? I used to do that. Then I later learned that modern 5 speed trannies have a feature which completely prevents you from accidentally engaging reverse (something to do with the synchros). So now, when I downshift, I just pull the shifter down, it automatically guides you into 4th, every time. Also, so I don't give my synchros too much work to do, i rev the engine up about 1K rpm higher than what it was in 5th gear so it matches up when engaging 4th.

On a slightly other note, going from 3rd to 2nd you have to move carefully, but 5th to 4th, just pull back and it's there!

DW

unferth33

Before I had my max I had a 91 saab.. that thing shifted like a truck.. but it was faster than my 89 auto 3 speed saab ....

So anyway.. it took me a while to get used to the max.. it almost shifts too smoothly.. I've got 40k on it now and I'm really good at judging what engine speed for which gear..

But the engine revs so quickly (up and down) that downshifting is difficult.. it'd be nice to have a third foot to make everything really smooth .. like braking in a turn and downshifting at the same time

Y2KevSE

iTrader: (13)

If you bought an auto, you wouldn't have this problem.

y2kse

iTrader: (1)

Yup. Red Line MT-90 Manual Transmission Lubricant. Check out:

http://www.redlineoil.com/products.htm

Click on the "MTL Manual Transmission Lubricant" link for a complete writeup on Red Line manual transmission lubricants.

IceY2K1

iTrader: (3)

How funny! I went from a '93 Probe GT 5-speed(of course) to my Max. Man that thing was a B!TCH to get used to shifting.

Anyways, I have trouble missing gears all the time. I hope a STS will help some. Also, getting into reverse without double clutching is rare and trying to shift into FIRST without coming to a COMPLETE stop is nearly impossible. I bought Redline MT90 manual trans fluid, because supposedly it will help. I have 6700 miles.

P.S: Don't you work for HONEYWELL too?

unferth33

Heh... it's possible.. You've got to rev the engine quite a bit to get the synchronizer to be happy... When I first got the car one of the coolest things I did ( I was ****ed at this guy that pulled out in front of me then immediately turned right) was rev the engine and drop it in 1st at about 25mph, spin the tires for a while, then shifted into 2nd and spun the tires again..

I wasn't mad anymore.. I was just stunned ..

DenMax

Automagics

bert

I have never had a prblem 5-4. 3-2 sometimes and definately 2-1 takes some work.

I find that I don't have to double clutch, just bring up the revs while the clutch is depressed does the trick.

The Slopomatic guys NEVER have a problem going from 5-4!

Norm Peterson

IMHO, it's a good idea to double clutch on the downshifts anyway. About the only time I don't is if I've taken a turn at a residential intersection and the revs are already lower than the idle speed (once in a while even I get a little lazy).

Don't be too concerned about the Max not officially being classified as a sports car. The transmission doesn't know or care about what it's installed in. Just drive in a way that's friendly to the mechanicals and don't worry about the thoughts/opinions of other people who don't understand that stick shifts and the concept of "fun to drive" aren't limited to 2-seaters.

BTW, I noticed a little notchiness going into 4th in mine when it was new. That has pretty much smoothed out completely with the miles (about 6500 now).

Norm

AdamK

iTrader: (1)

grrrrr...

THEKNITE

iTrader: (1)

It's definitely one or the other, either you adjust to the max or the trany smooths out. i could never smoothly downshift at the beginnning, but now at almost 13k miles you can hardly tell when i shift. Reving up a second before downshifting definitely helps the smoothiness, if u do it right.
Exactly, how do you double clutch? What do you do? Is it bad for the clutch?

djmaxski

I believe double-clutching is something like pushing in the clutch, shifting to neutral, release the clutch and then reengage it, shift to new gear, and let the clutch out as you pick the gas back up....

AdamK

iTrader: (1)

thats only for 18 wheelers, in our cars its something else... read about it http://integra.vtec.net/driving/dclutch.html

Colonel

Yeah for the time being its still HONEYWELL. Hopefully Larry will be true to his word.

In regards to your Redline, have you installed yet? Does it make any differences? I have 6100 on my car.

Probes were great, just a little small but man they were flickable! But alas, I needed something bigger. But I loved the gearbox (Probe) better, although it tended to top out to easily.
Kev, your a scream! Can I borrow the midget a while, my car needs a little juicin' up!

Y2KevSE

iTrader: (13)

jopa

I went from a 96 Probe GT to my Max 5-speed and shifting is definately different. You can't run through the gears as fast as you could on the GT & on the highway where I used to go from 5th to 4th for a passing gear, in the Max I have to go from 5th to 3rd in order to get good acceleration.

The Max is much quieter though & there is all of that extra room.

I miss my probe though.

