this thread is for question about notchy or grinding gears in evo 9 cold/hot

 

Hey I am new to this website and also new to the EVO world.. I am looking to buy a 06 gsr with 47xxx the car is in great condition. the seller has told me that when its cold outside that the shifting is notchy which i dont really know what notchy feels like. but after 5-10mins of warm up its fine. i went to test drive the car the other day and he met me half way so by the time he got there the car was warm and all the gears felt smooth and nice when i drove it. i been reading that its a common problem with the car but i just want to make sure...does anybody have any information on this because i really love the car but dont want to spend $19 on it and get screwed.... thanks for everyones help and real sorry if i posted this in the wrong forum or thread because i couldnt seem to find one for the evo IX tranny questions

 

The transmissions will be notchy when they are cold. It's normal. Don't be concerned.

Evo's are known to have a finicky transmission, so don't be surprised if the transmission could use a rebuild before the year is out.

 

yeah i considered buying the car and sending it to rebuild street/strip for $800-900... but i am taking a 5yr loan out on the car and at least want the stock tranny to last me half of that before i need to replace or rebuild. are there any techniques in the way i should drive it or warm it up or anything that i should know? i talked to shep trans. and he said if it only happens when cold then its most likely a fluid issue and a couple other shops have told me the same... the dealership also said that as long as the car is stock which the car is bone stock with no mods then it should be fine. i was also told that the clutch may need to be adjusted. the seller just put a brand new oem clutch at 43xxx so its only about 5000 miles old and he also said he put a act streetlite flywheel. so how would i know if i need to adjust the clutch?

 

There are how-tos for adjusting your clutch I would recommend doing that. I would also recommend bleeding the clutch. I would also recommend changing the transmission, t/c,and read diff fluid.

I run a Redline Cocktail for the transmission, Redline HEAVYweight shockproof in the T/C, and Factory Diaqueen in the rear diff.

You will be fine by just driving the car, but if you go racing you may find the limitations of a 47k mile stock Evo transmission.

 

yeah im just going to be driving the car for the first couple years and slowly modding it so by the time the loan is payed then i can start to occasionally race it...the first thing i am going to do is get all the fluids changed. and you reccomend a redline cocktail what exactly is that if u dont mind sharing...and where is a good place for a tranny rebuild

 

the three major trans shops are shep, TRE, and Jacks. there may be more but those are common on here. However I wouldn't even worry or think about that until something breaks. With a stock car and more importantly a stock clutch and the 5 speed you should be all set for a while. if you drag race or road race like me, you could put trans work in your future budget.

as a comparison, I bought a salvage Evo with the sometimes called 'weak' 6 speed and I tracked it for 3 years until something broke. which by the way was essentially my own fault, for overheating the trans and not realizing the T case had leaked out all it's fluid.

fluids are everything in the Evo driveline. learn to do it easily and do it often. for a stock car with stock power I recommend stock fluids. changing them regularly is more important than what kind.

By the way you could have real thick fluids in the trans now, not stock, and that could theoretically be the cold grind. a thinner or stock fluid could resolve that.

Another suggestion is to have the seller change the trans, tcase, and diff fluids as a condition of the sale. Or ask for a 100 bucks to deal with it and learn it.

clutch adjustment can do wonders, and should be done after any clutch job or trans work. if not set properly the disk can not release fully or not clamp completely.

 

I wouldn't say rebuilding the transmission is "needed" often. Just because it's notchy when it's cold means nothing really. More likely that it has old fluid in it. A change to Amsoil MTG or new Diaqueen will probably fix it. You do really need to let these cars warm up.

 

yeah i will start letting my cars warm up...i just think its a little different because right now i have a 2000 civic si with turbo and that car takes a beating and in never worry about it as long as i stay up on the fluids...i just dont ever let my cars warm up really unless its straight winter...but i want to switch into the evo world because i love the car and its AWD and thats a must for northeast region...plus i have a daughter so i just want to have a DD that goes year round. i am planning on doing subtle mods.. like BOV and upgrade the upper and lower intercooler pipe... not too much just a couple bolt ons so i just want the tranny to last me for at least most of my loan..im just getting mixed messages from shops but then again none of the shops have seen the car, they only heard what i explained to them, so thats why i decided to come on here and ask the EVO nation what they think and what they can help me with.....THANKS FOR EVERYONES HELP AND I WOULD LOVE ANY MORE TIPS OR ADVICE THAT ANYONE COULD GIVE ME THE MORE THE BETTER (KNOWLEDGE IS POWER)

 

My third will grind when coming from second but ONLY in high rpms around 7k. Adjusted the clutch and fluids are all new. I'm starting to think it is a syncro tranny only has around 50k on it. Other than that, everything shifts like butter.