I have an 05 Evo with ~23k on it. I have the stock clutch in it and it is putting out somewhere between 330-350whp, with minimal to zero launching.

FWIW, I have a works shortshifter, and have been changing tranny fluid with syncromesh nearly every 3-4k.

As of the last 3-4k I've been noticing the following:

Shifter drags in the gates for gears 1 and 2. There is resistance in the movement of the shifter while moving it to neutral.

There is a slight notch going into 3rd gear. This has been there since nearly day 1. Not too concerned about this but another annoyance.

Shifter sticks/doesn't disengage from 4th gear. It will take much more effort to shift towards neutral or repeat attempts to get it to shift out of gear.

My clutch shows zero signs of slipping and I have played around with the clutch adjustment to no avail.

Do I really need a tranny rebuild?

 

bump

 

That is exactly what was happening to me! I was told by my installer that I needed a rebuild on the transmission. So I sent my tranny to Shep and since that was already out sent my tranfercase too for stage 2.

 

It is possible that the clutch springs (fingers) are uneven causing the pressure plate clutch surface to not release fully. I would honestly look to the clutch first given the mileage.

 

Oh and how is fourth gear when the car is not running?

 

did you replace any of your underhood shifter bushings? There have been issues on several cars where the aftermarket aluminum underhood shifter bushings wear excessively, and cause binding and shifting issues as you describe.

 

Anja,

Before a rebuild, I would try some Penzoil Synchromesh from any autoparts store.

It comes in a yellow container, and is like $6.00 qt. It works wonders for the money spent. I helped a friend get rid of his in between gear grinds with this stuff. Try it and let us know. A second thing you can try is adjusting the clutch pedal a trun or two.

 

Yes if you put in the underhood metal bushings they can sieze up in the cables.
When I did my tranny job it took a hammer to get one of them out, needless to say I ground them down a little with a dremmel and put antisieze on them when reinstalling.

Smooth as silk now

 

shifts through gears just fine when the car is not running.

And VTECH8R, I have been running penn. syncromesh for the past 10k miles

 

It's the clutch IMO. What I said above about the pressure plate not engaging and disengaging evenly is what you are describing.

Notice you have no problems with grinding? There is nothing but the synchros in the transmission to cause shifting problems and they don't stick like that. The only tranny possibility is a damaged fork but I doubt it unless you have been hard on the like drag racing.

Send a message to Jon at TRE )gears) and I think he will confirm that it is most likely the clutch.

 

Yeah if I had to describe the problem I would say that the clutch just isn't disengaging all the time. But when I tried playing with the clutch rod, it did not help.

It does not grind but I think 3-4 times in the period I've owned it, it has ground downshifting into 2nd gear with the clutch pedal all the way down. Not sure if this symptom clues you in any further.

Is this something I should address (change the clutch) ASAP to avoid stress on the synchros?

 

i just dropped mine for the sme problem and they told me my master cyclinder for the clutch was done and it was leaking. i will know friday if that fixes the problems i was having

 

anjapower i had the same problem as you that my gears wouldnt want to go out of the gate into neutral so what i did was i bleeded the clutch system and that helped a lot just do it yourself with a friend , remove the airbox and you will see the clutch pump then have a friend pump the clutch pedal in 3 times makes it slow then by the 3erd time tell him to hold the clutch in then you open up the bleeder and let the liquid out then close it and repeat it also keep an eye on the reservoir.
iam to with the stock clutch i dont have signs of slipping but my gears feels notchy what i did was bleed the clutch and i ajusted my pedal very high but always living freeplay to it freeplay must be 4-13mm.
i have burnt my clutch several times once the smell lasted for 3 days maybe its warped and this is my problem but the things i did helped me out a lot give it a try and report back!

 

They both make good points.

If you have a stainless line make sure the banjo at the master cylinder is not leaking.

Bleeding it is a good idea. If your fluid got low from say low brake pads, you could induce some air in the clutch.

 

i thought it was the brass underhood bushings that had binding problems. tighter tolerances? i have the aluminum underhood bushings w/o any grease/lube and haven't had a problem. they fit looser than the brass ones.