I have a similar clanking sound when going into second gear also. All my other gears seem fine just second. Kinda odd figuring its right below first lol, probably the easiest gear to get too

 

Yep, I just checked it out. You are correct.

 

Tranny and clutch still holding up fine with 8600 miles.

No launches, no grinds, no missed shifts, always speed matched, engine braking used instead of neutral braking. I don't have the decel buzz either.


Car has been past redline more times than I can count. I searched for fuel cut, couldn't find it even with 8400 RPM or so showing....so I backed off....hehehe. I don't know why I never hit fuel cut. It's probably like right at 8500, isn't it?

I can't remember where I read it was, but it should be varried with temperature/humidity, like the DSM's were.

 

MalibuJack - Any news on the 5th gear thing yet? At just over 14K my car has been fine, but I do notice I need shift gears a touch more slowly than other cars I've had. I'm guessing that the "extra" syncros need the time to do their job.

 

Yea, me too, esp a slow 2nd gear shift. What's up with that.

 

I was goin to post about this but i am glad someone else did. My first to second is NOTCHY about 70% of the time. Annoying as hell. As for everything else pretty smooth. Thought it was just my car i guess not.

 

Mine feels slightly notchy all the time, but I figured that is normal...I like the "snik-snik" of the shifting.

Today, though, I was driving around, and I did a few hard pulls from a stop. One time, I was shifting from 3-4, and it did not want to go into 4th! Bounce--grind--grind--grind...and I had the clutch jammed to the floor after the first grind...I may have been overeager and come off the clutch too quickly, but do the syncros go haywire when you do that? It's like I had to wait a few seconds for the tranny to "settle down" before I could get it into 4th. Later on, the exact same thing happened on my 1-2 shift! Was I too quick on the clutch or what??? It doesn't happen all the time, just once in a while...but twice in an hour really pissed me off. Can't win any stoplight races if this **** keeps up!

I hope it's just me...I'd hate to think my tranny is ****ed up...

 

I did some more road testing...I am pretty much convinced it was just missed shifts...my tranny is fine...

 

People here don't seem to know what the problem is or are confused as to what you're experiencing. I "think"i i know what you're talking about. When i shift, it always makes a "clunk" sound when i shift into 2nd, 4th, or reverse. No there isn't a grind, no its not syncro problems. It makes these noises with teh engine off. Those shifts are as notchy as the other shifts and they feel fine. It just makes a weird plasticy clunk sound. It has nothing to do with the tranny, its the shifter. Thats my opinion anyway...I'm gonna try to get a short shifter and change to aftermarket bushings. If anything changes, i'll let you guys know.

 

That's a good way to bend your shift forks.

Be careful.

 

I've found that tooling around the parking lot can get quite "clunky" but once I get things spinning on the road it's like butter. I would agree that this car is engineered for higher speed driving, at the expense of some low speed funkiness (road noise, clunk, whine, etc.).
nova- take it easy man!

 

I have alot of missed gears from 1-2 and 3-4. I can certainly drive standard, I have been driving standard for over 3 years. I dont know what is wrong, but I know its not my driving. I don't understand why mistu would make the Evo with these limitations, but I cant shift quickly in those gears. I never ever miss my 2-3 shift, it is smooth and always perfect. Must have something to do with the syncros. Also when I shift to 4th(when getting on it) it will usually grind a little or just miss the gear completely. I usually have to shift slow to prevent missed gears when getting on it....which is gay because it slows you down so much.

 

You can still change gears fast without grinding. I do all the time. YOu just have to avoid the "target fixation" as I call it. See, what I think is hapening is we perceive that we can slam the shifter around and it will respond like previous cars we have driven do (Mustangs, Camaros, whatever). However, since the transmission in the Evo is cable driven instead of direct linkage like that of a front engine/rear wheel drive car. This translates into slop and extra travel of moving parts in order to get the gears to change. Practice shifting slightly quicker and quicker without standing on the skinny pedal. Once you see how fast you can shift with VERY LIGHT right-hand force, then you can start getting more agressive with your feet. Try your hardest to keep your hand movements smooth and soft when shifting and you will never grind again (as long as the clutch pedal makes it all the way to the floor before you change gears).

I hope it makes sense and I hope it helps.

 

I understand you are trying to help people to be able to shift better with this mandatory, extremely unforgiving, set of shifting rules. Many of the people (including me) who bought an EVO came from driving a DSM. Why is it that I only started to get a slight second gear grind in my 90 DSM AWD at about 120K, but my first mildy spirited high RPM shift in the EVO ground like it had NO synchros. I know, I didn't have the clutch all the way to the floor, I didn't hesitate slightly before pulling it out of first, I didn't pull the lever the right way, I didn't shift slower than I normally would in any other car I've ever owned (37 and counting different manual trans vehicles in 23 years). SO WHAT!!!!

Why is this supposed flagship vehicle such a PIA to shift when their previous flagship vehicle was not. Maybe if I had not driven what they could have built in a "shifting setup" (admittantly not a DSM's strong point, but at least it was not saddled with super flexy hyd line, clutch restrictor, purposely underdesigned pressure plate), I might not be as upset. I still grind second sometimes because I don't always remember to do EVERYTHING EXACTLY PERFECT. Sometimes I just want to run through the gears without having to concentrate like I am running in some championship road course/drag strip event.


OX

 

And me. I had two 1990 Eclipse GSX's. Loved them to death, still miss them both. I never had one lick of trouble out of either of them and they were both fairly built up (took the first one to 110,000 miles or so, second one went to 145,000). The transmissions shifted great all day long in both of them. I had the recall done on the transfer case for the leaky seal around the output yoke, but it gave me no problems before or after the work. The only things I ever had to do to them were "influenced" by me. With an all wheel drive car that can run 12.1 @114mph, it is NOT a good idea to rev to 6,000 RPM and side step the clutch. In total, I had to replace the front driveshafts twice and the center diff once (2 gear center diffs suck).

Look at the 2nd Gen DSM's. The restrictor and rubber clutch line has been around for a while. Even the interior "oh-****" handles found on the Evo are the same as the 2nd Gen handles....lots of similarities. As for the underdesigned flywheel........which would you rather replace, a clutch or a transmission?


Guys, I am not trying to act all high and mighty or try and make fun of those who can't shift this car without grinding. I am only listing what I do so that others can try it and perhaps improve on their driving techniques. This is a forum, people post problems and solutions here.