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Hi all, I've noticed lots of people, including myself have notchy 1st to 2nd gear shift. Ever since I got my TSX I've been experiencing bad 1-2 gear change.

But occationally the shift is extermly smooth. At first I thought the smooth shift was due to the rpm range. But I noticed some times it shift smoothly at the same rpm as when it shifted very rough.

I found when shifting 1-2 by pulling it straight down instead of applying presure to the left and down made the shift extermly smooth.

This is my first standard car, I have driven manual before, and have always push to the left and down when doing a 1-2 shift. Never had a problem with other vehicles, the TSX is the only car I know that has a rough 1-2 shift when applying pressure to the left.

So to people who has a 6spd, and are having this notchy 1-2 shift, try shifting without applying any left pressure and let me know how it goes. I hope this will make your drving experience a more pleasurable one.

fdl

Thanks for the tip. I;ve tried this..and it doesnt seem to help in my case. I think there is really something wrong with my syncros and I am going to talk to the dealer about it.

ClutchPerformer

I think you're fine, fdl. I've been paying close attention to your posts about this, and my shifter is the exact same way. Three things that I notice affect the 1-2 shift:

1. Holding the shifter to the left excessively as image explained.
2. The actual speed which you pull the lever back from the left-neutral position to 2nd (i.e. the amount of time you allow the snychros to do the work of changing layshaft speed).
3. The amount of time you wait after you press the clutch/release the gas to start moving the lever from left-neutral to 2nd (i.e. letting the layshaft spin down by itself so that synchros don't have to do that much work in the first place).

1. is an easy fix, obviously. I think it's a bad habit that other trannys just happen to let you get away with. 2 and 3 kinda go together. I find that I can get a perfect 1-2 by waiting about a half second after I press the clutch before I start the motion into second and pulling down gently. If I get it right, the shifter just melts into second. Obviously this won't help much if you're trying to drive fast (not sure what the solution is for that--or if there even is one), but for everyday driving it does the trick.

That being said, I'd still be interested to say what your dealer says about your gearbox and synchros. Let us know.

fdl

Thanks for the comments clutch...

When you say... "If I get it right the shifter just melts into second". Are you sure its not just because you allowed enough time for the revs to drop, and that the syncros dont need to work as hard? Just a thought.

If I am very gentle, and I shift slowly...my shifts are often smooth...but some people on here have stated that the shifts are ALWAYS smooth, which lead me to beleive that just maybe there is something wrong with mine. I dont want to have to baby my shifts if I dont need to.

That plus sometimes...its not just notchy..but its almost a grind...like I can feel something there. Its very hard to explain..but i feel a hard..mechanical resistance...and the shifter even shakes. This sometimes goes away once the car heats up ...but my first couple of shifts to second..if i shift quickly..will do it every time.

I keep thinking..maybe its just me. Something about the way I shift. But if i jump into my brothers car I can shift fine. I think I may go "test drive" another 6MT TSX to see if get the same thing. If i do..then I'll be more sure its driver error.

ClutchPerformer

Yeah, that's exactly what I mean. So, since during the times when the synchros are not involved (a "perfect" shift), we can narrow it down to being a synchro issue. Whether this is "normal" synchro operation or not remains to be seen.

My shifts are definitely not always smooth. And I do occasionally get that "grinding" feeling, but I don't think it's an actual grind (dog teeth skipping holes). Believe me, I ground the unsynchroed reverse gear once. It's a totally different feeling/sound. I don't think it's possible to grind a synchroed gear unless you're just not fully in the gear (which is a possibility when the box is cold).

The only other TSX I've driven was on my test drive. But that was a while ago.

fdl

Ya you're right..its not a grind...but thats the best word I could think of to desribe its. It seems like you may be experiencing the same thing I am..so maybe all the TSXs feel like this..either that or me and you both have the same problem. The fact that some people claim to have smooth shifts 100% of the time lead me to think it may be the latter. I'll let you know what my dealer finds...if anything.

Brad

Funny thing this morning on the way to work: I didn't sense any notchy shifting. In fact, I realized in retrospect upon arriving at work that I didn't ~think~ about shifting. My normal state of mind when driving manual shift is not to overtly think about shifting--just do it as comes naturally. In the past week since I got my TSX, I realize that the 6-speed MT has been a bit different for me, and so I had given more thought to it.

At noon, I had to drive my old 5-speed MT Accord, and wow, did that initially feel different after a week of driving the TSX!

fdl

There is a known problem on the RSX tranny that causes excesive notchiness and sometimes grinding on 1-2 shifts. Search for "grind" or "notchy" at clubrsx and you will see many many threads on it.

Here is a service bulliten for the problem.

http://www.ugr.net/rsx/sb_02_016a_full.jpg

Maybe the TSX tranny is suffering from the same problem???

ClutchPerformer

I hope not.....how could my snychros be worn in 2800 miles?!?!

Seriously though: I thought that our tranny isn't the same one as in the RSX-S. Am I wrong?

fdl

When I mentioned the problem to the dealer, the first thing he says is "ya..the RSX has the same problem". So maybe they are the same tranny.

majormojo

Congratulations. You are becoming one with your car. The assimilation is almost complete.