4g63t28 let me know how that clutchline goes...

 

Even the 6-speed in my IX MR has been notchy since day one. The notchiness almost completely goes away after it warms up though, which leads me to believe that different (thinner) fluid would cure the notchiness but it probably wouldn't hold up to the heat of a track day as well. For normal driving it might be something to try. I'm curious to know what you guys come up with.

I also suspect that the synchro design has something to do with it. It helps to let the revs match before putting it in the next gear. When my tranny is cold, my shifts take forever just to avoid the clank.

 

Either underhood or at the shifter base - easy.

There are a couple of step by steps in the how to section.

 

or it could be as simple as a warped flywheel or pressure plate, even "balled up" friction material off the disc that could cause drag or notchiness. There are plenty of things that can help a warped flywheel/pressure plate or toasted disc. Engine dampners, motor mounts, shifter bushings, S.S. braided clutch lines, restrictor pill removal, clutch adjustments etc..... can help. But if you're having to adjust your clutch to extremes, and even putting in longer slave cylinder rods, it's probably unparallel surfaces between the flywheel/disc/pressure plate that are causing issues and those are just bandaids. The clutch/flywheel is a pain in the a$$ to change. Hence, alot of people try bandaids first, and recommend them for to solve issues that come from toasted clutches. But they're just that, bandaids. Each one has it's own benefit, and individually, stand on their own performance merit (aside from a longer slave rod on typical single disc setup), but they won't solve an issue stemming from an overheated clutch. I'm not saying that's your problem, just don't rule it out.

 

I really believe it's the fluid. I've learned to live with it. My integra never did this but the
transmission fluid is more like oil then the gear lube that's in the evo tranny. My friend
has a sti and his is the same way when it's colder. Like someone mentioned earlier.
Shifting slower when it's colder will help the situation until the fluid warms up.

 

I really believe you should take it into the dealer and have them fix it. If they say its normal have them drive a new evo off the lot and feel the difference.

I would never tolerate a hard shifting car. My 03 is like butter.

 

change to a fluid like BG. Night and day difference between BG and conventional or synthetic gear oils in my DSM; I call it new synchros in a bottle.

My MR 6 spd shifts beautiful.

 

Do not use BG in your tranny if you road race, although it is not the sole problem,
two members on this board have blown out 4th gear in the MR tranny using BG
fluid. I can give you links to the threads for discussion if you haven't already seen
them.

 

^^the problem with bgII is that its 75w-80 weight and the owners manual states to use 75w-90 which is a little thicker!
i used bg and it became smoother but when roadracing my car the tranny felt very notchy and the gears made a cluck sound but when driving normal the tranny felt smooth so i now use motul 75w-90 gear 300 which has cured my problem i talked to a guy with a nickname called oilman in lancerregistry.com and he told me motul was fine for my gearbox thats what the guys with evos in the UK use,hope this helps!

 

The manual states 75w-85 for the 6spd and 75w-85 or 75w-90 for the 5spd.

 

things that helped my notchy transmision:
bleed the clutch fluid-this helped a lot.
adjust the clutch pedal higher always have freeplay on it becarefull dont remove all the freeplay.
i got the engine damper this helped a lot for my 2nd gear grind i couldnt believe it!!!
and the motul gear oil feels fine.
this has been my experience also i noticed my gearbox going notchy after several clutch burns i might have a warped disc or flywheel so if any of you have felt that burn clutch smell adjust your clutch pedal higher than what it is!

 

My 03' does this pretty bad when its cold. Its actually only 1st thing in the morning. Once it warms up it doesnt do it anymore for the rest of the day. I go into class from 8 in the morning until as late as 1pm and it wont do it then. Only after it sits over night. Its the weirdest thing. Im gonna change the fluid with Mitsu recomended fluid and see if that does the trick.

 

So from what I gather, 3 main causes of the notchy tranny:

Clutch drag/not full disengagement. Solutions include the SS clutch line, adjusting the clutch, etc.

Tranny fluid; switch out the fluid.

Engine movement/cable shifter. Minimize engine movement.

In my case, clutch works fine (disengage fine, doesn't engage low) and the notchiness even occurs while shifting at constant cruise speed, so no engine movement. I did notice that after I romped on the car a bit and got it warmed up some, it shifted better. Guess I just need to research fluids now...

 

I think I will be getting a new motor mount and some different fluid cause my 03 is notchy.

 

I realize that "notchiness" is subjective, but my new IX (5-speed) feels this way as well... shifting too quickly from 1st to 2nd and sometimes 2nd to 3rd will yield a grind or crunch sound/feeling. i've learned to pause for a moment in neutral during a shift throw, as mentioned above. I may eventually try the "band aids" but am going to give the tranny some time to wear (~2,000 miles now) first