Ok, so I've had the normal 3rd gear crunch for a while now, but it's gotten worse. I bought the car with 49k on it without a 3rd gear crunch. Since then, it's developed the following problems in chronological order:

1. The stick would get stuck going from 2nd to 3rd at WOT switching at redline
2. 3rd gear would make a "crunching" noise going from 2nd to third 95% of the time during normal driving, but would still go into gear.

JUST STARTED YESTERDAY:
3. The stick would NOT go into 3rd during normal driving once during my trip to work in the morning. I went back into second, tried it again, and it crunched, but still went into gear and went into gear fine for the rest of the trip.

TODAY:
4. Same situation as yesterday in the morning, but did it again on the way home.
5. When at a stop light, I was switching through the gears and couldn't really go from 3rd to 4th. It felt like there was a bunch of crap somewhere in there that was blocking the stick's travel.

I am now at 81k. I put amsoil GL-4 in there at 50k and haven't touched it since. Is my transmission dying? Do you think it will help if I put fresh fluid in there? Swap the clutch, or clutch fluid? ANYTHING but my transmission please!

 

Dibs on your headlights












lol j/k...my personal experience, leave that tranny fluid alone. I remember I replaced mine just over 85k and I swear it caused issues. Since about 88k my tranny slowy started dying until it eventually completely blew at 105k. I had an auto so I am sure different rules apply, but just keep it in mind when you are making any decisions.

 

 

sounds like the crunch has finally done your third gear in. You can try changing your fluid, manuals dont have the same problems as autos as far as changing the fluid. I doubt its going to do anything for you though.

In my opinion you have three options.

1) rebuild it
2) new tranny
3) skip third gear

I would just skip third until you have some free time to rebuild it or have it rebuilt

 

Hate to break it to you, but it sounds like bye bye tranny. I saw a few of your youtube clips, and it's probobaly been beaten into submission.

Try changing the fluid. You might get lucky, but I bet a whole wack of metal particles etc. will come out(hopefully not). Good luck!

 

Time to upgrade to a 6th gen HLSD tranny.

 

gotdamnit, i had a feeling a new tranny would be the consensus... i guess i'll try swapping the fluid first... damnit, i wanted to go the track and get some runs in with my new setup.. and the maxus competition is coming up too!! damnit!!

 

lol

 

Drain and inspect the fluid for metal shavings.

Does anyone know if this transmission has any internal magnets to collect debris? Some have them in the plug, others have them at a location that is inaccessible from the outside and others have none.

 

[quote=mannetti21;7070502]Dibs on your headlights[quote]

A positive answer, SWEET

 

Trans probably needs a little rebuilding, a fluid change could possibly buy you a tiny bit more time if part of your problem is synchro wear on the 3rd gear synchro. If your 3/4 sleeve is totally fugged then fluid change isn't going to help you, 3/4 sleeve most likely needs replacement as well as 3rd gear synchro. Possible (though rather unlikely) that 3rd gear itself has engagement teeth that are worn way down.

 

Ok, so I got completely screwed today. So when I was driving, I tried to upshift coming from the tollbooth, and the stick wouldn't go into 2nd! So i'm like damnit.. Shift to 3rd and keep rolling. I'm on the highway getting nervous... pull up to the 2nd tollbooth, take off, and the stick won't come out of 1st! So I'm like damnit again... I pull over, and I was eventually able to get it back in neutral, and was able to drive normally for about 5 minutes. Then I go to make a turn, try a mild 2nd gear downshift, and it wouldn't go in... damnit... 3rd gear, nothing... damnit... 4th gear, nothing... damnit.. 1st gear, nothing... more damnit. So I coast down the street in neutral, unable to move my stick into any gear.

I get towed to the nissan dealear that I was on my way to anyway where my boy is a tech.. He's not sure, but he thinks its most likely the clutch or pressure plate, because he was able to force it into gear (he tried harder than what i was willing to), but it was just hard. He said if the tranny was blown, then the stick wouldn't go in at all. He's gonna call me once he gets the tranny out. Hopefully it's just the clutch...

I'm thinking about getting the Exedy Stage 1. I want something close to an OEM feel, and that can handle the type of driving that I do. From what I understand, the stage one is slightly stiffer than OEM. But it's strong, so I might have to put up with the stiffness...

 

Could also be a hydraulic leak or bad master or slave. I had that happen more than a few times with my Celicas. I got real good at swapping them out and bleeding them right there in AutoZone/Pep Boy's parking lots.

 

Ok, so my friend at the dealer told me I definitely need a new clutch set. He also said that there were chunks of metal in the transmission and some of the shift forks were warped. He said I could just swap the clutch for now (all I can afford right now) and that would buy me a little time with the transmission. He said that he would see what he can do with the shift forks, and try to get them in better condition. So I have to take it easy for a while... which means no racing competition at maxus How long do you guys think I have until I have to replace the tranny?

 

Replacing the shift forks requires taking the transmission apart, if you're going to do that you might as well replace the ruined parts while you're in there and have a 100% functional transmission for only a little bit more money.