llauer76

Hi guys, I'm pretty new to the evo world, actually looking to buy an 8 atm. I come from DSM's so I'm pretty familiar with the 4g, but the evo drivetrain is something that I'm still not completely familiar with.
That being said, I'm looking at an evo 8 that has had some tranny issues. All fixed by a reputable evo shop, but I'm trying to decipher the cars previous life. From what I understand the 5 spd are relatively strong. But the owner said 5th gear went out and would start to grind.
Is this common or was this car beat to hell?
Thanks in advance guys.

Go_Lancer_Go

iTrader: (13)

Im not a drivetrain expert however I have had a few owners complain about 5th gear grind and im starting to see that its more common. One of my friends got it b/c he kept getting lock out however few other people got it b/c they were tracking or beating there cars. All I can say is, Im starting to see a trend. #fifthgeargrind

Shortbus115

iTrader: (1)

My 3rd grinds unless I rev match and 5th grinds at high rpm.

Adjusting the clutch pedal and changing trans fluid didn't really help so I have a rebuild coming up shortly.

llauer76

Did you beat the **** out of it? Or is this just something that's started occurring over time?

Shortbus115

iTrader: (1)

It's something I bought the car with but the guy I bought it from (total dip****) said he missed 3rd at the drag strip and that's when it started.

I've read about the 3rd and 5th issue enough to think it's fairly common in Evo's. It's probably a synchro issue.

Abacus

iTrader: (9)

5th gear doesn't have a strong syncro and it wears quickly . The 9 is worse because fourth gear is shorter then the 8 making the gap larger between the two. The evo has one of the highest final drives so the gearbox stays pretty busy and wears out over time.
Get the trans refreshed and adjust the clutch properly and it will be good for a while .

EatSleepBoost

iTrader: (9)

+1 to what abacus said ^^^

Going into 5th on my car grinds if you try and put it in anywhere over 60mph. It has been like that for a while and has not gotten any worse. I have had 2 evos and both with multiple transmission issues that are similar. No surprise to hear what you said about that trans. Rev matching helps. My advice is drive it as is until you are ready to get a shep trans and depending on what clutch you have and how old it is you may want to change that while you are in there. BE SURE TO REPLACE the throw out bearing. Mine seperated into 2 pieces the other day and i had to pull the trans just for the damn bearing

OldManQuentin

I bought a sheptrans stage 1 for my viii. It was actually cheaper than the brand new oem 5 speed. Although the shorter gears make higher rpm for me on the highway, they have also given me an edge on my buddy's stock MR.
Why buy an Evo that you know has problems? Splurge for a used one from a dealer with a power train warrantee! You could save yourself money down the road.

EatSleepBoost

iTrader: (9)

^ The problem with that is if the car has aftermarket parts on it or you put aftermarket parts on bye bye warranty.

llauer76

Well other than the tranny issue this car seems very well taken care of and well maintained. The tranny was refreshed, and had a new 5th gear put in as well as a new reverse (don't quite know why?) by agile automotive in MD. From everything I've read agile is great to deal with and knows what they're doing. Acd pump has been replaced within the last 40k and was silicone coated so hopefully it should be good for a while yet.. Hopefully. Other than that everything on the car checks out. I'm just trying to get a feel for why the 5th gear would've went. But it's sounding like it's pretty common.

blackenedwings

Agile has done every piece of work on my car, so I can vouch for their skill. They have rebuilt a trans for me before as well.

As far as the 5th gear in the 5 speeds, the 5th gear only has a single syncro and with the stock gear ratios it has a huge RPM gap between 4th and 5th. Road racing cars particularly have to take the car up into 5th a lot, and even with a high rev limit, the jump from 4th to 5th puts a lot of wear on the syncro which when it goes starts grinding. I broke two stock 5 spd 5th gear syncros in two years before I got a built Shep Stage 2 with the "ultimate ratio" and carbon syncro. I haven't had any grinding or trans issues since then.

I'm not sure which car you are looking at, but the stock ratio 5 spds do have a known failure point with that syncro. If you plan to street/drag the car you likely won't have any problems, if you intend to do track days or road racing you will want to get a TRE/Shep rebuild with the optimal ratio.

OldManQuentin

My car had no warrantee, but if it did, I would have preferred that over the 3 grand I dropped on that tranny. The oem 5 speed had a great balance between fuel Econ and speed. Money would have helped elsewhere.

llauer76

Thanks! Best bit of info I've gotten this far. And having someone else who can vouch for agile makes me feel abit more confident. The car will be a dd for me, as see maybe kne or two track days a year. So hopefully it holds till I can get a shep built. Since you're from Maryland I see, this car is an 05 8 tarmac black with evo 9 wheels and an me vortex generator. It's in the abingdon area. Maybe you've seen it?

Stew Pidaso

It is correct that the 5th sychro is pretty weak also the "fall on face" ratio of the 8 doesnt help out the situation. Going to the closer ratio evo 9 5th set would definitely be better and would keep the car in boost in the 4-5 shifts