AdamK

iTrader: (1)

BTW I don't wanna hear anyone dissing the Probe. I learned how to drive on that ****...1994 Ford Probe 4-cyl Automagic w/ 214,000 miles *those Mazda MX-6 engines went a long way* I was like 12 and I would take it around the block ahhh those were the days. Then dad gotta '99 Maxima is 99 and I sold that **** for $800.00 since it was dead, the engine was still strong, ah those were the days...

THEKNITE

iTrader: (1)

wow, i thought u double-clutch when u race, it looks like double-clutching is just time consuming, i never do that when i drive. I think there is no use for double clutching.

AdamK

iTrader: (1)

I don't know how, I'm too lazy to read the tutorial but it does give you a boost, damn son havn't you seen fast and furious when dom is like yo you should have double clutched....

wdave

I had the same problems at first too. My clutch pedal wasn't adjusted right from the factory so once I made sure the clutch was fully disengaged with the pedal on the floor shifting got a lot better. I think they adjust them without the floor mats! Synthetic gear lube helped a lot too, as did mileage.

wdave

irvine78

iTrader: (2)

never had that problem from 5 to 4...i grind from 1st to 2nd when i don't press down the clutch fully or let go just a bit early....

IceY2K1

iTrader: (3)

1. I haven't installed it yet. I'm waiting to take it to the dealer first to complain about how it is shifting, so I don't want to give them an excuse by blaming the Redline.

2. Easily top out, sure, did it once around 133mph. The dash lit up like a christimas tree. Pretty scary at that speed. What was the torque rating? I know it had 164hp, but I don't remember the torque.

Colonel

Yeah, its a shame that they can't think out of the box and blame anything that isn't stock.

Mine never did that...But maybe I never really topped out then? Who knows. I believe the torque was 167 ft/lbs. It was just a tad higher than the HP.

I could never beat anybody in a straight line, but once I got them into traffic or some twisties...HA HA they were mine!

JLauric

Hey, I think that it is really interesting that so many of you have owned ford probes in the past. I myself have been through 3 used ones, with my favorite being the last that I owned, otherwise known as the 94' probe GT. I'd be interested to see how many other maxima owners out there who haven't read this thread can also admit to being former probe owners. I love my Max, but I regret trading in my probe, and should have kept it as a fun car on the side. The bottom line was that it was too light for winter, and I had bought it used with nearly 69,000 miles on it. I felt I needed to get a car from new, especially because I treat cars so good and did not want to put any more money into fixing used cars. That car was a blast to drive, especially with the 5spd manual. I knew the max was the next best thing to the mazda dohc v6, and had a lot more room. Wish ford would resurface production of the car sometime soon.

Later.

THEKNITE

iTrader: (1)

That's funny, i myself had '93 Ford Probe GT, 5spd, as my first car. Bought it with 71k miles, and sold it last October with 133k miles after i bought the MAX.
I loved it and still miss it, but unfortunately I moved on to bigger and better things.

Norm Peterson

I still own the Probe's cousin. Mazda 626 LX-V6 (5 spd, natch).

Norm

georgerl

I did once ... just after test driving the 6sp 2k3 -
I was simulating the feel of the move to 6 and ... it went in!
I was doing 80km/h, To my surprise it went in smoothly like never
I didn't have the g@#&@ts to releace the cloch ...
but i remember sliding the shifter completly on the right

????

G.

SkyDaver

Except for the rev-matching that is described in your link, that is exactly what was described by djmaxski.

But I had forgotten that you've got to engage the clutch while in neutral to do the rev matching with any effect. I'd been blipping the throttle on my downshifts for years and years, all to no avail.

Galo

downshift...a habit I acquired when I started driving a stick shift, my older brother's Gen 1 Triumph Spitfire which had a non-synchro first gear -and poor synchros in every other gear.

It's almost second nature...I do it so quickly when I want to that it does not really add much to the shift time. Then again, I also heel and toe regularly -which requires some interesting contorsions of the foot in the Max the way the pedals are located.

For those who dont know what heel and toe is, it's just the process where you 'blip' the throttle to do the RPM matching on a downshift while still maintaining pressure on the brake pedal. The alternative is to remove the right foot from the brake, transfer right foot to throttle & blip it and transfer the foot back to the brake to re-initiate braking....something that DRAMATICALLY increases braking distance and is just -well -uncouth for any road-racing fiend.

On the Max, I rotate my foot ourwards (bend ankle) to blip the throttle with the outside edge od my foot...took lots of practice to get foot position on the brake just right so that I could reach the throttle pedal with just the ankle roll,

Deven2kStickMax

this is my second 5th Gen max and never had such prob. these gears are very easy to shift. from 5th to 4th should be simple. the gears are closer to each other than your 95 probe... oh you also have to clutch all the way down when shifting if you wanna be safe not to miss a gear. i know my car well and sometimes i don't need to clutch all the way down....give it time ...american cars shift different from japanese...just have to learn it...