You should never shift into first gear unless you are rolling at most 2 mph. I don't think first gear has a syncro. I screwed up my first manual that way.

 

My baby is at Mitsu right now, getting the very same thing fixed... it had a constant grind from 4-5 at any RPM over 4k

they are replacing 2 gears and some other stuff...

FYI- the other guys are right about down shifting to 1st... DONT DO IT.. and besides why would you ??[img]images/icons/icon9.gif[/img]

 

Out of curiosity has anyone gotten the 2nd gear syncro repaired under warranty? I've read a few posts of people that have for 5th gear, but I dont recall reading that anyone has with 2nd.

 

Grinding can happen...being as astute as possible on shifts helps. For instance the Redline my tranny has really doesn't like to warm up for quite awhile. 1 to 2 shifts are really touchy until then.

Some things that I did to help were install some polyurethane bushings in the shifter box, and put in some bronze bushing in on the tranny linkages. That helped, but I really have to make sure my brain, feet, and hands are coordinated to do the 2nd to 3rd shift.

Good Luck,

jcnel.

 

i have done it twice

 

Yup...I've gotten the grind a few times on the 1-2 shift...it was always when I was trying to shift real quickly and came off the clutch just a split second too soon. I haven't had it happen for months now, because I'm more careful with my clutch pedal timing. Nothing's wrong with your tranny, folks...it's just driver error...suck it up...

 

Actually alot of tranny grinds are directly connected with the Evo tranny. I consider myself to be an experienced driver, not agressive with the shifts, yet even my own tranny grinds here and there. It seems that quite alot of Evos out there suffer from these nasty and uncontrollable grinds. I have to blame Mitsu on this one. After driving over 30 Evos I have been able to compare and actually notice that the shift quality in our cars is just average and not in the same league as the the rest of the drivetrain. The tranny is not weak, its just that the design of the cables, shifter, and synchro mechanism is just that, average. I have yet to drive an 05 or an MR for that matter, as I've heard how improved the shift quality is. We'll see. Some Evos, however, are way crisper than others. Like I said before I can only blame Mitsu for having built some better than others.

Gil-superz

 

went drag racing theother day 6 passes made 3 of which grinded from 1-2 shift, ihave act clutch approx. 800 mi on it. i'm sure i press down the clutch to the floor,

Before w/ stock clutch no problem. any thoughts out there?

 

You should try and adjust your clutch pedal release point. The adjustment nut and rod are at the top of the clutch pedal were it goes into the firewall. I have noticed that the ACT does require an adjustment to fully release properly.

Gil-superz

 

My 2003 Evo has a grind tendency from 2nd into 3rd - not quite a grind but borderline.
I learned to drive on a stick shift (30 years ago) and have spend a lot of time since then commuting in stop and go traffic with a stick. You can say I know a thing or two about operating a clutch.
Here’s my theory on the Evo grind: Even when you push the clutch pedal all the way to the floor, the Evo clutch does not disengage fully.
Some people here said that after installing a stainless steel clutch line it solved the problem. I think there is something to that because a SS line would support more hydraulic pressure without bulging out and therefore it would disengage the clutch fully. Maybe bleeding the clutch line to get all the air bubbles out would help too.
(Double-clutching also seem to help. That is, you push the clutch in, put the car in neutral, release the clutch, push the clutch in again and then shift into you gear. Some heavy truck drivers do it all the time but it’s not going to help your 0-60 times.)

 

Gil, Where should the clutch engauge? It feels like my clutch doesnt engauge untill the pedal is almost to the top of its travel..

 

I've found that my EVO shifts better w/ the clutch engagement point near the top of the pedal travel. I tried adjusting it lower so I could shift faster, and it did nothing but make my shifts even more notchy.

The poor shift quality is one of the biggest gripes I have about my EVO. These are the things I've tried to improve shift quality:

1) SS clutch line
- helped shifting a little
- slight grinds happened less often
2) SS clutch line + poly shifter base bushings
- shifting was just a little more precise
3) SS clutch line + poly shifter base + metal shifter cable bushings
- shifting noticeably more precise
- still get slight grinds when shifting moderately fast
4) SS clutch line + poly shifter base + metal shifter cable bushings + removed clutch restrictor
- clutch pedal had to be adjusted after the restrictor removal
- made the biggest difference of all
- can now shift as fast as I want and it never grinds
- car is now much more fun to drive around

I now have 12k miles and am still using the original tranny fluid. I can shift at 7500 rpm without any worries about grinding. My shifter does feel a little sticky though when trying to shift fast. I suspect this is due to the stock tranny fluid. I'm going to try some redline MT90 on my next oil change. I'm hoping this will give my shifter the "slip into gear" feeling.

 

welcome to the world of DSM tranny's guys. It happens. Be thankful its the synchro and not the gear itself.

 

marksae,

pm'd you...

thanks.

 

Very true. Thanks god that these trannys are holding the power with ease. The synchros themselves are OK. Heck, I dont know of many trannys with more than 2 synchros per gear, let alone 3. I hope that Mitsu owns up to this concern and recall ALL Evo trannys. It is also affecting 04 evos. Just the other day a fellow tech told me about an 04 RS with 1200 miles, 2 months old, driven by a 48 year old doctor with severe grinding in 3rd, 4th, and 5th gears. Turns out that all these synchros were rounded off. Not driver fault. We'll see what happens in the coming years I guess.

Gil-superz